She went, she saw, she conquered!

What else is there to say about Maria Morrone?

Morrone, who was born in Kamloops and now lives and works in Kelowna, has returned from the Canadian BodyBuilding Federation’s 2010 national figure/fitness championships in Toronto and is spending the weekend in her hometown with her “Mamma.”

The 37-year-old Morrone brought home three championships — Overall Figure, Women’s Figure Masters and Women’s Figure Medium.

As she says, via email: “I won the whole show in Toronto.” In order to do that, she bested more than 165 of Canada’s best figure athletes.

She also earned her International Federation of BodyBuilders’ Pro League Figure Card, something that recognizes her achievements in the sport. It also allows her to sign her name:

Maria Morrone

IFBB Figure Pro/Optician

Morrone, who graduated from NorKam Secondary and attended the University College of the Cariboo, has been an optician for more than 15 years.

Upon returning from Toronto, she went back to work, but at week’s end she headed for Kamloops, to join her mother “in her home-grown Italian garden . . . where I will enjoy the bountiful fruits and vegetables.”

To Morrone, autumn is a time to “rejuvenate and replenish” and where better to start than in Mom’s kitchen.

“There is nothing,” Maria says, “like Mamma Morrone’s homemade tomato sauce.”

But now that she has reached the top of one mountain, what’s next for Morrone?

“Next on my career is to build my business of personal training and dietary coaching,” she says. “I will be accepting clients and helping them achieve their personal goals.”

That, she adds, “is also very rewarding for me.”

She should know what it takes to get and stay fit.

“To create a more shapely, fitter body doesn’t happen overnight,” she says. “It takes time to start noticing results.”

She also has heard the whispers but is adamant that she maintains a healthy lifestyle.

“In my particular sport, we’re not judged on muscular size, but more towards an aesthetically pleasing, healthy-looking physique,” she says when the subject of steroids is raised. “No . . . it is not necessary.”

She admits that “people always will associate steroids with a physical/vanity look.” Then she points out that “if steroids was the magic then all of the richest people in the world would have the best bodies.”

In her sport, she says, the key is “inner strength.”

“Only those who possess true inner strength and stay the course, working every day to surpass another milestone, continue to see improvements,” explains the woman who admits her friends have been known to call her “The Diet Diva“ or “The Narcissistic Nutritionist.”

“Nutrition is a big part of that effort,” she adds. “This is where my true strength shines.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

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