ANNETTE MOUNTFORD

In this episode Celeste speaks with Annette Mountford, an IFBB
Bikini Pro who is also a pole dancing instructor, personal
trainer, and posing coach who also helps women tap into their own
inner strength, and who found and fell in love with bodybuilding
after getting sober alongside her husband.

As always, Celeste starts off the episode by asking Annette about
her pre stage ritual and Annette shares her belief in the power
of mantras, a technique she also likes to teach her posing
clients.

Annette also shares her thoughts on breath work and how she
talks to her clients about the moments right before stage, how to
channel their true source energy and nerves, and how to use them
to positively impact their performance instead of viewing them as
a negative.

From there, Celeste and Annette discuss visualization, and how
visualizing every step of the process, not just the end result
one desires, will help improve one’s overall performance. Celeste
and Annette share many valuable tips when it comes to mindset and
how girls can best prepare themselves before stage, even with the
minute details, for example, getting familiar with as much of the
event environment as possible.

After discussing how Annette prepares her posing clients for
stage, Celeste asks Annette about how much she practices her own
personal routine. Next, Annette talks about her posing business,
A Team, the organic beginning it had and talks about the impacts
and affects she has been working through amidst the Covid-19
situation.

Celeste then asks Annette if there are any pet peeves she has
when it comes to posing and Annette explains why certain shoes
could cause more harm than good. After sharing her insight on
posing shoes, Annette talks about her background in pole dancing
how that has influenced or helped her posing. 

Switching gears from talking all things posing and stage
presence, the women talk about body work and Annette expresses
that she feels it has made a difference in her physique. Annette
shares insight on the concept of giving back to your body and
what that has looked like for her over the years throughout her
competing journey. She talks about the toll training takes on
one’s body and why it is so important to take the time to give
our bodies extra care.

Annette shares an experience she had while traveling with her
sponsor, Magnum, before earning her pro card and relates it back
to her point of the importance of giving back to her body. From
there, Celeste asks Annette about her experiences self-coaching
and what made her decide to take the leap from having being
coached to then coaching herself. Celeste asks Annette about any
roadblocks she experienced while coaching herself and the
strategies she took to approach and overcome those
obstacles. 

Annette opens up and shares more about her and her husbands
background on their struggles with addiction and how their
experiences at the Van Pro Show expo in 2015 was really the
catalyst for them deciding to take charge of their health and get
sober. She shares her husbands struggles with Type 2 diabetes and
how one of his doctors visits was one of a series of “wake up”
moments to the harm that they were causing their bodies. Celeste
then asks Annette to open up about her addictions and how they
manifested in her life.

Annette talks about growing up in Calgary, the lifestyle and
social norms she and her husband were surrounded with, and how
that led to their struggles with addiction. She recounts the
memory of their fifth anniversary and how one “hiccup” of
treating themselves to a bottle of wine with dinner led to years
of relapse.

Celeste asks Annette about the relapse and if her and her husband
sought therapy or support groups during their second attempt to
overcome addiction and stay healthy. Annette explains how her and
her husband tackled their new lifestyle, what mistakes they made
during their first attempt to get sober, and how they adapted
their methods the second time around.

Celeste talks with Annette about any feelings of guilt or
struggles of feeling worthy of the success she achieved with her
health given her past with addiction. From there Annette
discusses how she started working with a coach and how the
experience of prepping for and competing in her first show became
a celebration of her and her husbands sobriety. 

Then, Annette shares her views and opinions on placings and
expectations, walking us through her first national show and what
she learned from that experience. The two women then discuss the
topic of expectations, how bodybuilding should be a celebration,
and the importance of always staying connected to your why. Next,
the conversation transitions into the strategy involved in
competing, touching on why certain competitors continue to
compete in multiple shows despite already having certain
qualifications. While discussing all things strategy, Celeste
asks Annette to share an analogy she uses when it comes to
various aspects of competing, both in prep and the improvement
season.

