Bernadett (38)
Personal Trainer
Ormond Beach, FL
Born and raised in Hungary, Bernadett was never allowed to workout. As a child she would lie to her parents that she was spending time with friends, but she was secretly running laps at school and at 16 –years-old she was a power lifter. Without a foreseeable professional future in Hungary, she moved to the United States. Upon arrival, she met and fell in love with her life-partner Michael who happened to also be her coach for powerlifting competitions. They have been together for 15 years and have a 12-year-old son, Aiden. Bernadett was a “chunky” child. After seeing herself in a bathing suit at 16, she vowed to change her body and thus her obsession began. Not only does Bernadett work a minimum of 15 hours a day personal training and coaching, but she also does at least 4 hours of training herself…every day! She is the former European Power Lifting Champion and is currently an IFBB Pro competitor. Bernadett wants to eventually make it to the Olympia stage. After turning pro, she was overtraining so much that she started to run out of energy. To supplement her fatigue, she started taking b12 injections and drinking multiple coffees and energy drinks a day. This toxic cocktail ended up shutting down her Adrenal gland, destroying her thyroids, and causing her to develop Hashimoto’s disease and now suffers from extreme hypothyroidism. Bernadett takes a massive amount of supplements in attempt to re-regulate her body; including amino acids, glucosamine, DHEA, fish oil, selenium, red rice yeast, niacin, 7dhketo, garlic, CoQ10, a probiotic, and of course “all the basic vitamins.”
Bernadett’s addiction to exercise was also a major factor that lead to the end of her marriage with Michael. She wasn’t a present wife and had to choose between her athletic career and being a wife and mother. It was a major conflict and Michael and Bernadett decided to part ways. Now, the couple is legally divorced but they are starting to re-form their relationship. They co-parent their son and are now working to see if a romantic partnership is possible. Michael is still in the fitness industry, owning the personal training business with Bernadett, but he allows himself to enjoy things like pizza, and chastises Bernadett when she sleeps at the gym to get in extra workouts. Bernadett wishes that Michael could just understand that “she can’t stop” her obsessive behavior.
Bernadett spends over $1,200 a month on her fitness lifestyle. She has been known to cancel personal training clients so she would have more time to work out, creating a financial strain. Bernadett spends her every waking moment thinking about her physique and striving for perfection, so much so, that she sought out plastic surgery. The doctor nearly laughed in her face when she asked him to give her “narrower hips.” After a competition a judge suggested she get a breast enhancement, Bernadett immediately got 700cc implants; however, her new chest has not helped to improve her scores on stage.
Bernadett claims that her son Aiden is her #1 priority and her body is second, but she does admit that her fitness lifestyle and even her fitness business are a 24/7 job. She spends so much time at the gym that she is missing out on her son’s childhood. She takes him to the gym and is doing everything she can to get him into the fitness industry. Michael doesn’t agree with this and would prefer he have a more normal childhood. Aiden will soon be a teenager approaching what could be rebellious years. It may already be too late for Bernadett to keep her son from acting out due to their lack of truly bonded relationship. Bernadett’s family is close to crisis and she has already damaged her body so much that it could be beyond repair. At only 38, she needs a drastic change or her life is likely to be cut short.