A MOM of two has broken multiple world records in weightlifting after undergoing a massive transformation.
Tamara Walcott, 39, is recognized by the Guinness Book or Records as the world record holder in powerlifting - a title she has owned twice.
3
3
For her crowning achievement, Walcott lifted 641 pounds of dead-weight clean from the floor in front of a raucous crowd.
Walcott's journey to powerlifting glory was hard-fought.
Years before finding her passion at the gym, she was a self-professed "food addict."
"I did not recognize who I was," she told PEOPLE.
"I actually stopped looking in the mirror for a very long time."
Walcott believes her second pregnancy and a stale marriage triggered her problems with food.
"I gained a lot of weight and became morbidly obese," she said.
"Working a 9-to-5, the weekends were about spending time with my kids."
Most read in The US Sun
After changing her mindset, Walcott decided to hit the gym.
She didn't look back.
"I got a coach and decided that this is something that I wanted to do."
"It was really empowering to take control of my life and do something that felt rewarding just for me," she said.
After just four years in the gym, Walcott started competing in powerlifting competitions - and winning.
In 2021, she made the heaviest raw deadlift in the world by a woman at 636lbs.
She broke her record again this year at 641 pounds.
Walcott recognizes that her body has changed, but doesn't like to stigmatize her transformation in tropes on anti-fatness.
"Even from the beginning when I started my journey, I never called it weight loss — I call it fat loss," she said.
"I have pictures of me at 275 from two years ago that look nothing like what I look at 275 now. My body composition because of the muscle that I've put on looks so different."
Now, Walcott is a motivational speaker.
"I don't feel like I'm just lifting heavy weight anymore," she says.
Read More on The US Sun
"I feel like I'm lifting spirits."
Walcott can be found on Instagram by her handle @plussize_fitqueen4.0.
3
