MEGAN TRIONFO – Warrior’s Corner

About two months before I decided to compete I found someone’s Facebook who I had not seen in a long time. I started scrolling through her pictures and wondered what in the world she was doing with an awesome shredded body, a crazy dark spray tan and a dazzling bikini! I saw her transformation and I was amazed. I went right to YouTube and started searching vlogs on competing. I could not get the thought out of my head after that!

I found out about TEAM Warrior Within when I got invited to go to the posing clinic by my friend Courtney. She told me I could just come and watch, but I decided to throw on a bikini and pose with the other girls! That was the first time I met Nikki, not knowing she would be my future coach. As she helped me pose for the first time ever she was eating out of a Tupperware container and I thought to myself, “Wow, these people are really dedicated to their food.” I now understand.

Nikki is everything I had hoped for in a coach—someone who takes time to answer every question, explain every part of prep that I didn’t understand, and cheer me on through the easy times and the hard times. I genuinely look forward to every Friday check-in with her because I know she believes in me and wants to see me succeed. She pushes me hard during our training sessions and doesn’t let me give up on myself. She keeps it real, she is honest, and she is more than just a coach who writes out my meal plan, she is a friend.

Hands down the hardest part of prepping for my show was not cheating on my diet. You don’t realize how food is such a social thing until you can’t go out and enjoy it with your friends and family. I remember eating chicken and rice and green beans on my birthday when all I wanted was a huge stack of pancakes and a box of donuts.

During low points, I used myself as motivation. Nothing motivated me more than comparing pictures and seeing the amazing progress I was making. Every time I felt discouraged I would look at the pictures of myself before I started lifting weights and compare them to my weekly check-in pictures. I use Instagram to share my progress and help motivate others to reach their fitness goals. Instagram has been a huge outlet in my journey to the stage.

For those interested in getting started with competing, I would tell them to do it because you love it, not because you want a trophy. A trophy (and bragging rights) are nice, but get up on that stage to be the best “you” you can be. Be willing to make sacrifices, be willing to work harder than you have before, and be willing to be open and honest with people, because you find out who your true supporters are in this sport.

During my prep, I learned that bodybuilding is my passion. I learned that competing is where I fit in. All my life I have never felt good at anything. I have never played sports, I’m not musically talented, and I’m not artistic. That always discouraged me. I thought I would never find something that I truly loved to do. But then I picked up some weights and I felt what it was like to be strong. Finally, my chance to inspire people, especially girls my age, to hop off the treadmill and pick up some dumbbells! Gym clothes as my preferred attire, a cooler bag full of food, a gallon full of water, biceps popping out of my clothes, and calluses on my hands is the life for me!

I would like to thank my coach Nikki, all of TEAM Warrior Within, my best friend Kate, and my friend Justin.

Moving forward, I plan to compete in the 2016 Baltimore Gladiator, as well as several other competitions this season. I hope to compete on a national level within the next few years.