Full name: Jennifer Christine Lambert Foster
Born: January 26, 1984
Birthplace: Edmonton, Alberta
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 112-117 pounds (on-season to off-season)
Eye color: blue
Occupation: federal government worker
Siblings: one younger brother, Christopher
Pets: one cat, Kameeon, and one dog, Bailey
Competitive level: SAF Elite
Favourite body parts: waist and eyes
Favourite “diet” foods: sweet potatoes and blueberries
Favourite “cheat” foods: amaretto gelato, Nibs liquorice and Cinnabon’s cinnamon buns
Favourite cardio exercise: spinning classes and rollerblading
Favourite weight-training exercises: seated rows and hamstring curls
Favourite movies: The Unknown, Madagascar and Ice age (Honestly I can never remember the movies I watch. I end up watching the same movie over again without even noticing.)
Favourite TV shows: So You Think You Can Dance, King of Queens and Seinfeld
Favourite music: “Turn Me On” (Norah Jones), “Come Away with Me” (Norah Jones), “That’s the Thing About Love” (Alicia Keys), “Superwoman” (Alicia Keys), “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” (Alicia Keys) and “Bleeding love” (Leona Lewis)
Hobbies: traveling, shopping, dancing and girl’s nights!
Since I can remember, I’ve been preoccupied about health. I was always a very skinny kid full of energy – so much energy that my parents ended up buying a book called “The Hyperactive Child.” We still laugh about it! This book didn’t help much so my parents decided to sign me up into different sports.
I took part in ballet, soccer, figure skating, volleyball and swimming. Ballet was a bit to slow-paced for me, so I dropped that one. From the age of 5 to 16 I played these sports. During this time my younger brother, who was also active in sports, had a bit of a struggle with his weight. Kids at school would make fun of him because of his size. This had a big impact on his self-esteem. Being the older sister, I wanted to protect him, but I couldn’t do much to these bullies seeing I was half their size. Instead, I tried to cheer him up and get him moving to burn calories. I remember when I was 7 or 8 years old, during the summer vacation, I would make up aerobic workouts and try to turn it into a game to get him to join me. I would skip rope, do push-ups and jumping jacks in front of him to show him how much fun it was. He always gave me the “you’re crazy” look!
During my last years in high school, I decided to get my lifeguard qualification in hope of getting a job. I accomplished this and started working during the summer. I always looked for ways to improve my fitness level, so I continued to aim for higher qualifications. The biggest challenge I embanked in was the ocean lifeguard certificate. This took place in Hawaii where the waves are quite rough and I needed to be in the best physical shape I’ve ever been. On top of training in the pool, I wanted to bulk up and increase my strength. This is how I started to weight train in a new way. I went to my local gym and met with Ken Clement, who to this day is still my trainer. He put me on a specific diet and training program. This gave me good results, but I found that I was not gaining muscle as fast as I wanted to so I increased my calorie intake. Not knowing very much about protein, carbohydrates, fatsr and the effects they have on the body, I was basically eating everything and anything. This caused me to put on 10 or 15 pounds. I was at last at an average weight, but I had gained mostly fat and wasn’t happy with my appearance.
At age 21, I wanted to take my weight training more seriously and start competing. I felt this would obligate me to diet and not skip on training sessions. As my trainer, Ken, had competed multiple times and is still involved in bodybuilding shows, he was able to guide me in the right direction.
I’ve been involved in figure competitions for only four years now. I’m still learning a lot about the industry but mostly I’ve learned more about myself. My first goal of competing is to improve myself discipline. If I’m able to motivate myself, no one can stop me!
