News Article

Perseverance and positivity changing life for single mom


11/20/2009 2:36:44 PM


Tracey Seaward is competing in her third provincial fitness competition this weekend in St. John’s. The single mother of two is also a full-time college student.


Tracey Seaward gets up at 5 a.m. to do cardio before getting her daughter and herself ready for a full day of school. After supper and homework it’s back to the gym for weight training.

November 20, 2009 - Tracey Seaward munches on a rice cake, savouring every foamy bite. Despite the dry texture of the edible, flavourless disc, it’s the best thing she’s eaten in weeks.

Seaward is in the final stages of preparation for the Newfoundland and Labrador Amateur Bodybuilding Association’s provincial competition taking place this weekend in St. John’s (Saturday, Nov. 21 at Holy Heart Theatre).

She’s doing something bodybuilders call carb loading. Up to this point, she had been sustaining herself on a diet consisting of only baked cod fish and broccoli… five or six times a day, every day, for months.

This lifestyle is the norm for athletes serious about competing in bodybuilding and fitness, but the level of dedication Seaward has for the sport is even more impressive than usual.

A single mother of two, Seaward, 37, is also a full-time student enrolled in Adult Basic Education (ABE) at College of the North Atlantic’s Bay St. George campus. She says the decision to return to school after all this time wouldn’t have been possible had she not been involved in fitness.

“I never finished high school and I never really thought about going back because as each year went by, I felt less and less confident that I could do the school work,” she says. “It was actually while I was up on the stage during my first bodybuilding competition, being in front of all of those people that I decided I was going to go back to school… that I was going to do it! I figured, if I could do that competition, I could do anything.”

Anything and everything might be more appropriate. Juggling full-time studies and workouts while also trying to raise a family means she leads 18-hour days, starting with 5 a.m. cardio sessions.

“I get up and do my cardio for an hour, then I get Jena and me ready and off to school. I get home around 3:30 p.m., cook supper and do some housework, help Jena with her homework and get her ready for bed, then I hit the gym to work out,” she says, noting her son Jason, now 18, is a huge help.

“I don’t know how anyone could get ready for a show or competition on their own. This sport takes a lot of time, and money, and without the support from my friends, family and from the college, I’d be in a tight jam,” she says. “I can’t thank them enough for this. They are always there no matter what. I’m so lucky to be a student at College of the North Atlantic and have them support me like they do, and to have a friend like Byron Alexander at Universal Health Care – the gym where I train. He helped me out with so much over the last number of years since I started to compete.”

When Seaward first enrolled in ABE she had planned to eventually enroll in the college’s Business Studies program. However, she has since applied to do a program in corrections and would like to work as a prison guard.

“I’m an active person and can’t visualize myself sitting behind a desk all day,” she says. “I think a job in the corrections field is more suited for me. I need something that keeps me on my toes at all times and this kind of work seems like it would be challenging.”

And Seaward is no stranger to facing challenges – and overcoming them.

“The last few years for me have been quite a learning experience. I’ve learned a lot by competing and leading a healthy lifestyle, and I’ve learned so much from returning to school,” she says. “It’s changed my life in so many ways.

“I feel so much better about myself and I have the drive now to want to be something. When I was young and quit school I swore I was never going back. But now that I’m in school again, I’m not sure I ever want to leave!”

Seaward says surrounding yourself with positive like-minded people has been one of the keys to her success.

“When you are around positive people you tend to be more positive yourself. I can see now that nobody will ever go wrong by going back to school. The same thing goes for training and exercising. But you have to believe you can do it. If you think and stay positive, then you get good results. If you believe you can’t do it, then you won’t do it. That’s how it works. You need to say you want it – to believe it – and then go get it, whether that be the career you’ve always dreamed of or that body you’ve always wanted.”


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For more information contact:

Stephen Lee
Manager of Marketing and Communications
College of the North Atlantic
709-643-7721
stephen.lee@cna.nl.ca