Bikinis After Babies

In this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, Gillian sits down with her son Brady, a 17 year old up and coming amateur bodybuilder and wrestler, and they discuss, from his perspective, what it has been like growing up as the child of a bikini competitor, particularly, one with a public persona online.   As a mother and a competitive bodybuilder, you're living a life that requires incredible dis...

In this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, we are joined by newly crowned IFBB Bikini Pro Julie DeLuca. Julie is a single mom of 4 children who shares her exciting journey to earning her pro card in her 40’s!  Julie talks about how she got started in fitness as a professional cheerleader turned crossfit athlete and how she became dedicated to the pursuit of earning her climbing the ranks on t...

In this episode of Bikinis After Babies, we are recapping all the fun of show weekend following the Indy Pro Super Show and the NPC Missouri State!  Gillian stepped on stage in her second pro show and shares all the details of the experience, the outcome, judge feedback and how she is strategizing a game plan for her next competition!  Both of us coached athletes this past weekend and shared not o...

Welcome back to another episode!  This week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies is full of updates!!  Gillian is back from Denver Colorado after competing in her first IFBB Bikini Pro show, the Mile High Pro, and Mandy has also returned from Colorado where she underwent a very successful egg retrieval procedure!  Gillian reflects on her experience at her first pro show and how it differed from prior...

In this week’s episode of Bikini’s After Babies, we sit down and catch our audience up to speed on what we have been up to on our very different journeys!  Mandy shares the progress in her IVF journey while Gillian has updates on her preparations for her IFBB pro bikini debut. We asked our audience to share questions that they had and touch on several topics in this episode including: Should you s...

In this episode of Bikini's After Babies, we welcome Hannah Rapesse, a certified stomach vacuum coach.  Hannah is the founder of “A Waist in Time” and through her coaching practice, she helps her clients to restore their core control and achieve a small waist line through a unique method of exercise and breathing techniques.  In this episode, we dive deep into the benefits of vacuum training, and...

On this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, we are joined by Shayla Hunt, a rising star in the NPC Fit Model Division.  Shayla, who has been referred to as the “prototype” has already claimed three Fit Model overall titles this season, shares her unique journey from bikini and figure to fit model, and the challenges she faced along the way, including a serious health scare after following a da...

On this week’s episode we are back on the mic after an exciting weekend seeing friends, past clients and coaching our incredible team of competitors at the NPC Midwest Championships in St Louis!  We’re catching you up on what we’ve been up to: Mandy’s growing farm and Gillian’s prep for her IFBB bikini pro debut in just over a month’s time! As coaches, we share some insight into how we help our at...

On this week’s episode we are joined by IFBB Bikini Pro Marisa Ross, a woman with an incredible story of resilience and determination.  Marisa is a wife and mother of 3 who earned her IFBB pro card at her second competition, NPC Masters Nationals in 2023.  Marisa wasted no time getting her feet wet in the pro league and took home a pro win just the next year in the Masters Pro 50+ division at the...

In this week’s episode, we are discussing the mental aspects of bodybuilding, including the emotional struggles that can arise during prep, such as anxiety and depression.  We touch on many aspects of mental health as an athlete including The impact of hormonal changes How prep can cause a feeling of loneliness for some The impact of fatigue on mood and emotions Quality sleep and how sleep affects...

 In this week’s episode, we are discussing the challenges of managing time and responsibilities while balancing fitness goals, family life, and work.  We share our experiences and the practical tips that we have incorporated over the years as we learned how to manage our time and responsibilities while preparing for our bodybuilding competitions.  We hope that in today’s episode of Bikinis After B...

In this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, we welcome IPE Bikini Pro Jennifer Nutter to discuss her journey in natural bodybuilding, including her experience as an athlete in different  bodybuilding federations.  Jennifer shares her personal story of paving her way to multiple bikini overall titles across the different federations and the importance of remaining a natural athlete as she pursu...

In this solo episode of Bikini's After Babies, host Gillian Hughes discusses her journey in bodybuilding as a mom of 5, and the impact of her career in bodybuilding on her blended family.  She shares insights on how to navigate the challenges of balancing personal goals with family dynamics, raising teenagers and supporting their growth and struggles with body image, dealing with social media and...

