Annette D’Alessandro, Brandon Township resident and wife of Oxford School Board President Dan D’Alessandro, grabbed the gold in the figure category at the Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE) World Championships held in Toronto, Canada Nov. 19 and 20.

UFE is an all-natural, Canadian-based organization which hosts a large variety of fitness, figure, bikini and bodybuilding competitions.

At the competition, D’Alessandro took the stage with over 200 fitness and bodybuilding competitors from all over the world.

She competed in the figure and fitness portions of the competition. She also placed fourth in the fitness model category.

Unlike bikini competitions, which typically center on slim figures and less on muscle, figure competitions focus on well-defined muscles and clear definition.

For D’Alessandro, her fitness journey began five years ago when she began working out through cardio kickboxing.

From there, she said she craved more and began lifting weights.

Of course, success never comes easy.

To maintain her figure, D’Alessandro trains regularly at Powerhouse Gym in Lake Orion, lifting weights between six and seven times a week, while also maintaining a strict cardio regimen.

According to D’Alessandro, whose diet and nutrition coach is Bill Tocco of War Room Nutrition, all of her workouts would mean nothing without the proper fuel to keep her going.

“Without nutrition, there’s really no point,” she added.

Working to get in shape has been no easy task, but D’Alessandro, who has competed in five UFE competitions and two pro-competitions, said it’s all been worth it so far.

“It felt absolutely amazing to accomplish my goal. I was beyond excited and it just made everything come full circle for me that day and knowing that… my whole motto this whole prep was ‘Leave no stone unturned,’ and I definitely did not leave a single stone unturned. I did what I needed to do to accomplish it, so it was pretty exciting,” she said.

D’Alessandro says she is already looking ahead to her next success and is working towards participating in the next UFE competition, which is set to take place next year.