What is my favorite part about my athlete features? When I just happen to be looking through facebook and someone catches me eye. I take a closer look, and think WOW! I of course rely on coaches and other competitors to help point people out to me since we have SO MANY competitors! But when I can find someone I had never seen nor heard of before, and I see star potential in them? Well… I love it!
That being said, I came across TBA athlete Theresa Laton-Depasquale and it seemed the more I learned about her, and the more pictures I saw, the more I was impressed with her. Beauty, brains, style, grace, elegance, inspirational… this woman is pretty remarkable. Yet my FAVORITE word? HUMBLE! I am not sure that this woman would have ever contacted me to feature her had I not stumbled upon her. That, to me, makes her even more rare. Her physique is incredible, and she is absolutely beautiful. YET also has children and is a loving and devoted wife. And even better? Commits herself to helping others!
I highly suggest you keep an eye on Theresa, because she is a star on the rise for sure, and I am certain that she will be a favorite amongst photographers since the BEST way to gauge a womans true beauty is when her candid family pictures show her just as beautiful as her professional pictures. I am excited to see Coach Doug work his magic with this one, and to follow her… https://www.facebook.com/theresa.latondepasquale, https://www.facebook.com/VibeFit, www.FitmomDiaries.com
Theresa Laton-Depasquale
“Who would have thought? Here I am, in the best shape of my life, part of the amazing team Total Body Advantage, training to compete on a stage in front of thousands of people, in less than 8 weeks at the Worlds show in Las Vegas! If you told me I would be doing this 5 years ago I would have laughed and said ‘ yah, sure” but I am so happy I have gained the knowledge and confidence to compete in this sport…and I am LOVING every minute of it. Getting to the place I am at now has been a long winding road and I know my journey has really just begun!
Growing up, I was fairly active in sports and competed in gymnastics for 12 years; however, I came from a SAD ( Standard American Diet) household so my nutrition and health were not always the best. My family never understood the effects poor nutrition had on our bodies so healthy eating was never a priority for us. It wasn’t unusual for me to drink 6 sodas a day, eat fried fast foods often and live off of cheap, processed convenient snacks. And while I never understood the connection at that time, my body responded appropriately to the food I ate.… I was hyper active, I couldn’t focus, I got chronic sinus infections, allergies and acne. Then, once I stopped sports at the age of 17 my weight ballooned and I gained 25 pounds. To make things worse, like many people, I believed taking medications to mask the symptoms I was experiencing was helping me. I was even taking prescribed stimulant medication for my ADHD! I was the EPITOME of poor health.
It wasn’t until a few years later, when I studied human biology in college, that I realized I was actually doing this TO MYSELF. I couldn’t believe how profound the effects of food and exercise are to our bodies so I decided to make a huge change; I started working out, ditched the soda and fast foods, tried to incorporate as many whole foods as possible, took supplements… and the results, well, they were nothing short of amazing! My skin cleared up, I lost weight, I felt better, I barely got sick.. and the best part … I could focus again- without taking medications! This new state of health inspired me to learn more and more and I became obsessed with health and nutrition. I read TONS of books and learned even more about the best ways to work out and eat for different goals. I became a walking testimony for my new found lifestyle.
Fast forward a couple of years, I met and married my amazing husband and we had our first child, Vincent. I decided being a stay at home mommy wasn’t really my thing so I decided to follow my passion and I opened my first health club, VIBE Fit Club, in Tampa. That was it; I knew I had found my calling in life…. to inspire and motivate others to become healthy and fit and transform their lives just like I had. Now several years and another beautiful baby girl later, I am still following my dreams to become the best version of me and help others, especially other mom’s, realize they can do the exact same thing. We have had such success with our members at VIBE that I found myself as the go to person for so many women and moms around the Tampa Bay Area wanting to know how to get back in shape, how to get their families healthy and how to manage all of their different priorities and still have time to take care themselves. In fact, I had so many questions and requests coming in about diet/exercise/health topics that I couldn’t keep up with responding! So I recently decided to start my own blog www.FitmomDiaries.com where I journal my food and workouts, post my favorite recipes ( kid approved) and share my fitness and fat loss advice to help other women learn how to stay fit and healthy while managing their priorities and still being a great mom/wife/girlfriend/sister. So far I have gotten an amazing response which makes everything I do totally worth it! If I can inspire even just one
mom to make healthy changes for her AND her family, my job is done. I’m hoping that my new journey of competing will show women that anything is possible if you are willing to believe it is and work hard.
I am very thankful I have such a supportive family and group of friends behind me! I’m looking forward to my WBFF debut at the Worlds in Las Vegas!”
