Quick Stats

Name: Berenice Salazar
Age: 22
Height: 5’5 | 1.65 m
Competition weight: 118 – 120 lb
Current weight: 125 lb | 57 Kg
Current city: Wolcott Connecticut, United States Of America
Occupation: Personal Trainer at Total Fitzness

Have you always lived a fit and healthy lifestyle? How did you get started?

I’ve only been weight training for the past three and a half years and I’ve been a trainer for about two and a half years.

I’m 100% Mexican so my nutrition was far from healthy when I was growing up. I’ve always had a huge appetite so I always had something to eat but it was always unhealthy choices. Chips, candy, pizza, burgers, Mexican food was my diet everyday. I use to drink about 3-4 cans of coke a day, never ate vegetables and never really had healthy balanced meals.

I was never in to sports and I was the girl that ALWAYS skipped gym class. Growing up I was really small; 100 – 105 pounds but ate like a 200 pound man!

Working out never crossed my mind until I met my boyfriend and decided to move across country to be with him. I met my boyfriend through Facebook early 2011 and moved from CA to CT spring of 2011. He owns a gym in Wolcott CT and is a natural bodybuilder so after watching him compete in April 2012 I decided to give it a shot. I turned PRO with the WBFF at my first show and I am currently training to compete at Worlds in Las Vegas this August for my PRO debut in bikini 🙂

Watch me compete with the Best of the Best LIVE on Pay Per View August 15th-16th: wbffshows.com

How do you manage to stay motivated and consistent throughout your training and eating?

It’s actually really easy for me because I eat food’s that I enjoy and I’m a huge believer in moderation and using food as fuel!

I do what I enjoy so it’s easy for me to stay on track 🙂

What made you decide to enter your first competition?

Watching my boyfriend compete at the WBFF Fitness Atlantic Championships. The WBFF knows how to throw a show and just watching all the beautiful athletes on stage motivated me to work hard, so I can do it too.

What are your future plans?

• I’m planning on competing this August and see how I do 🙂
• I also want to start Boot camp classes at our gym in Wolcott CT, I want to expand my online training and I’m looking in to creating my own workout clothing line 🙂
• Total Fitzness is my number one priority so I am really working hard to expand and grow our clientele.

How is your preparation going for your next competition in Vegas? What has been the toughest part so far?

It’s been really easy, I don’t really feel like I’m on prep 🙂

After my first show I had a really hard time finding balance. I gained about 30 pounds and it took me about a year to get back to a healthy weight. I’ve been maintaining my weight for the past 6 months eating 2700+ calories a day, so getting ready for this show has been really easy for me.

I believe balance is key and I don’t ever want to loose my balance so I’m still eating what I enjoy and training how I like to train.

Advice for people who are new to competing and want to avoid the massive post competition weight gain?

“You can’t maintain a body that you got with a diet that you can’t maintain.”

Health is always number 1 so don’t go on a plan that requires you to do hours of cardio/training with very little food. It’s very important to listen to your body and to give it what it wants/needs. It’s a lifestyle so yes you need to be able to eat and train the same way even after the show is over and this is why it’s important for you to be enjoying your workout and nutrition plan.

Take us through an average day of yours:

• I wake up at 4am to make my breakfast.
• Open the gym at 5am and I go home at 7-8pm.
• Workout 6am – 7:30/8 am.
• After I workout I answer emails and check on my online clients and see if they have any questions.
• I train one on one clients through out the day and that’s pretty much my day Monday – friday.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet, pre contest and during the off season:

Like I said above I’m a huge believer in balance.

I do not log or track calories and macros. I eat when I’m hungry and I always listen to my body. I enjoy pasta 1 – 2 times a week 🙂

Sample of what I ate today:

Pre workout | Meal 1:

• Cinnamon raisin english muffin with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 apple and a serving of 4% cottage cheese.

Post workout | Meal 2: (from newvisionbody.com)

• 8oz of chicken, 2 cups of steamed broccoli with red potato and ketchup, and I also had another apple.

My early lunch | Meal 3:

• 2 cups of brown rice with 1 cup liquid egg whites. 1/2 a avocado and a spoonful of hummus.

Lunch | Meal 4:

• 1 cup carrot cake oatmeal measured dry, from myoatmeal.com with 1/2 a scoop of white chocolate whey protein from betancourtnutrition.com and 1 banana.

Snack | Meal 5:

• 1 cup greek yogurt with stevia and 1/2 a scoop white chocolate protein. I like to freeze my yogurt for 2 hours so it’s like eating froyo 🙂

Dinner | Meal 6:

• 2 whole eggs (including the yolk) with cottage cheese and spinach.

Small snack | Meal 7:

• 2 rice cakes, 1 with raw natural honey and the other one with natural peanut butter and 1/2 a banana.

Do you weigh all your food and track the numbers when it comes to calories of everything you eat? Do you think it is necessary?

No I don’t I stopped in August 2013 🙂

What are your top Nutrition tips?

Balance!!!!

Your body needs fats, carbs and protein so don’t neglect any of them and listen to your body! Don’t do what other people are doing and instead focus on what works for you!

What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes or myths that many girls fall prey to when starting out with training and dieting?

• Low calories and hours of cardio.

I’ve never done any of that but I still ended up rebounding after my show.

Try to do your own research before hiring a coach/trainer because a lot of them will give you a very basic cookie cutter plan that is not designed for you! Google is your best friend 🙂

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your training and on average how long do you workout for?

I like to train non stop! My weight training is also my cardio! You can check out some of my workouts on my Instgram: @ladyfitworkouts.

I train 60 – 120 minutes 6 times a week.

What are your top training tips?

• Mind muscle connection!
• Don’t just go through the motions.
• Really challenge yourself!

How do you measure your progress? And how often?

I barely step on the scale. I measure my progress by how I feel and look in my clothes.

What are your 3 favorite exercises?

• Battle ropes

Great cardio move and it works your core, arms, shoulders and back!

• Ball slams

Ball slams work your entire body! Gets your heart rate up really quick and makes you feel powerful 😉

• Push ups

Great for your upper body and core and I just love the feeling of being able to do push ups because I was very weak before. My favorite push ups are spider-man push ups and tricep push ups

Check out more of Berenice training here: Berenice Salazar | Training Clips

What advice would you give the ladies to developing a flat tummy?

Find a balance between weight training, cardio, and your nutrition. You have to have all 3 to see amazing results!

Do you incorporate cardio into your training?

I like:

• Ball slams
• Sprints
• Battle ropes
• Plyometrics for cardio.

I hate machines with a passion :p I can’t seem to stay on a cardio machine for long so I use things I enjoy to keep my heart rate up and burn calories.

Favorite Fitness models or bodybuilders?

My boyfriend Dave Fitzpatrick! He has taught me everything I know 🙂 He pushes me to be the best I can be and I love him for that.

Favorite female fitness icon(s):

Chady Dunmore! Love her and she has a killer physique.

Favorite Quote:

“You are entirely up to you. Make your body. Make your life. Make yourself.”

Advice for someone wanting to change their lifestyle and achieve their ideal physique?

Balance between your goals and life! Don’t let fitness take control and find what makes you happy and just do it 🙂 If you fail then try again and again and again until you find what works for you! Love your body at every stage and take care of your health!

What competitions have you competed in and your placings?

I’ve only competed in one show back in 2012 at the WBFF New England Championships. I competed against 38-40 girls and placed 2nd and earned my PRO card.

Where can people get hold of you?

• Instagram: @ladyfit & @ladyfitworkouts
• Facebook: facebook.com/salazarb2
• Website: Totalfitzness.com