ANNETTE MOUNTFORD; Celebrating Sobriety, Do's & Don'ts of Posing, Self-Coaching Approach, Gut Biome Post-Show, Leaving Expectations at Home

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.

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