YOU'RE NEVER STUCK

At 57, Wendy Ida became a competitive bodybuilder. Now 73, she believes MINDSET IS EVERYTHING.

- SHANNEN ZITZ

When I was in my early 30s, I decided I needed a change in my life. I had gotten out of a toxic relationship and moved across the country, from New Jersey to California, but in many ways I still felt like the version of myself I had wanted to leave behind.

I was fearful of everything—of my ex, of starting over with two young children. I had no confidence, was 80 pounds overweight, and felt as if it was too late, like I'd been cheated out of the life I could have had.

The generation of relatives who had come before me had struggled with their weight and their physical health, and I thought that was my destiny in life. But in California I decided to start going to the gym before heading to my new job as a corporate accountant, because that was just what people did there.

I kept at it for a few years, but I was just doing what I saw other people do, and I didn’t really see any changes, physical or mental. Then one day when I was in my early 40s, I met an amazing gentleman and fitness professional, Jim Kelly, who changed my life forever.

He became my personal trainer and introduced me to the power of weight training. My body started changing, and it felt like magic—but more important, my mind started changing too. I began to see that I wasn't stuck, I wasn't old.