REAL LIFE

A CHANGED LIFE

By: Maria Kang

With determination and a helping hand from Max Muscle Sports Nutrition, this mother of three found the joys of exercising and being healthy
and fit.

Veronica Marble, 32, has found the ultimate anti-depressant drug...exercise! In January 2007, 10 months after giving birth to her third child, Veronica found herself extremely depressed. “I hit a wall. I literally ATE myself into this situation and while I loved my mother, I didn’t want to look like her. In that moment, I knew I couldn’t sit back and wait for things to happen. Instead, I took a more proactive approach by going out and making things happen myself.”

Veronica was not always this unhealthy. Born in Barron, Wisconsin, she spent most of her childhood traveling to various states because of her father’s contract with the military. Even though she attended many schools throughout California, Northern Virginia, Alabama and Minnesota, she never found her niche in athletics. She enjoyed soccer and running and always desired to possess an athletic body without truly being an athlete. The aspiration to find her fitness niche and inner athlete would eventually be quenched almost 15 years later.

A Mother of Three
At 17, Veronica gave birth to her first son, Vincent. She gained a meager 20 pounds during that pregnancy and attributed her swift weight loss to her young age and genetics. Seven years later, at age 25, she had her second child, Kaelyn, with whom she gained 30 pounds. Veronica took up running and got her pre-pregnancy body back in six months. This period in her life brought her back to her high school years of playing soccer and running. While her physical activity was admirable, she broke both her heels due to physical stress and overtraining. “I became insanely addicted to running because I saw physical change and really enjoyed my time alone,” Veronica explains.

Five years later, at 30 years old, Veronica gave birth to her third child, Noah. This time around, she sought the assistance of midwife who didn’t make her weigh herself. As a result, Veronica became less accountable for her increasing weight gain. “Not only was I gaining weight, but I also moved to an unfriendly outdoor running city and had become really lazy,” admits Veronica. She estimates to have gained 40-50 pounds while pregnant. Like her first two pregnancies, Veronica was expecting to “snap back” into shape. However, lack of activity, poor dieting and a slowed metabolism created slower results. After 10 months and little weight loss, she began taking anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications. She had low self confidence, miserable moods and was digging herself deeper into depression. “After a body scan that revealed how completely out of control my body fat percentage truly was - I literally cried! I had no idea that it was that bad. Miserable doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt when I looked in the mirror! My self-worth and self-esteem were at an all time low.”

Her Transformation
While in the past Veronica hid behind her inability to lose weight due to her small children, lack of gym convenience and limited time, she knew that excuses didn’t create results; excuses just stalled results from actually happening. After visiting a sports doctor, she joined a Mommy Boot Camp at Lifetime Fitness, an investment given to her as a Christmas present from her husband, Lynn Marble.

Within the first few months, through diet and boot camp three times a week, Veronica began shedding weight. By March her serotonin levels were stable enough to take her off anti-depressants. By July, at 157 pounds, Veronica measured 28 percent body fat and lost more than 20 pounds. Her success was rewarding, but she knew she needed additional help to lose the last 20 pounds.

Veronica also knew that for the effort she was putting forth, she could do better. After befriending a figure competitor at her gym, Kelly Abraham, she decided to focus her efforts towards a November competition. She then called on Mark Bozza, the manager at Max Muscle Sports Nutrition (MMSN), in Tempe, Arizona, to prepare a meal plan and workout regimen for her to follow.

MMSN Breaks the Plateau
Veronica enlisted in MMSN’s custom 18-week package. Mark provided her with a workout, diet and supplement routine. Every week she checked in and adjusted her plan accordingly. She consumed High 5 and MaxPro for protein and Xtend, Full Blown Extreme and Gaspari Super Pump for energy. She took Max Muscle Glutamine for recovery and Max CLAs and ALR Venom Hyperdrive for fat loss. She began losing an average of 2-3 pounds a week and saw immediate physical changes.

Veronica’s diet is what she tenderly calls, “boring and predictable.” However her strict meal plan makes her body operate like a lean mean, fat burning muscle churning machine. She typically follows a low carbohydrate meal plan (under 60 grams) for 3-4 days then includes a medium carbohydrate day (around 100 grams). She eats every 2-3 hours accumulating to six meals per day.

Her supplement and diet plan coupled well with her intense exercise routine, which she performed every day except for Sundays, her rest day. On the day of her contest, The Miles Production Phoenix Show, she weighed in at a confident 127 pounds. While she didn’t place, she felt truly accomplished.

Less than a year ago Veronica was depressed, unhealthy and overweight. “It was a great deal of work, but in the end I really am a completely different person,” she said. “I carry myself higher, I have confidence, and for the first time in my life I am able to assert myself and not just be along for the ride.”

In June 2008, Veronica competed with her husband at the Miles Production in Chandler, Arizona. Being healthy role models and raising fit children have now become a priority for the Marbles. Veronica exclaims, “In my journey I shed the excess baggage, and I found myself. A part of me that was there all along. No more anti-depressant pills ... Fitness is my drug. It is what keeps me centered, happy and confident. The gratitude I feel for the Max program is eternal especially to my coach, Mark Bozza.” MS&F