{"id":258,"date":"2017-08-29T22:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/?p=258"},"modified":"2017-09-02T00:40:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T00:40:01","slug":"cyndi-besters-inspiring-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/?p=258","title":{"rendered":"Cyndi Bester’s Inspiring Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyndi Bester – Survivor, Business Woman, Concert Pianist (with a Master’s Degree in Music), and #Fitmom with an INSPIRING story… This is DEFINITELY worth reading!<\/b><\/h3>\n

“This is a journey that has had its ups and downs. And I’m not referring to my moment on stage.<\/p>\n

Many people ask me why I would start competing past the age of 40. I want to share a little piece of my story.<\/p>\n

I have had a challenging chronic illness for 30 years. An illness that has no cure. The news of this disease, floating through my body, came when I was 13.<\/p>\n

At that age I had the belief that I could beat it and come out victorious. However, each year brought me to the hospital “resort” for at least 1 month of the year.<\/p>\n

In my late teens and early 20’s I would joke about how my New Year’s Eve dancing partner was my IV pole. It never failed. Christmas would come and go and then I would get to make new friends at the resort.<\/p>\n

I would have a spring, fall and winter retreat.<\/p>\n

People always asked me why and how I stayed so positive. I would reply “I have a purpose on this earth.”<\/p>\n

Then the big one hit. I was told I had 6 months to live. There I was in bed – 22 years old – central line running through my chest and a pain pump to manage moments of pain that were overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Then the most amazing man walked through my door. A doctor assigned to my case. He looked at me and said “you are that girl…the girl who plays the piano in the air.”<\/p>\n

At first I thought “Oh my Heavens! How is this guy going to help me?”<\/p>\n

He could tell I was at a bit of a loss with his words and proceeded to tell me that he watched me on a flight from Calgary to Kelowna “practise” the piano – the entire flight.<\/p>\n

I started to laugh. I knew the exact flight he was talking about and the reason I was practising. I had a very important recital coming up and was using every moment I could to practise.<\/p>\n

He then did the usual head to toe routine and outlined some of my options.<\/p>\n

Before he finished he asked me where my piano music was …”why aren’t you practising. It would help with your pain control.”<\/p>\n

My mom brought in my music that night and within a month I was able to leave the hospital.<\/p>\n

My music healed me.<\/p>\n

I continued to have some ups and downs throughout my 20’s and early 30’s, but I learned to work “life” around my resort schedule.<\/p>\n

Then the year I turned 35, I ended up at the resort early. In November. And it felt like I was 22 again. The same threat of not leaving the hospital was suggested.<\/p>\n

This time I had a different male visitor. My 4 year old son.<\/p>\n

He came to my bedside and held my hand and asked me. “Mom. Are you going to die?”<\/p>\n

Nothing shoots faster through your heart than a question like that from your child.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t lie to him.<\/p>\n

What I did say was that I would do everything within my power to get healthy and come home.<\/p>\n

On December 24th I checked myself out of the hospital and went home to be with my boys for Christmas.<\/p>\n

That was the year I knew I had to combine my positive mental attitude with a positive physical attitude.<\/p>\n

I searched out some assistance and turned towards a friend of mine who was very active in the fitness community. We started slowly, working with a healthy diet and simple weight training.<\/p>\n

My stamina had taken a beating and I was happy when I could finally reach the 20 minute mark on the treadmill.<\/p>\n

The next couple of years I was able to cut my resort stays down to 2 weeks a year and extend my treadmill time to 45 minutes. I went from being able to dead lift 30 pounds to 110 pounds.<\/p>\n

I reached the entrance of my fourth decade and was feeling strong on the inside and looking stronger on the outside.<\/p>\n

I now faced a new challenge – the loss of my sixteen year marriage. My body and mind went into shock and I could feel my gains slip away.<\/p>\n

I still had my piano to turn towards, but the weights felt heavy again. I remember looking at myself in the mirror and knowing that I must press forward.<\/p>\n

My fingers could not be the only thing getting exercise on my body. I could not let my body shut down again. I had my boys to raise.<\/p>\n

I started to work with Impact Nutrition. The style of training and discipline was exactly what I needed. I have always been competitive in nature and decided to push myself forward and prepare for a competition.<\/p>\n

Under the supervision of my doctor and my trainer, I first competed in May 2014, and placed 5th in Master’s Bikini with NPAA. Not bad for a first timer.<\/p>\n

That Fall, I planned on hitting the stage again. I had pushed my body to limits it had not experienced and I was tired. The morning of the competition I hit with a couple of stumbling blocks. I received a message asking me not to walk on stage because I would “embarrass” myself if I did. Negatives words about something I had worked very hard to accomplish.<\/p>\n

On top of this personal shut down, my hips felt like they were going to fall off. My pain management was not as under control as I would have liked.<\/p>\n

I did the morning show and trembled my way through. My coach, Justin, encouraged me and reminded me how far I had come.<\/p>\n

By the evening show, I was able to tune out the negative message, listen to the piano music in my head, and walk off stage with 2nd place in Masters.<\/p>\n

This past year, I have only had a one night stay at the resort.<\/p>\n

I was not able to avoid time with my IV pole dancing partner, but I was able to avoid a central line and surgery.<\/p>\n

Now, two years after my first competition, I have now qualified to compete at the Canadian Bodybuilding Federation – CBBF!<\/p>\n

With a body, mind and spirit that is strong.<\/p>\n

My doctor believes bringing resistance training into my daily routine has helped me build a stronger inside. A body that has hit a stage of remission.<\/p>\n

My positive mental attitude has kept my spirits high throughout this journey. The challenge was linking positive energy from my conscious to my subconscious and connecting mental and physical strength.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t just conceive it. I had to believe that I was going to get better and live out my purpose.<\/p>\n

If you want to make an Impact with your body you have to have a team that believes in making an Impact in your life. That is what Justin Wilson<\/a> and his team does. Gen Hofman<\/a> thank you for your weekly support, and Brittany Warner<\/a> thank you for helping me bring it on in the last couple of weeks.”<\/p>\n

–Cyndi Bester<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Cyndi Bester – Survivor, Business Woman, Concert Pianist (with a Master’s Degree in Music), and #Fitmom with an INSPIRING story… This is DEFINITELY worth reading! “This is a journey that… Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testimonials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impactnutrition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}