Ursula Alberto A Fitness Champion by Ursula Alberto

Ursula Alberto

I have always had an interest in sports and fitness. I remember getting my dad to start jogging with me at the age of 15. I would jog all around the neighborhood and each time I would push myself to see how far I could go. Eventually my dad could not keep up with me.
Then in junior high I decided to run cross country track. After I graduated from high school I started working in a grocery store. One day when I was working I saw a girl at the salad bar who was all cut up. I asked her if she played sports and she told me no, she was dieting for an amateur bodybuilding show. That was it for me. The next day I joined a gym.
Then when I was 23 years old I moved to San Diego with my best friend. I soon joined Gold's Gym in Pacific Beach and that is where I met Pro Bodybuilder Milos Sarcev. I was in complete awe by his physique and his discipline. I had never seen a guy that big and cut in my life. Soon we started dating and 6mos later we got married. Milos was the reason why I started competing. I never saw myself as a fitness competitor but he did. Milos taught me how to train correctly and he taught me how to diet, but more importantly he taught me how to be disciplined and focused. He told me that consistant hard work will pay off and he was right. He trained me for about a year, then in 1993 he entered me into the Regional Ms Fitness USA in San Jose, Calif. I took 1st place.

Then we heard of a fitness show in Florida called the "Ms Galaxy" which consisted of an obstacle course instead of a 2 minute fitness routine. Since I had no dance or gymnastic background we decided that would be a great competition for me to enter. So I entered that show. I started training at the Seals Naval Base in San Diego along with training at the gym and with hard work and perseverance I took the title of Ms Galaxy 1994. I then got a sponsered contract with Met-Rx. The Galaxy was my greatest fitness victory but unfortunately by the following year, Milos and I had divorced.

Ursula Alberto

I ended up moving to West Los Angeles and moving in with Fitness competitor Amy Fadhli. That was a great time because we both were competing in fitness and because we both had such opposite looks we were able help eachother get work and even work together on many projects. I took 2 years off to focus on my training business and my physique.
In 1996 I entered the Women's World Pro Fitness Championships in New York and took 6th place. That was my first fitness competition that I had dieted and trained on my own since my divorce and I can say I wasn't fully confident for that show and it showed in my placing.

At this time I was dating actor Shawn Wayans. Then in 1999 we had our first child Laila, follwed by Ilia in 2002 and then Marlon Wayans in 2004. I decided to stop competing all together and be a stay home mom. Even though I was no longer competing I always kept up with my training and eating healthy. I always made sure to get back in shape after each pregnancy. In 2008 Shawn and I split up.

Ursula Alberto

I now live in Encino with our 3 kids. This past October( 2009) I decided to get back into competition after 14 years. Not knowing where to begin, a friend of mine told me about trainer Kim Oddo. We met and sat down to talk about what would be the best contest to start with after so long. We decided it was best to do a smaller local show. So in March 2010 I entered my first comeback Figure Show, "The Max Muscle Contest" in Culver City. I entered in both the Masters 35+ "C" and the open "C" Figure Class. I place 5th in both classes.

It felt good to be up on stage at the age of 42. It was as if I had never left. My kids were so proud to see me and I liked seeing the transformation of my body over the past years. It was definately a good feeling and I do plan on doing more competitions in 2011. In this business it is never too late to start competing. You just have to have the will, the desire and the discipline and everything else will fall into place.

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