Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maleeka Katz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Maleeka, appreciate you joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

I hope my story motivates and inspires as many people as possible because it is one of dedication and determination if I do say so myself. On July 21, 2024, I started to train myself to compete for a Natural Bodybuilding Competition which would take place on October 12, 2024. This gave me exactly 12 weeks to train myself, lose weight and gain conditioning good enough to be stage ready. I started at 145 lbs, since I am my own competition coach and nutritionist, I set a goal to lose at least 20 lbs within 12 weeks. I trained myself every day for up to 4 hours a day, all while maintaining a proper diet which wouldn’t take away from all the work I was doing at the gym. I had to be very meticulous when it came to the food I ate and what time I had each meal. Fast forward to competition day I weighed in at 128 lbs which indicated I lost 17 lbs, only 3 lbs away from the goal I set for myself, which was really amazing to have accomplished this in only 12 weeks. During the competition my category was flipped into two groups, group A and B. I was in group B for the first comparison and placed second. We were then brought on a second time for a new comparison of the top 6 competitors, and to be honest because I placed second the first time, I did not believe I could get a higher placement because I thought I would get first place in the first comparison. But then I reminded myself that I came for the prize they were giving away, which was a gold and white boxing belt that said pro. So, when we were caught up for the second comparison, I gave it my all I made sure I did everything precisely bigger and better than I had done the first time. When they were announcing the winners, I was just looking at everyone’s numbers as they were calling them and suddenly, I realized I was the only one back there, and everyone was shouting “you won” and then I heard them call my number as winning first place overall. It felt like a magical moment, I really don’t know how to explain it. Bottom line, I made a goal, I set a plan, I executed the plan and received my desired results.

Maleeka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, I am Maleeka Katz a natural bodybuilder, personal trainer and fitness model. I constantly get asked the question what motivates me to keep working out after so long so today decided to tell my truth. I started working out because I looked at myself in the mirror one day and decided I didn’t want to grow old and not be sexy 🤣 true words. I said I want to be that person where you can look at me, but be unsure of my age because I don’t look my age. So I got a gym membership and started working out on my own knowing absolutely nothing about what I was doing, but determined to accomplish this goal that I had now created for myself. I would go to the gym and watch the men out and also look up exercises on YouTube and read about different exercises on Google that I could do the target certain muscle groups that I was training. Yes I said watch the men workout because I also figured they knew more about this whole working out thing and I also was not going to ask them any questions either. Over period of time I started to see my body change and I wanted to become better than the people that I was watching workout. I wanted to look better and be better than everyone else. So then I created a new goal for myself and that was to be the best one in the gym that I was going to. I was my own trainer. I did my own meal plans and I guided myself into perfection. I became so good that even the people at the gym were telling me that I need to train somewhere else because I have elevated and beyond what that small gym could offer me in my journey. I became addicted to watching my body change and being strong. Then somehow the sport of bodybuilding found me because I didn’t go looking for any of this. I didn’t even know women did bodybuilding until I was approached by someone who sponsored my entire first competition where I won my pro card. I fell in love with the sport because it gave me the opportunity to see my body change multiple times and every time it’s better than the last. Fitness has helped me both mentally and physically, it contributes to my happiness and has boosted my self confidence. So my motivation to stay fit is having the opportunity to see my body transform over and over again, to see how much stronger I can get and the fact that it teaches me dedication and discipline that I use to make decisions in my everyday life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In October of 2024 I competed in a Natural Pro Bodybuilding Competition which I had started preparing myself for in July of the same year and gave myself only 12 weeks to accomplish my goal of dropping at least 20 lbs of body fat. I am my own coach and nutritionist, so I went in hard and fast on myself in order to accomplish this goal. I started by increasing my cardio to 90 minutes per day, 2 hours of weight training, meals every two and half hours and training 7 days a week. Fast forward to competition day I weighed in at 128 lbs coming from 145 lbs so I dropped 17 pounds of weight in a healthy controlled manner to display my best competition body thus far and I then placed first overall to win my competition which I’m very proud of.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Prior to being a professional trainer I was a correctional officer. I did that job with ease and without fear but it didn’t make me happy and at times was very demanding because sometimes I was working 16 hours back to back but even after doing 16 hours I would still go to the gym to workout because that’s where I felt safest and it helped me to stay grounded because I worked in such a hostile environment. While corrections was paying the bills and afforded me the opportunity to buy my first house it never made me happy and I believe if you’re doing a job that doesn’t make you happy and excited then you’re wasting your life. I was doing personal training on the side so when i fully crossed over into the field I was able to fully unlock my full potential for myself and my clients because I wasn’t distracted or tired.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Malfit_nation
• Youtube: Malfit_nation
• Other: TikTok- Malfit_nation

Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/vailhousevisuals?igsh=N2FhaHE1MXByNmo3 https://www.instagram.com/thaliainspired?igsh=MXZxem5zY3Jpb29qZg== https://www.instagram.com/taykitwithyou_photography?igsh=MWc1bWo4N2x3dGF5