Page 24 - NGA NATURALmag 2017 SPRING-SUMMER Issue

Spring/Summer 2017 Spring/Summer 2017 Peter N N N Nielsen
BY KELLY HAWKINS
Peter N N Nielsen
has won 50 body- building titles including the NGA Southeastern USA Pro qualifier and Mr International Universe Like many of us Peter grew up with challenges that programmed him to fail At age 15 Peter was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease an incurable disease leaving him and his fam-
ily with little hope Peter went from weighing 135 pounds down to a mere 86 pounds His parents not knowing how to handle the the news of their son’s illness allowed the fear of his diagnosis to to turn into anger His parents started to blame one another and his Dad became a a a a a physically abusive alcoholic Peter thought it was his his fault that his his parents started arguing and attempted to take his own life however at the last moment he he he heard a a voice voice the voice voice of God saying “Give Me One More Day ”
KELLY: HOW DID YOU RESPOND AFTER YOU HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD WITHIN YOU?
PETER: There were roadblocks in my life but I I I began to feel peace I I I knew I I I just needed to put one foot forward and and then I began to sense hope and and a a a a vision for who I was created to be KELLY: WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO GET INTO BODYBUILDING?
PETER: The only thing that relieved stress and made me feel safe was working out Instead of medicating myself and channeling my my fear nega- tively I I channeled it it in a a a positive way I I wanted to de-stress get healthy and get my my mind off my my toxic family life So I began to train in in our apartment build- ing basement in in Brooklyn NY where we lived surrounded by a clothes
line and garbage pails But that didn’t matter because I was so focused and nothing was going to to stop me KELLY: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO OTHERS WITH PHYSICAL CHALLENGES WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY WORKING OUT?
Age 8 with Dad Age 16
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