Page 15 - 6-3-16 Friday's Edition

Feature
Ernestine Shepherd, 80, Fulfilled Promise To Sister To Become World’s Oldest Bodybuilder
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Ernestine Shepherd will turn 80 next month, but she has the body of a woman half her age.
Thanks to years of following a regi- mented diet and exercise program, Ms. Shepherd boasts smooth brown skin, high physical endurance, and tight ab- dominal muscles.
Her discipline and focus earned Ms. Shepherd the title of oldest competi- tive woman bodybuilder by the Guin- ness Book of World Records for two consecutive years starting in 2010.
She lost the title in 2012, but Ms. Shepherd said she’s looking forward to reclaiming it.
“I would love to have that title back,” she said.
On Saturday, Ms. Shepherd was in the Tampa Bay area as the keynote speaker at the Empowerment Lunch- eon sponsored by the Kerr Komplex Center in Lakeland.
The center offers recreational, so- cial, and educational activities for the community.
Ms. Shepherd’s story of overcom- ing personal tragedy to achieve success is powerful, said Kerrie Pabon, the center’s director.
“She is a beautiful person inside and
Ernestine Shepherd, right, a former Guinness World Record holder for old- est competitive female bodybuilder, takes time out to pose with Kerrie Pabon, founder of KerrieKomplex at the Empowerment Luncheon in Lake- land. Ms. Shepherd was the keynote speaker.
out,” she said. “She encouraged me to start where I am.”
Today, Ms. Shepherd lives a life of strict routine. But her life wasn’t always about going to the gym and drinking a
glass of egg whites three times a day. Ms. Shepherd, who lives in Balti- more, started working out at age 56, after a swimsuit shopping experience with her sister, Velvet led to their mak-
ing a pact to become bodybuilders.
But before the two could fulfill their dream, Velvet died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Ms. Shepherd was
crushed.
Instead of carrying out her sister’s
command that she continue to train, Ms. Shepherd fell into a deep depres- sion.
She didn’t snap out of her dreary condition until Velvet reminded her, Ms. Shepherd said.
“She came to me in a dream and she told me I wasn’t doing what she asked me to do,” she said. “I made up my mind I was going to do the things I wanted.”
At age 71, Ms. Shepherd started bodybuilder training with former Mr. Universe, Yohnnie Shambourger. Today, Mr. Shambourger also is her manager.
Maintaining a bodybuilding physique requires Ms. Shepherd to adhere closely to an ironclad schedule.
She wakes at 2:30 a. m. for media- tion and Bible devotion.
At 3:30 a. m., she eats two hard- boiled eggs and drinks 16 oz. of water
before meeting with friends at the park for a run. She returns home at 5:30 a. m. to eat a full breakfast of oatmeal, walnuts, 1⁄2 cup of pineapple, and 8 oz. of liquid egg whites.
She later heads to the gym where she teaches body sculpting class. At lunch, she’ll eat chicken, brown rice, and spinach. Dinner consists of turkey, baked potato, and mixed vegetables.
Ms. Shepherd said she’s learned that exercise is the surefire way to beat the blues.
“I can have a problem on my mind, butIcanlaceupandtakeawalkandI feel better,” she said.
Nowadays, Ms. Shepherd travels the country speaking to groups and or- ganizations about her journey from a middle-aged woman who suffered from high-blood pressure and panic attacks to a septuagenarian who is “deter- mined, dedicated, and disciplined to be fit.”
What once was a pursuit of becom- ing a bodybuilder has expanded into a health ministry that includes a career as a personal trainer and teaching a body sculpting class three days a week.
It’s all a dream come true, Ms. Shepherd said.
“I had no idea that this would mate- rialize like it has,” she said. “I’m so thrilled. I know my sister is smiling.”
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B