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Brandie's
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Background
& Family
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I
was born in Columbus, Georgia and
lived there for twelve years.
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My
father decided to start a commercial vending business
which would relocate us to Plant City, Florida.
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As
a child, I learned about family values early on; my older sister,
Kim & I gained more family when my father decieded to remarry.
Jamie & Dusty were our new siblings and then along came
Taylor, our new baby sister.
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Since
I was fifteen, my love for running continued after
graduating from Plant City High School. I joined
a running club with my dad where we met every
Sunday morning in Clearwater and would normally
run about ten miles. I also had a daily ritual
to run six to fifteen miles throughout the town
of Plant City.
I
worked for my father's vending company as a route
driver, and at the age of twenty-three, I had
my first son, strapping eight pound, Reece Christopher
Campbell. Reece was a perfect baby and everyone's
favorite.
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Four
months after Reece's birth, running was not an option,
so I had to join the local YMCA for the daycare.
I immediately took to the aerobic classes and one day
during a group class, the Head-Director of the YMCA was
evaluating an instructor (Tina Carmen) and noticed that
I had good form and inquired if I would be interested
in teaching. In
September of 1996, Mark Maynor gave me my SAFE certification
and I began teaching group step classes at Plant City
Hospital and the YMCA.
In
January of 1998, my little six pound & 4 ounce monster,
Nolan J Campbell, shot into this world like a rocket in
a record twenty minutes of labor and has blessed us ever
since. Everyone says that he is a spittin' image of me,
in appearance and demenaor, Lord help us!
Working
Out & Life Changes
A
friend of mine, Kim Glerum, had been encouraging me about
competing in bodybuilding for some time. She had actually
asked me to go to see a trainer in Tampa in 1998. I remember
seeing her with her diet instructions at work and making
fun of her with my co-workers and saying, "you can't
lose weight eating all that chicken." As weeks went
by, we laughed less, for Kim had lost over forty pounds.
Timing was not right at this point in my life; kids were
young and growing, still finding myself and was real busy
working.
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Two
years later, March of 2000, Kim mentions to me again
to go see the nutritionist in Tampa. I called BODY*TECH
Fitness Emporium and made an appointment with Tim
Gardner. He asked me what my goals were and what
I wanted to look like.
There
was a copy of Southern Muscle Plus Magazine on his
desk where I pointed to the female bodybuilder on
the cover. He asked me if I worked out with weights
and I replied with, "only dumbbells in my class."
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I
signed up with BODY*TECH and Tim assigned
me to a trainer, Rhonda Panks, to educate me on the training
and terminology. With my diet and added weight training,
my body started to change. I was still a little naive to
food measurements and food intake as well as nibbling on
snacks when I would fix things for the boys. |
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I
didn't even realize that Tim wanted me to do cardio
on an empty stomach until Rhonda mentioned it to
me, I'm not one to read the instructions and must
have missed that on Tim's pamphlet. Once Tim caught
wind of this he buckled down on me with his adjustments
and my body started to change quickly.
I remember the first time Tim needed to make an
adjustment. I wouldn't put on a suit so I mailed
him pictures. I thought I looked good but I was
so shy around him. A couple of months later, Tim
mentioned a new division that I may be interested
in competing, Figure. Six months later and twelve
pounds lighter with an eight pack, I competed in
my first show, the Daytona Muscle Beach Classic.
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Rhonda
also played an integral role in getting Tim &
I together. I always thought he was married to a
Japanese lady because he had a picture of one in
his office, it happened to be his Mom.
He was always professional and very instructional
with all of the team. While I was training at his
studio, he was always gone during the day to start
up a second studio in Clearwater. When I would go
to the meetings, he barely acknowledged me other
than to give me my adjustment and posing instructions.
Rhonda would always say to me, "I think that
you and Tim would make a good couple because of
where your lives are right now." We were both
split up in our marriages with children and very
confused.
Tim
and I had our first date and the rest is history...
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On
December 14, 2002, Tim and I were married by our
friend, Melissa Butler on Clearwater Beach with
our children, Brett, Rachel, Reece, Nolan, and a
select group of our closest friends & family.
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| Thoughts
of Competing & the Future |
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From
my very first competition to the last, they've all
taught me something different and something new
about life. I do not take anything for granted because
of it, these shows definitely ground you. I've learned
so much about discipline and there is an overall
feeling of success for whatever you put into the
show, you will get out of it. It's such a great
feeling to endure something so difficult and know
you accomplished that while juggling kids, husband,
work and lives.
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I
feel strongly that you should never settle for anything,
always strive for the best and perfection. As soon
as you feel that there is not room for improvement,
you're done.
Same for in life, if you settle, you become stagnant
and life goes right around you.
Competing
has given me a sense of confidence and a fullfillment
of knowing that I have the ability of changing the
appearance of my body as well the ability to change
my life, you control your own path in life in everything
that you do. Competing has brought a whole new set
of friends into my life, one's that I will treasure
whether I am in the sport or not.
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I
do not really know what my competition future holds
for me but I do know that I will strive to continue
to become better at each and every contest as long
as
Tim is by my side.
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