An Interview with Maria Bozinovska, Bodybuilder

Thank you, Tose; it’s my pleasure as well. I am a Macedonian born in Skopje in 1979. I grew up in Sweden, but I have been living in Spain since I was 20, where I started competing professionally.

I have started my fitness journey, including a healthy diet, from my youngest age. I went out on stage for the first time in 2013 in Spain, and it went really well from that moment on. I became the Champion of Spain in the first year of my competition. Then, I started competing internationally, where I also had many great successes with gold medals at the Arnold Classic and Olympia Amateur.

In 2016 I started competing for Macedonia, where I was also the champion of Macedonia. After that, in 2017, I managed to become a professional with the gold medal I achieved in Italy.

From that year onwards, I only compete on a professional level for Macedonia. In 2019 I earned second place at the Swedish Professional Championship in Spain. That was one of the greatest successes in my fitness career.

My fitness journey began at 17 or 18, but I was interested in it even when I was a child. I always dreamt of having muscles and being a strong woman. Therefore, I liked that look very much, and I was very persistent in achieving it.

So, slowly, with time, I started working in fitness clubs and learning about training and healthy eating until one day, when I tried to progress even further. I took things to another level when I started competing instead of only doing daily workouts.

My motivation is the good look and the fact that I want to feel satisfied with myself, healthy, and with a lot of energy. Additionally, I want to help other girls and women feel better about themselves and achieve their desired results. That is my biggest motivation.

I would advise anyone interested in fitness (and the ones that aren’t) to watch their diet. Nowadays, we have lots of ingredient options to pursue a healthy diet. Therefore, there is no need to eat “bad food.” Thank God, it’s sometimes okay to get a hamburger or a pizza. Still, in everyday life, pursuing a healthy diet is essential.

I eat the same type of food in my everyday life and before a competition. The only difference is that I eat a larger amount of the same food when I do not compete. Also, I allow myself to go out and eat something else (not part of my daily routine) at least once or twice a week when I am not competing.

Lastly, I would like to add that even restaurants today offer a vast diversity of healthy food, which is excellent.

My training routine consists of 5 to 6 days of training per week, where I exercise 1 to 2 muscle groups a day. I exercise my legs twice a week, especially the quadriceps, gluteus, and femoral.

Each fitness center is different, but it is essential to have specialized machines for all muscle groups.

Every individual can find himself/herself in the fitness world but thank God we all have different goals and different exercise methods. However, anyone should work towards finding and pursuing this life goal.

My biggest accomplishment until now is the second place I have won at the Swedish Professional Championship. Also, I won first place at the Arnold Classic when I was an amateur in 2015. Additionally, I was on stage with another 40 girls from all over the world. That’s why it’s a great pride for me.

There is a vast difference. In Spain, I live with people of different nationalities with different cultures and languages. And I like that a lot because that’s how I can learn more about other cultures and communicate with different nationalities.

But at the same time, I miss our Macedonian culture, as well as our music and, most of all, Macedonian food.

The biggest challenge is discipline.

Yes, yes, a lot, as it was challenging to train. As a result, I could only maintain my shape. But even that wasn’t easy.

You know, when you are constantly at home, you are keen on gaining weight, especially when you don’t move around a lot. Somehow, I managed to maintain the same weight, adding only a few pounds. When we were allowed to return to fitness centers, I returned to normal fast.

They should always have a goal, not only in fitness but also in every other aspect of life. Everyone should pursue their dreams, as hard work always leads to results.