It must be my lucky year.  What a beautiful gift I received!  May is my birthday month and what a wonderful coincidence that I was selected to appear on the cover of Oxygen Magazine.  Wow! I am really overwhelmed, and very thankful.

In January of this year, I had the privilege of doing a photo shoot with fitness and fashion photographer, Paul Buceta.  It was an amazing experience.  Paul’s photos captured our day’s positive energy.  Although I have had the opportunity to travel for photo shoots on other occasions, I have to say I get butterflies of excitement each and every time!

Fitness and health for me is not about following a strict regime and taking things out of my life, instead, fitness and health are about adding value to all the things that I do.  Sure, I might not eat everything that tempts me at the moment, but that feeling goes away when I shift my focus on what I want to achieve.  Setting goals is one of the best motivational tools at our disposal.  I love dedicating some of my free time to training and always look forward to working out, because I know the hard work will lead to success.  Of course, one of my goals was to appear on the cover of Oxygen Magazine (more than once!).  Preparing for fitness competitions helps me attain my goals too, but to win a competition - now that is really just the icing on the cake!

Fitness has enriched my life in so many ways.  From my first gymnastics competitions in Romania, to my Olympic Silver Medal in 19xx, to my most recent successes in the fitness industry, I find that I have an increased zest for life.  And I want to share that with others.  Lately, as I look around, I see so many young, beautiful faces, but I am saddened that young women lack information on how to take better care of their health. This is one of the reasons I have established another important goal: to give back to my community, to the next generation of young women.  

I am so thankful that I am now in a position to help young girls to be more aware of their health.  I am so proud to be mentoring a group of young, talented girls towards their own health and fitness goals.  I can’t wait to see them take to the fitness stage, and hopefully, in turn they will also inspire even more young girls to follow along.  Seeing these young ladies enjoying fitness really makes me feel younger and happier. They are truly a source of inspiration and motivation.  I hope one day, we will see these girls in the pages and on the cover of future Oxygen Magazines.  That would be a great reward for all of us!

Oxygen Magazine: it's always so great working with you and your team - all working together to convey a positive message for healthy and active women of all ages!  Thank you for the opportunity and vote of confidence to let me grace the cover of your fine magazine again.

Love , and hugs to all, Vanda

PS:  Ahem, ok , so how about a 3-peat? I’m ready when you are!