Claudia Weidman

I attribute my success to resilience, discipline, and a lifelong commitment to continuous improvement. As a child, I was always naturally very thin, and although I ate well, I was often perceived as weak and was bullied, which pushed me early on to prove my strength and capability. That experience led me into gymnastics and dance, and eventually into competitive bodybuilding, where I developed structure, consistency, and the mindset to push beyond limits. I began bodybuilding before my son was born, stepped away for about 14 years while raising him as a single parent and managing shift work, and then returned to the sport with renewed focus when he was a teenager. Since then, I have remained fully committed, using competition goals as motivation and always striving to be my best on stage rather than settling for less. My experience in law enforcement further strengthened my ability to stay focused under pressure and perform through fatigue, and across all areas of my life I have learned how to self-motivate on difficult days while maintaining sight of the bigger picture. That combination of mental toughness, adaptability, and an unwavering standard of excellence is what has driven my success.

I do make time for me, because like you said, I do wear many hats and I feel like I'm everybody's psychiatrist at times. It is draining, but I make sure that I make time for me. I meditate, go for a walk, I put my headphones on and I zone out everything. It's just me and my music. When I'm at the gym, that's my time, unless my son needs something. He's 28, but if he calls and he needs something, I'll drop whatever I'm doing. Everything else can wait. Just give me an hour, just to me, so that I can be the best person that I need to be for everybody else. I believe everybody needs that, especially when it comes to new moms, young moms. I was a single mother, and I also was a police officer for 18 years at the same time, so I know what it's like. I never took time for me, but I had to learn how to do that - even if it's just 30 minutes or an hour a day. I stress this to everybody, men and women: do something that you like every day, even if it's just go for a walk. If it's raining out, just sit and listen to the rain. Listen to the birds, enjoy the sun on your face. That's how I bring myself back. When I was living in Central Florida in Cocoa Beach, every day I walked on the beach unless it was freezing cold or raining, either in the morning before work or at night. I loved going at night with a flashlight. It was wonderful.