Lifting changed Ariella Grinberg’s life.

In an interview with Women’s Health, Ariella Grinberg told her fitness story and encourages more women to lift.

Ariella grew up playing sports, and after college pursued some of the more typical female training like running and spin classes. She says her diet consisted of salads and lean meats, but she only ate twice a day.

“I never really knew what foods would help build muscle or were good for losing weight.”

Four years ago at a New York Sports Club, she approached a personal trainer, Jay, who offered her a free session and later became her husband.

After some weight training with Jay, Ariella got hooked:

“After only a few weeks I could see a change in the tightness of my body—something running and spin could never do. I decided to put my cardio workouts on the back burner and see where weight lifting could take me.

“I used to do 500 to 1,000 crunches, four times a week, and always had a flat stomach, but it wasn’t until I started lifting that I actually had abs.”

A few months later, Ariella quit her job of four years to pursue her own company – the online athletic apparel boutique, Ella’s Sidewalk.

She also decided to enter a bodybuilding competition.

“My first goal was simply to not fall off the stage while I strutted around in the smallest bikini I had ever seen. My second goal: to place in the top five.”

This was when Ariella had her first encounter with serious application of nutrition.

“I had never measured food, did not own a food scale, only ever made chicken cutlets, hated fish, and loved condiments. Overnight, I was eating tilapia, 99 percent lean ground turkey, using only mustard and hot sauce for flavor and had more asparagus in a week than I had had in my entire life. Luckily, following this eating plan was only stressful the first time around. Going into the second season of competing, I could take on prep with my eyes closed.

“I was absolutely terrified during my first show, but the high I felt afterwards was amazing—I placed second!”

Now Ariella has competed in six shows in two years and launched a new business. She says:

“I am shocked that two years later, this is such a strong part of my life. I live and breathe it and I have a new goal to become an International Federation of Bodybuilding PRO, which I feel like I am actually capable of achieving.”

She says the greatest gift bodybuilding has given her is confidence:

“I love being approached by other women who feel encouraged by seeing me and want to ask me questions. It isn’t a man’s world and we are proof of that!”

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