Kim Seeley overcame diabetes to make her mark in the fitness world

I used to write about fitness competitors for Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine. I met some amazing people who pushed the limits of the human boundaries and excelled in fitness. I even got an opportunity to interview Tonya Knight at her home in Kansas City and write a long feature on her, the famous bodybuilder and 1980s cover girl who appeared on the TV show American Gladiator. Tonya, who was pregnant at the time, told me how thrilled she was to have a baby after years of being unable to become pregnant while competing.

However, the most inspirational fitness competitor I ever wrote about was Kim Seeley, who overcame type-two diabetes to make her mark in the fitness profession. I interviewed Kim in 2001 at a restaurant in the KC Country Club Plaza. She was charming, very kind, and personable. She told me her story, opened up to me about her childhood regrets, and spoke about her perseverance and how fitness had transformed her life. I believe I was the first person to feature Kim in a publication, after she finished an impressive 10th place at the nationally televised Ms. Fitness show in Las Vegas and first at a regional show in Colorado.

She told me her dream was to achieve her pro card.

“That would be my ultimate goal to become pro,” Kim said with a smile.

Her dreams came true four years later in 2005 when she received her pro card at the USA’s in Las Vegas, where she placed second. Success couldn’t have come to a nicer and more dedicated person and athlete. In the December 2005 issue of hardfitness.com, the author wrote that Kim “has always been a dedicated competitor despite her diabetic problems. She is an example of what the fitness world needs.”

Kim wrote in that issue about her journey to receiving her pro card and how she wanted to be an example for others:

“After I earned my pro card, I vowed to become a voice for diabetes education. I figured this was what I was meant to do. I have been given the opportunity to speak at conferences in regard to athletic training and diabetes management. I get countless emails from both type ones and two’s. I have had the pleasure of mentoring some up and coming type one diabetic figure competitors. There is so much you can do with a pro card beyond the 2 minutes on stage. It’s our day to day lives where most of the benefits unfold. Some girls journey ends with a pro card . . . but for me, my journey has just begun.”

Kim’s journey since then then has been one of true inspiration as she rose to the top of the fitness profession. I was so happy for her and so grateful our paths crossed in 2001 during our interview at that restaurant on the Plaza. Thanks Kim for sharing your truly remarkable story with me and for the kind thank-you call after the article was published.

Here is that 2001 story on Kim Seeley in Kansas City Sports & Fitness.

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Kim Seeley was a promising athlete and track star when she became first diagnosed with diabetes at 13. A rebellious teenager, she wound up quitting track and eventually began a vicious downward cycle of drinking and partying in college.

“Because the disease was so hard to handle with taking shots, eating, having low blood sugars, high blood sugars, I quit every athletic endeavor that I wanted to be involved in,” Seeley said. “For a lot of years, I was not healthy. I was not happy with my physique. I was not happy with my health at all.”

She adds softly and poignantly:

“As poorly as I was in control of my disease, I didn’t particularly want to die either.”

So Seeley decided to change her life forever. She began lifting weights five years ago, and for the past three years, she’s been competing in fitness contests. Not only has Seeley transformed her appearance, but the fit and toned beauty is now one of the top fitness competitors in the Midwest. Seeley recently finished an impressive 10th place at the nationally televised Ms. Fitness show in Las Vegas.

“That was my greatest thrill,” said Seeley, who remarked that her goal entering the national show was to place at least 15th. “They have all the competitors standing out there, and they call you by your state first. When they said, ‘And from Missouri,’ I knew I was the only person from Missouri. I was so overwhelmed. That right there was the best feeling ever. It was pretty awesome.”

Seeley, who just completed her heavy competition season (June-September), is taking a couple of weeks off before lifting weights and training again. She’s in the gym five days a week for two hours each during the off season, and works out five days a week for four hours during heaving training periods. The strawberry blonde, blue-eyed Raytown, Mo. resident (5-5, 132) said she’d like to gain five more pounds and switch fitness organizations from Ms. Fitness to NPC (National Physique Committee).

“That would be my ultimate goal to become pro,” Seeley said, smiling.

And don’t count her out. Seeley, 32, is used to defying the odds and triumphing over the human spirit. She feels she has great ground to make up from quitting sports and succumbing to her disease nearly 20 years ago.

“It’s a huge regret,” Seeley said. “Maybe that’s why I’m so strong founded about his now to be successful. I regret that painfully. Once I got control of the disease, I said, ‘I’m going to be the athlete I always thought I could have been or should have been as a kid.’ I’m doing it late. It’s never too late to live out your dreams.”

Yes indeed.

Seeley began competing in regional fitness shows in 1999 after working out in the gym and reading Oxygen magazine. A light flashed in her mind.

“I remember seeing the pictures of these women,” Seeley said. “I thought these are beautiful women that are sexy. I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s what I want to look like.’’’

Seeley realizes how far she’s come since her first Ms. Fitness national show in Las Vegas three years ago, where she placed 38th out of 45 women.

“I wasn’t dead last, but I learned an awful lot,” Seeley said, laughing. “It was horrible. I went in there not knowing anything. I was the only person who used the tanning bed instead of the tanning products. I was the only person in my routine that didn’t smile because I was so scared.”

Despite her relatively poor performance, Seeley was determined to improve. Now, she’s ecstatic about the results.

“I’m very confident,” she said. “It’s like a complete miraculous change. It’s taken time. I tell any new fitness competitor that it doesn’t happen over night. From that first year to my third year, I’m very confident in whatever I do.”

Seeley’s comfort and confidence have grown since hiring two personal trainers and a professional choreographer from Hollywood. This vigorous training helped propel her to 10th place in Las Vegas recently and first place at a regional show in Colorado a few months ago.

“I was literally jumping up and down,” Seeley said about winning the Colorado show. “I had no idea that I had done that well. I was shocked that I had won.”

While Seeley admits it’s very difficult managing her diabetes and competing in fitness shows, she said it’s not impossible. She urges all people to adopt fitness as a way of life.

“My health is a lot better, tons better,” Seeley said. “I plan on living a lot longer, and I think fitness plays a huge role in my longevity. It’s completely changed my life and I don’t ever want to stop. I encourage other people to get their butts in the gym and get fit as well. ... It comes from within. You got to want to do it for yourself, not for your husband, not for your wife, because that’s not going to last if you do it for someone else. It has to be completely for you.”

After years of saying, ‘I can’t’ because of diabetes, Seeley now adopts the phrase, ‘I will.’ She’s learned many invaluable life lessons about herself from overcoming adversity.

“No matter what’s happened to you in your life or what’s been dished to you, you can find a way to achieve your goals and dreams to never give up,” Seeley said. “It’s never too late. I don’t think most people believe in themselves enough to push forward. People make excuses for themselves, and I was the biggest excuse maker of all. The person who is sitting here today is not the same person who was sitting in this same place four or five years ago. I’m a totally different human being.”