By Breeze Rivers |Staff Writer|
With a healthy, statuesque frame, Amanda Lopez, former women’s soccer player will compete in the John Lindsay body physique bikini competition.
On April 8, CSUSB’s very own undergraduate kinesiology major will travel to Culver City to face some of the most physically fit and muscular women from all over the world.
After retiring from her soccer career at CSUSB, Lopez was determined to keep a fit lifestyle.
“I enjoy lifting and I like to be active, so I just thought— Why not do an individual sport where I can be competitive?” explained Lopez.
In the John Lindsay body physique competition, the competitors are strictly judged on appearance.
The judges will look for correct posture, competitor’s muscular tone and how lean they are.
Just 10 weeks out, Lopez is doing all she can to prepare.
Lopez currently works with coach John Vigil, a Vegas-based mentor who provides her with nutrition and workout plans.
Vigil is proud of how far Lopez has come thus far. He loves seeing her results as the process goes on and the competition gets closer.
She demonstrates insane discipline by following an extremely strict diet that requires her to measure all the food she eats on a scale.
“She’s the most dedicated person to fitness that I know,” said Paige Kang, a close friend of Lopez.
“She always makes sure to take time out of her day to hit the gym no matter how busy her days are,” continued Kang.
“Even when we go out to eat, she won’t give into getting an unhealthy item no matter how good it may sound to her,” added Kang.
Meal preparation, often referred to as “meal prepping,” is the process of planning and preparing meals for a period of time usually longer than two days.
Lopez meal preps twice a week to make sure she can eat at least six to seven times a day, while balancing school, homework and getting hours in at the gym.
Her diet includes things like oatmeal, egg whites, ground turkey, Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.
Every morning at 5:30 a.m. she heads to the Rec Center on campus to get in an hour long workout. She manages to do this six times a week.
“The way I eat, it doesn’t give me that much energy so it makes the workouts harder, but it really comes down to mind over matter,” said Lopez.
She has made not only physical but financial sacrifices as well to be able to compete.
“It’s not cheap; the coach, the food, the supplements, the protein, gym gear costs hundreds of dollars,” Lopez said.
She compares the financial aspect to when she was playing soccer as a kid. Her parents were willing to make financial sacrifices for her to play in different soccer tournaments and for club teams.
“It used to cost my parents money to get into those tournaments as a kid, and it’s the same thing for me now,” said Lopez.
Lopez will continue to put in the work necessary to compete in April and have a solid shot at winning the competition.
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