ATHLETE STORY
ATHLETE STORY
JENNIFER ROBERT
My name is Jennifer Robert. I am new to bodybuilding and did my first competition in Sudbury on May 24, 2025. I thought I would reach out to maybe share my story and inspire others. I competed after losing 225 pounds. I was at my peak weight over 400 pounds. I started my weight loss journey in 2013 and it took me years to just lose the weight and maintain my weight. I started to lift weights in 2015 and started with just 5 pounds weights in my living room.
step on stage and face my fears of showing the world what I looked like then maybe getting out into the real world alone is not so scary.
My story is long and a crazy journey, but I do believe anything is achievable and there are no easy solutions. You just got to show up for yourself everyday.
I didn ' t have bodybuilding as my goal just to tone and feel better. I was going through a lot personally and did not have much support. I was in an abusive relationship with my husband of 25 years, of whom I have three beautiful daughters. Getting healthy and feeling better gave me the courage to make drastic changes in my life. I made an application to the military to become a mechanic in 2022( I am a trained diesel technician) and quietly made plans to leave my marriage. Unfortunately, I fractured my hip in 2 places in the last week of basic training in May 2023 but this unfortunate event became the one defining moment of my life. In recovery, stuck in basic I befriended one of my instructors who encouraged me to get healthy and leave my marriage. He is a bodybuilding coach and with his encouragement I started to train hard. I got out of the military, secured an apartment and went into hiding leaving my marriage behind. I landed a job in the arctic working with a mobile maintenance department in their tool crib and dedicated my time to lifting weights.
Leaving my marriage was harder than expected and I went through some scary times but with the goal of changing my life, I continued to work hard and got on stage in Sudbury.
It was not the best performance or the most poised but for me, it ' s the one thing that gave me hope. If I could just