http://www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?093+article+News+20091110162942093093001By STEPHEN THOMAS, Staff Writer
SHEPHERDSVILLE - A Bullitt County native figures to be a hometown favorite in an upcoming fitness competition.
Stephanie Billings will take the stage for the first time as a professional figure competitor during the 2009 KentuckyMuscle Bodybuilding, Figure, and Bikini Championship Finals in Louisville, presented by the International Federation of Body Building and Fitness (IBFF) and the National Physique Committee (NPC).
Billings, 27, is a Bullitt Central graduate, the daughter of Dave Billings and Becky Billings. She earned her pro card during her last competition in New York City, the NPC 2009 Team Universe Class F (based on height) in September. It was her 10th appearance in an officially sanctioned fitness event.
According to Billings, the urge to compete professionally began in 2006 while watching a friend compete. Within a year she had entered her first competition.
Part of Billings’ interest was because of her return to physical fitness. At one point she reached a weight of 180 pounds.
“I was uncomfortable in my own skin,” she said. “It was at that time that I started teaching myself how to eat right.”
Maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly with friends in her new home of Columbus, Ohio, Billings worked off 40 pounds in eight months.
Billings entered her first amateur competition in March 2007, placing fourth in the NPC Northern Kentucky. Her first win came in July at the 2007 NPC Caveman Classic in Missouri.
During her 10 competitions Billings earned three victories, including the 2007 NPC Northern Kentucky, 2008 NPC Indianapolis Championship and the NPC 2009 Team Universe.
The upcoming event in Louisville will be Billings’ first Kentucky competition since her inaugural event. She was both nervous and excited about coming home.
“My grandparents came to my first show as an amateur, and now they will be able to come to my first show as a pro,” she said. “It’s nice for the family that cannot travel, it gives them the ability to see me compete.”
Billings worked hard to achieve a fitness career that has taken her a long way from her initial dietary and fitness plans for better health.
“Competing is a part of me now,” she said. “It’s what I do. What I love and look forward to. The weeks of training and dieting wrapped up into one day. It’s still an adrenaline rush and it’s still just as exciting as the first time.”
In a sport where body mass is crucial to competition, cheating is a concern. Billings said that temptation has not plagued her career.
“Performance enhancing drugs is not something I feel personally is right for me and not a risk I am willing to personally take for the sake of my long-term health,” she said. “When I think about cheating, I think of it in terms of dieting, and not eating a cookie.”
Billings earned a Bachelor and two Masters Degrees in healthcare administration, her original career. She intends to continue balancing both career choices for as long as possible.
“I want to be on stage in my forties,” she said. “In the future, I think it will all come down to learning how to balance everything that comes my way. Taking each day in stride and prioritizing, but continuing to set goals professionally and personally.”
Billings receives positive feedback and encouragement from her family and close friends for her unusual career decision, one that has garnished some success.
“My Dad always likes to point out that I’m his ‘bodybuilding daughter’. I always like to correct him... I’m a figure competitor. His poking fun is so nice, and I know my accomplishments within competing is something my family is very proud of.”
The 2009 KentuckyMuscle Bodybuilding, Figure, and Bikini Championship Finals will take place Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Kentucky International Convention Center. For more information go to
www.kyconvention.org.
