Krissy Chin has graciously agreed to share her journey back to competition here on HARDBODY. Krissy brings us up to speed on what she’s been doing and what’s ahead for her. She’s a champion on and off the stage.

KRISSY’S CORNER – HARDBODY JOURNAL
By Krissy Chin

Hello Hardbody Peeps:)!

First, I just want to say that I am SO #EXCITED to be blogging here on Hardbody! I have been a BIG TIME fan of Hardbody from day 1!

I hope everyone’s year is off to a great start! My name is Krissy Chin & I am an IFBB Figure Pro, Team Gaspari Athlete, new MOM-Yeah!!!! and you can also find me emceeing NPC/IFBB shows throughout the year. My education is in physical therapy and health sciences where I hold a dual degree-Masters of Science in Physical Therapy & a Bachelors of Science in Health Sciences. I was propelled into health & fitness when I lost both my parents to cancer in the 1990’s. I then decided that I wanted to get a better grasp on my own health and well-being and I wanted to live a healthy lifestyle after seeing how fragile life could be. Well that was about 20 years ago and I can proudly say that I am still, if not more extremely passionate about health, wellness, fitness and helping & inspiring others whenever & however I can.

My incredible journey in the NPC began in 2003 and I earned my IFBB Pro card in 2007 at the Figure Nationals/Team U in New York by winning my class. I feel blessed to have qualified for the Figure Olympia 4X and have competed at the Figure International (Arnold) twice thus far in my career. My last show was the 2012 IFBB Pro Governor’s Cup where I placed 2nd while being 6-weeks pregnant. You are probably wondering, “Why did she compete while she was pregnant?!” Well, I had no idea I was even pregnant and here is how the story goes. I was 4-weeks out from competing in the 2012 California Pro when I knew something was just not right. My body was not responding how it typically did for prep and I felt bloated and constipated. Coach Kim Oddo even asked me if I ate something that I wasn’t supposed to because I had this lil “pooch” at the base of my 6-pack, which I never had! Well, after 3 home pregnancy tests and a visit to my OB/GYN, it was confirmed that I was 12 weeks and 4 days pregnant! Shocker to say the least especially since I was on birth control pills & we were not planning on getting pregnant just quite yet.

I went from full on prep mode to full on BABY MODE! Since my pregnancy was not planned and I missed my 1st trimester, I quickly researched, read and learned as much as I could about pregnancy and about having a baby. I have to say that I did enjoy my whole pregnancy and I loved being pregnant. I was glad that I didn’t experience any nausea or morning sickness, any swelling, back pain or any other symptoms that other expecting moms have experienced. Throughout my pregnancy, I made sure that I kept myself properly nourished, hydrated, rested and I kept myself in a really good, calm & peaceful place both spiritually and mentally. I also got regular prenatal massages & continued training up until 40-weeks without any difficulty. However, I must point out that my training did change during the pregnancy since my goal had changed once I became pregnant. My goal for training during my pregnancy was to stay healthy & strong for my baby and for myself, which I successfully accomplished. At 41-weeks, I had to be induced since my Dr. said that Baby London was quite cozy in the womb and I was at complete ZERO dilation. After 33 hrs of labor, I was able to successfully have a vaginal birth. Beautiful Baby London MeiLan was born a healthy 7 lbs. 13 oz. on Nov. 26th, 2012.

Fast forward to today, London is now 17.5 months (almost 1 1/2 yrs. old) and I am less than 4-weeks away from making my return to the IFBB Pro stage!! I debated for a bit about whether or not to compete again. Truth be told, I am a true competitor at heart and I truly missed competing so much! There were other factors which also influenced my final decision to compete which were, I really love being in tip top shape conditioning wise so I wanted to see what my body was capable of doing post-baby and if I knew I had the adequate time to prep without taking away from baby London. London is my number one. For me it was so important to give 200% to London that first year of her life and just nurture and love her as best as I could. I was with her 24/7 until only recently when I started her in daycare twice a week at 16 months of age. I did not even contact Coach Kim to initiate prep until London was 14 months of age. I just didn’t want to take anything away from London. In addition, Rich Gaspari and Gaspari Nutrition recently re-signed me to a 2-yr athlete contract (Wohooo!!), which also solidified my decision to compete. I am #EXCITED to announce that my 1st show of the 2014 season will be the IFBB Northern California Pro Bikini!

I would say that life has significantly changed since becoming a mom. I’ve had to become even more organized, learn to REALLY multi-task, do things at a much quicker pace and I’ve learned to be creative when things change or something comes up in order to accommodate London and her needs. The biggest challenge for me when first getting back into training was leaving London for the 30 min or for the hour. I must admit, I still have a hard time being away from her. Yes, I am that in love with our precious daughter. In the beginning, it was also a challenge to find the time to fit everything in that I needed to get done while caring for London. Since Troy and I don’t have family here in California, it has been the two of us working together as a team to manage our schedules, care for our precious baby and for our 2 fur babies. It was also a bit of a challenge for me the first few months since I was a first time mom alone at home and I was, “learning the ropes.” Now that London is almost 1 1/2 yrs of age & is in daycare 2-3X/week, everything has gotten a lot more manageable & has allowed me to get all my training in, cardio done, food prepped and all my work done- Gaspari appearances, online clients, posing clients and all my other responsibilities completed. With all that said and done, I must admit that I absolutely LOVE being a mom and that London has just been the biggest, most beautiful blessing!

Until next time, train hard, be happy and live each day to its fullest!

With Love,

Krissyxo

Follow Krissy on..
Twitter – KRISSYCHIN
Instagram – krissychin
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/PROKRISSYCHIN
Gaspari – http://www.gasparinutrition.com/teamgaspari/krissychin/