Have you ever felt held back by self sabotage and unable to progress due to the pressure and high or unreasonable expectations you have placed on yourself and your competition prep journey?  In this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, we are diving deep into the struggle of self sabotage and discussing how pressure and expectations can lead to self-doubt and derail progress on a competitor's j...

Have you ever questioned why the things you have always done to lose fat, stay fit, get stage ready just don’t seem to work anymore?  Are you in midlife and concerned that these changes in your body could impact your competition prep or overall health?  On this week’s episode we are again joined by IFBB Bikini Pro Simone Maman from Balance and Body Diagnostics and diving deep into the topic of per...

On this week’s episode we are joined by IFBB Bikini Pro Simone Maman from Balance and Body Diagnostics!  Simone is a wife, a mom of 5 and is a Functional Health Practitioner, Holistic and Sports Nutritionist, and Eating Psychology Coach.  Simone earned her IFBB bikini pro card in 2013 at the Canadian Natural Pro Qualifier, and while Simone had previously decided to retire from competitive bodybuil...

In this week’s episode of Bikinis After Babies, we are talking about something we ALL tend to talk about at SOME point in our fitness journey- weight gain!  We are discussing our failed reverses, how to execute and strategize your offseason and the need for a healthy mindset and body image during your time away from the stage as a competitor.  We are diving deep into the complexities of an athlete...

In this episode of Bikini is After Babies, we are answering your burning questions in our January Q&A!  We cover our tips for traveling through airport security with prep food, the truth about supplements and which ones we have found most valuable to our fitness journey and share how we lost the baby weight back in the day with our post-partum fitness secrets!  We also touch on how an experien...

In our first episode of 2025, we are discussing the various women’s divisions in the NPC from Bikini and Fit Model divisions to Wellness and Figure!   We discuss the differences in what the judges are looking for and how this criteria determines how athletes should train to bring exactly what the judges are looking for!   We hope that you enjoyed this episode, and if so, we would LOVE it if you wo...

In this week’s episode, we begin by discussing the announcement of the NEW NPC category coming to the stage in 2025- the “Fit Model” division!  We also discuss the Bikini International invite list for 2025 and share our thoughts about the growth of the women’s dvisions in the NPC! This week as we are right in the middle of the holiday season, we are also sharing our “non negotiables” for staying o...

In this week’s episode, we are discussing a hot topic among both our prep and lifestyle clients:  GUT HEALTH!   We are sharing insight into this complex subject and how stress, dietary choices, sleep quality and other lifestyle factors impact digestion, especially for women.  While we always recommend consulting a physician if you have any health concerns, in this episode we are sharing some pract...

In today’s episode we are celebrating the ONE YEAR anniversary of our VERY FIRST EPISODE!!  It has been an incredible journey, one that both of us have loved to our core, and we are sharing all of the lessons learned and highlighting some of our favorite moments from this first year of “Bikinis After Babies” As we venture into our second year of the podcast, we would love to hear MORE of what YOU,...

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Jamie Sterling, a wife and mother of 2 and IFBB/NPC promoter of the Indy Pro Super Show, one of the biggest NPC and IFBB shows in the Midwest!  Jamie shares with our audience how her fitness journey began and how she accomplished a 100 lb weight loss to find her way to the NPC national stage!  We learn all the behind the scenes of how a show as grand as the...

In today’s episode we are comparing and contrasting the differences between prepping before and after babies and prepping as an open competitor versus as a masters competitor.  We discuss the challenges balancing fitness, career, friends/family, and competition as well as our personal experiences of competition prep at different phases in life.  We touch on hormones,  metabolism, social media pres...

In today’s episode, we are joined by a special guest, IFBB Bikini Pro Brittany Schrempp!  A brand new bikini pro, Brittany is a mama of 3, a wife, a certified Functional Nutritionist and Exercise Physiologist and coach who earned her pro card this past summer at the 2024 NPC North Americans after numerous regional overall wins and 6 national shows!  Brittany shares how her battle with postpartum d...