About Maureen Elizabeth

My name is Maureen Elizabeth.  I am a competitive bodybuilder, and I have been modeling for 5+ years.  My fitness journey started in 2015.  I was struggling with my weight.  It didn't seem to matter what I did, or how much cardio I did.  The number of calories I took in per day didn't seem to matter either.  If I ate whatever I want or if I ate clean, I was still gaining weight.  I gave up sugar and artificial sweeteners, dairy, high-fat foods, and pretty much anything that tasted good.  Even with all this, I was still gaining weight and none of my clothes fit.  I was at the point where I was using button extenders on my jeans so that I didn't have to buy more pants in yet another size.  It was truly frustrating.  That was when I finally asked my doctor for a referral to a personal trainer.  That was one of the BEST investments that  I have ever made in myself.  I started with a personal trainer once a week.  After a few months, I was training with my trainer three times a week.  It was then that he asked me if I wanted to do a competition.  Not nearly understanding what was involved, I was all in.  I had no idea about the adventure and journey that I was about to embark on. 

About 6 months after I started training,  I started my very first cut.  I had started at 170lbs and when I got down to 122 pounds.  It was then that I found a lump in my breast. I was so fortunate that I had done a self-exam because the scans could not see the mass.  Neither the mammogram nor the ultrasound were able to see it.  It was very fortuitous that the lump could be felt because it meant that they could do a biopsy in the general area, as the scans could not locate the mass.  As it turns out, it was breast cancer.   I hate to think what would have happened if I had never signed up to do a competition.  Without the diet and the fat loss, I would not have found that lump.  There was no pain or discomfort and no signs or symptoms.  I was only 45 at the time and I ended up having to make some tough decisions.  Either a double mastectomy and reconstruction or a lumpectomy.  The chance that the cancer would occur in the other breast without the mastectomy was 45%.  There was also a 45% chance that they would not get all the cancer if they did a lumpectomy, and I would have to do a second surgery to get whatever cancer had been missed.  Given these facts,  I opted for the double mastectomy and reconstruction.  It was a very good choice, because my surgeon told me, after my surgery, that they would not have gotten all the cancer with just the lumpectomy. Because of the cancer, a year later I also had to have a total abdominal hysterectomy as the doctors feared that I would get uterine cancer as well.   So here it is, 3 surgeries and 8 years later, and I am thriving and doing great.    One of the things that has been especially helpful in my recovery has been continuing to compete and modeling (both of which include working out and nutrition).  I did my first photoshoot in 2017, not even a year after my second surgery.  My first, second, and third photo shoots were all absolutely awkward.  It made me highly uncomfortable.  It was then that I thought, I should do this again because it pushes me outside my comfort zone.  Turns out, I absolutely love doing the photoshoots.  

For those of you who have never done a photoshoot, it is a very vulnerable experience.  You can take a million selfies, but that is nothing like doing a professional photoshoot.  To have a successful photo shoot, requires connecting with the camera/photographer.   To be able to connect with the camera/photographer, I found that, for me, it required me to be comfortable in my own skin.  It required, in my opinion, a certain amount of healthy self-esteem and maybe a little bit of healthy ego.  It taught me that I couldn’t look in the mirror and think terrible things about how I looked if I truly saw and felt my own self-worth.  Being in front of the camera is much like looking in a mirror.  It is a reflection of you and you’d be amazed at what the photos capture.  When I saw my photos, I got a little glimpse, for the first time in my life, of (perhaps) how other people see me....  what it is that they see that I don't see for myself.   For me, it was such an important part of my healing process.  It taught me how to love the body 

that I live in every day.  

Having cancer made me grateful that I was still here on this earth and to live every day to the fullest.  Doing photoshoots taught me how to live in, and love, this body that cancer had changed forever.  Going through cancer is a traumatic experience.  There are certain things that I learned going through this process that I will never forget.  It also made me really want to help other people.  So while I was going through my cancer treatment, I also went to school.  I became a personal trainer, I got a life coach/mentoring certification and I also became a certified nutrition professional.  With all these skills and over 100,000 pictures later, I became a model-posing coach and stylist.  I love teaching and helping people.  It makes me happy to see others thrive, learn, and get better.  I absolutely love being a whole health wellness coach because it gives me the ability to help women feel good about themselves and this empowers them.   To me, that’s what this journey has been about.  When I got cancer, I never asked ‘Why me?’ because I knew that there was a reason and a purpose as to why I had got cancer.  That reason and the purpose weren't clear for a while, but it is crystal clear now. I am here on this earth to help other people work their way through trauma (any trauma) and come out feeling great about themselves.  Whether the helping is through personal training, posing, styling, or life coaching, it doesn't matter. My goal is to help empower you with your journey to whole health and vibrant living!