Meet Christina Silva

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Silva.

Hi Christina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a certified Personal Trainer, Online Fitness & Macronutrient coach, and former Bikini Competitor. I’m typically known for my fun recipes ideas, tips and tricks for living a healthier lifestyle, and mindset development.

I started my fitness journey back in 2012 as soon as I graduated high school. I was a cheerleader and a dancer majority of my life so after high school, I felt like I needed an outlet outside of being in a college student at ASU.

I first started off attending a gym because of Zumba classes but I had no idea how to do anything else in the gym… I had no idea how to use the equipment or how to weightlift properly, I always just felt “stuck” in the same body I’ve had for years.

I would go to the gym, try to work out, I thought I would start seeing some changes but really nothing actually happened because I wasn’t sure what I was doing.

I remember being so nervous to try anything else because I was afraid people would stare at me or judge me for doing exercises wrong. I literally felt lost every time I would go in there because everything and everyone seemed so intimidating to me.

At the time, I was also afraid of eating too much because I thought I would gain weight, I would only eat salads when I would go out to eat because I thought I was being “healthy”. I literally had no clue about nutrition and what kind of “diet” would be right for me because I wasn’t seeing any kind of progress with anything I tried.

Eventually, I started doing more research. I watched so many YouTube videos on the proper form for each exercise and read up on articles on nutrition and what would work best for me. A lot of it was trial and error and eventually, I figured out what actually worked best for my body and how I could actually transform it.

I became so fascinated with the idea of weightlifting and being able to change your body composition with just a few tweaks on your form for exercises and actually doing the movements correctly. I literally fell in love with all of it.

In 2017 I met my first personal trainer who taught me so much more about weightlifting and macros and during that time bikini competitions were very popular so I decided to train for my first show in 2018. I loved it.

During that time, I also knew that I was in the gym the majority of the day anyway so I figured I could make this my job. While I was prepping for my first show, I was also studying to become a certified personal trainer. Now 2021, I’m living out my dream job I never even knew I wanted.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road along the way. In 2018 I was prepping for my first bikini competition and if anyone has ever competed before, you know the physical and mental struggles it has over your body during that time especially in the last few weeks leading up to your show.

It was tough for me because I knew I was studying to become a certified trainer but I was also working a desk job that I hated and working late nights plus prepping for a show doing extreme amounts of cardio and being in the gym majority of the day working out I was so exhausted. But I knew I couldn’t give up because I knew it was going to pay off.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a certified women’s personal trainer and women’s online fitness and macronutrient coach.

I’m known for my fun healthy recipe ideas, showing women that lifting weights is not a “manly” thing to do, and being living proof that you can still live a healthy lifestyle while enjoying the foods that you eat.

I’m most proud of being able to work for myself while meeting incredible strong women on the daily.

What sets me apart from others is how much I really care for my clients. They are like friends to me and I love that relationship I’ve been able to build with them because not only do they continue to make progress along the way, it shows them that I’m not any better than them just because I’m their trainer. I have ups & downs and struggles too and I’m very open about that with them which is why I think it’s been able to work out so well.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
The advice I have for finding a mentor or just networking in general is to be open to asking for advise and be open to asking for the help. I know for me this wasn’t always easy because I’m so used to doing my own thing without asking for guidance but it’s so beneficial to ask around and not be afraid to just genuinely be curious about things. Most of the time people are flattered that you asked for help and will give you all the answers and advice you need and if they don’t, there’s plenty of other people in your field of work that would be happy to help.

Something that’s worked well for me was surrounding myself with people who do the same thing I do. Since I’m a personal trainer, I was always in a gym setting so it was easy for me to gravitate towards people I found interesting and from there, I just asked questions on how to get started. It’s that simple.

Contact Info:

• Email: cmarieefitness@gmail.com
• Website: christinamarieefitness.com
• Instagram: @christinamarieefitness
• Other: www.amazon.com/shop/christinamarieefitness

Image Credits
@prime24photography