Mother of 5 goes from overweight to bodybuilding competition

KUSA - In 2006, Mary Lynch went to her doctor for a yearly checkup. What she heard wasn't good: her numbers in every "bad" category were skyrocketing. The working mom needed to do something about her health.

Over the next two years, Mary lost 30 pounds doing her own thing at the gym. Her numbers went down, as did her weight and body fat. But, she wanted to do a little more.

Mary asked a personal trainer and a nutritionist to get her ready for a bodybuilding show that was 5 months away. So, her trainer and nutritionist put the 45 year old on a strict weight lifting, cardio and diet regime.

Nutrition changed dramatically for Mary. She ate lean proteins, lots of veggies and very specific carbs. She lifted weights, heavy weights with a lot of sets and different exercises per body part. Mary trained hard with the weights but also threw in a lot of cardio workouts, sometimes twice a day. All this while working part time and raising five children between the ages of 12-20. Thankfully, her kids and husband Dave were all very supportive on her journey.

Mary likes to say she "rearranged" her body. She is the same body weight in October as she was in May, but her body fat went from 23% to 11%. One look at her most recent picture and the results are obvious. To see Mary's interview with Susie Wargin for the latest 6:20 Sidebar, visit the link to the right of this page.

You can see Mary and all the other athletes on stage competing for the Natural Colorado title. Be inspired to start your own training regimen at the NPC Axis Labs Natural Colorado Open, Saturday, October 25, 2008 at Teikyo Loretto Heights. The bodybuilders will be on at 7 p.m. while figure and fitness begins at 5 p.m. If you can't make the night show, stop by for prejudging in the morning. Get all the information, tickets, and a poster at www.jefftaylor.com .

* Melissa Taylor contributed to this article.