http://www.app.com/article/20081216/NEWS01/812160370/1004/NEWS01By Terry Gauthier Muessig • STAFF WRITER • December 16, 2008
Nothing can keep Lori Gerbereux down — not her near-death experience with anorexia about 23 years ago or her current 5 1/2-year bout with a cancerous brain tumor.
Gerbereux, 43, of Highlands is a bodybuilder who has won international titles and came in second place at a recent world competition.
"I just didn't want to come in last place," Gerbereux said of the competitions she entered.
In June, she participated in the Hercules International Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation competition at a high school in Manhattan. There, she won two titles and was given an inspirational award. The first-place titles were in the lightweight division — Gerbereux weighs 102 pounds — and in the masters division, for competitors age 35 and older.
"I am most proud of the inspiration award," Gerbereux said.
On Nov. 6, Gerbereux participated in the federation's world competition at the same New York high school. She took second place overall. Now she has plans to turn pro.
Gerbereux said she always considered herself an athlete. She was a cross country runner. And she is a bit of a bookworm, spending a lot of time in local libraries. She has an interest in science.
By the time she was 20 years old, she was working as a research toxicologist for Bristol-Myers Squibb in Hillside. It also was when she battled anorexia.
"I knew I had to do something or die," she said, adding she weighed about 65 pounds when she decided to seek help.
Gerbereux set her mind to seeking healthy alternatives. In doing so, she began power lifting and started to build muscles. Her body fat has been measured at 4 percent.
She also was successful in power-lifting events, winning a few local competitions.
She switched to bodybuilding a few years ago.
"I love it," she said.
Gerbereux trains seven days a week at 365 Fitness and Martial Arts Center in Middletown.
Five and a half years ago, she became ill, going blind in one eye and losing her speech. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Gerbereux regained her speech but retains sight in only one eye.
"We are old friends now," she said of her cancer. She has undergone chemotherapy and radiation. In fact, at one of the competitions, she was backstage sick because she had undergone treatments two days before the event.
"I wasn't going to miss the competition," she said.
Although she was sick for an hour or so before going on stage, she managed to get herself together and performed her bodybuilding moves to win the competition.
Gerbereux said she does not dwell on her illness.
Instead, she concentrates on eating healthfully and exercising.
Gerbereux works as a clinical nutritionist and a graphic designer, and she also restores houses and builds furniture.
She conducts nutrition workshops with a concentration on people who are diabetic or who have cancer.
She holds the workshops at the Vitamin Shop on Route 35 in Holmdel.
"I'm still ticking," Gerbereux said. In May, she will participate in her next competition. "I'll be entering the competition as a pro," she said with a smile.
(STAFF PHOTO: MICHAEL SYPNIEWSKI)
Lori Gerbereux is an INBF's Physique competitor
