[Editor’s Note] Liz Maurice is one of our most fascinating Beverly clients. Her success story combines elements of profound sorrow, a slow climb to the top, and a climactic ending in achieving her IFBB Pro Card at the 2002 NPC Nationals.
She lives and works in New York City. She’d spent numerous summer afternoons at the (then) World Trade Center Plaza. She was in midtown when the 9-11 attack occurred experiencing the shock and grief (including the loss of a dear friend) firsthand.
The tragedy is still fresh in her mind, yet life goes on. Liz still lives and works in the city. This, in itself, poses a challenge that many of us do not experience. Try to imagine working long hours in a corporate office, with no car. If you want to go to train you take the subway or bus. Getting your meals in is always a struggle. And … as you start attaining some of your fitness goals … all of the “experts” tell you, you must use drugs or you will not make it to the top.
Fortunately Liz is living proof that you can overcome hardship, stick to your moral principles, and still achieve your goal. Liz is living proof that you do not have to take drugs to achieve your bodybuilding and fitness goals.
Besides attaining her IFBB Pro Card, Liz also won the overall title at the prestigious Monica Brandt BodyRock Fitness Classic. But don’t think that it came easy for Liz. Her dedication, hard work, and self-discipline were responsible for her incredible rise to the top. Just one year earlier she had failed to crack the top fifteen. A year before that she wouldn’t have even thought of entering a national show. Here’s Liz’ story in her own words. S.W.
I ran the 1500 meters, 800 meters and cross country from the seventh grade to post graduate in college. So you see I was never a stranger to “staying in shape”. But after college I entered the real world and started working nearly one hundred hours per week.
To give you a hint of how much faith Liz has in Beverly; she actually totes around a lucky Beverly towel in her gym bag.
Suddenly working out was nowhere near the top of my daily “to do” list. When one of my old college teammates beat me in a race for the first time ever I made a commitment to get back in shape. The fact that I had to keep buying larger and larger dress sizes for work was also a factor. In track, my focus had always been running first and weight training second. Now my training focus became weight training with running as a conditioning tool. Within a year I decided to enter my first fitness competition.
I learned of Beverly International at the 1999 Tri-Fitness in Florida. Sharon Henderson was one of the top bodies there. I kept my eye on her to see if there was something I could learn. Finally, I got up the nerve to ask her for advice. She said she owed her conditioning to her diet and supplement program. She said she was using Beverly supplements. Sharon also said that Beverly showed her how to combine the products with proper nutrition to get the results she wanted. This sounded way too good to be true, but when I got home I called Beverly anyway.
I’d already tried about every other company out there. I was one of those people who believed everything they read in the magazines. What I found was a lot of useless products and too much conflicting information. I didn’t know how to separate the good from the bad or how to put the good components together (diet, exercise – lifting and cardio, and supplementation) and it showed in my physique. Even worse, there was certainly no one from whatever brand of supplements I was using at the time that would or could tell me. > > next page