After battling anorexia and chasing thinness, Michelle Wood rebuilt her body—and mindset—through strength training, adding serious muscle and stepping on stage as a pro.
Michelle Wood’s fitness journey didn’t start in the weight room—it started with a misconception.
“I was always naturally skinny, and became far skinnier due to a long battle with anorexia,” she says. “I had ‘abs’ but hardly any muscle to speak of. I was weak and had never even thought of lifting weights.”
Like a lot of people stuck in that mindset, she relied on cardio—running, cycling, Pilates, Zumba, yoga. The goal wasn’t strength. It was getting as small as possible.
“My goals initially were to be basically as lean and skinny as possible,” she says.
When Michelle first found Jim Stoppani’s programs, she still wasn’t focused on building muscle. She entered her first bodybuilding show with minimal equipment, no real prep, and no coach—just home workouts and determination.
“I lived in the middle of nowhere with no access to a gym and had two toddlers at home, so I made do with what I had,” she says.
She showed up lean—but undersized.
“Everyone was impressed with my leanness and conditioning,” she says. “But I was still tiny, with little muscle mass, definitely not a ‘bodybuilder.’”
Everything changed when she finally got into a gym and started taking training seriously. She began with Shortcut to Shred , still chasing leanness—but something shifted.
“One of the biggest challenges for me was letting go of the power the scale held over me,” she says. “But it has been the most liberating thing in the world.”
That shift flipped her entire approach. “I’ve realized that being strong is so much better than being skinny,” Michelle says.
From summer 2023 to spring 2025, Michelle added roughly 20 pounds of lean muscle while tightening her waist. “My shoulders, back, legs, and glutes grew dramatically,” she says.
Her results carried over to the stage:
More important than the titles was the mindset change.
“I went from striving to shrink myself to wanting to be as big and strong as possible,” she says.
Michelle now lifts six days a week and is currently running Jim Stoppani’s 5-3-2 Strength Program , chasing PRs and continuing to build.
“My goal has been to continue getting as many PR’s as possible… and I’m definitely getting stronger all the time,” she says.
Nutrition became a priority, too. “I’ve learned fueling your body is such an integral part of your performance,” she says.
Her supplements staples are simple: Pre JYM every morning and Pro JYM daily. “I literally always keep at least 2-3 bags of Pro JYM on hand,” says says. “I ALWAYS come back to Pro JYM. I don’t think I could hit my macros without it.”
“A lot of this drive came from wanting to set an example for my sons,” Michelle says. “I love showing them that their mom is healthy, fit, and strong.”
Now, the feedback she gets reflects that shift. “It makes my day when people tell me how much they admire my muscularity,” she says. “It just hits differently than when people would try to emulate my behavior to be thin.”
She’s also inspiring other women to start their own journeys—or rebuild their relationship with fitness. And her advice for others is simple: “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re capable of so much more than you could ever imagine.”
These days, she’s focused less on the stage and more on strength, growth, and helping others as a CPT.
“While I don’t know if I’ll ever step on stage again, at least not for a while, I’m finding so much satisfaction in continuing to push myself to become stronger every day,” she says. “Helping others start their own journey and reach the goals they have for themselves is so rewarding!”
The goal now isn’t to be smaller. It’s to keep getting stronger.
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