Annette shares her experiences with a negative post show rebound
where she gained 35 pounds and what that taught her about her
approach to nutrition and supplementation post show. Annette
talks about the importance of understanding ones gut biome and
how competitors should really be aware of and take care of it,
especially when it comes to food sources they choose to eat post
show. 

Celeste then transitions the conversation to Annette’s past and
asks her about her experiences with bullying and how that
affected and influenced her to become the woman she is today.
Annette talks about what it was like moving around a lot growing
up and not having money to afford the same luxuries as her peers
and the toll that took on her self-confidence.

She talks about how she was able to challenge the limiting self
beliefs she had developed from those experiences growing up and
how she loves to help her posing clients overcome that obstacle
in their own lives. Next, Celeste asks Annette more about her
experiences of moving out at sixteen and the logistics of where
she would stay and finding financial stability.

Annette talks about how she fell into the party lifestyle, when
she met her husband and when deciding to completely change their
lives they came to find the beauty in their sobriety. She shares
how that insight shifted her view and mindset on the vision she
now has for A Team posing and decided what it is she really wants
to teach her clients.

Celeste and Annette share a moment to acknowledge one another for
their each other’s visions and their desire to help women in
multiple aspects of life and on topics deeper than just surface
level. Concluding the episode, Celeste asks Annette to share her
best advice for first time competitors and girls on their road to
pro.

CONNECT WITH ANNETTE: PERSONAL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/annette_corvette_ifbbpro/

POSING TEAM: https://www.instagram.com/a_team_posing

CONNECT WITH
CELESTE:IG: www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/

WEBSITE: www.celestial.fit

Time Stamps:
[2:05] Celeste asks Annette her pre stage ritual.

[3:15] Annette shares advice from her pre stage routine that she
also teaches her posing clients.

[4:00] Celeste and Annette talk about breath work and nervousness
before stepping on stage.

[7:00] Celeste and Annette discuss the importance of
visualization.

[10:00] Annette shares some tips for what to do during athlete
check ins or the night before the show to best familiarize
yourself with the competition environment.

[12:50] Celeste asks Annette how much she practices her personal
posing routine.

[14:30] Annette talks about the organic start to her posing
business and how it has been impacted with COVID-19.

[20:20] Celeste asks Annette to share some of her posing pet
peeves.

[24:00] Celeste asks about Annette’s background in pole dancing
and if that has helped her approach to posing.

[25:20] Annette talks about the importance of body work and the
difference it has made in her aesthetics.

[28:30] Annette shares an experience she had with her sponsor
Magnum and how that relates to her point of giving back to
yourself & your body.

[32:00] Celeste asks Annette about her experiences with coaches
and Annette shares how she eventually became self-coached.

[34:30] Celeste asks Annette about the typical prep roadblocks
she expected to experience and how she approached them while
coaching herself.

[41:45] Celeste asks Annette to share her experiences with
addiction and how it manifested in her life.

[49:00] Celeste asks Annette if she and her husband sought
therapy and support groups while working to overcome their
addiction and stay healthy.

[52:20] Annette shares if she ever doubted she belonged in the
community or that she was worthy of the success she achieved with
her health.

[57:00] Annette talks about her feelings and opinions on placing
and expectations, sharing her experiences of her first national
show.

[60:30] Celeste relates to Annette’s experiences and elaborates
on the importance of connecting to her why in terms of
competing.

[64:40] Celeste and Annette talk about strategy behind continuing
to compete despite having particular qualifications.

[69:00] Celeste asks Annette to share an analogy she relates to
competing, in terms of during prep and the period post
show.

[73:30] Annette shares insight on her post show approach with
nutrition and supplementation.

[85:00] Celeste asks Annette about her childhood and her
experiences with bullying, how that affected her and influenced
her to become the woman she is today.

[94:00] Celeste has Annette share more about her experiences of
moving out at sixteen and how she figured out where to go and how
to build up her finances.

[98:00] Annette talks about the mindset work she does and how she
applies that to the goals and visions she has for herself and her
future.

[103:00] Annette shares her best advice for new competitors and
girls on their road to pro.