Kirstyn Brown - Assistant Editor

So, let me get this straight.

I get to judge the Oxygen Model Search contest, then help choose the winner making a girl’s dream come true. Then I get to stick around and do the same with incredibly fit, gorgeous aspiring male fitness models for Reps! magazine.

Then, I get to hang out at the Robert Kennedy Publishing booth with some of my favorite people (the Oxygen staff, photo to the right) as well as the incredible Tosca Reno and the Eat-Clean Diet® team, interacting with our dedicated fans and readers. And later, I’ll rub elbows with some of my favorite fitness models like Rachel Davis (photo below) and Veronique Morin and pose for a quick pic with a few of the most iconic men in bodybuilding today (does the name Jay Cutler ring a bell?).

And this is work? Sign me up.

Yep, RKP had a blast at the second annual Toronto Pro SuperShow. And since it was my first time at an expo of it’s kind, I was like a gym rat in Venice Beach, which is kind of like a kid in a candy store, but healthier.

One of the highlights for me was being on the judging panel for the model searches, particularly the Oxygen Model Search. It was one of those surreal moments in time when you have to stop and do a reality check. Me? Former fat girl and fast food addict, judging a fitness model search on behalf of Oxygen magazine? Who was I to judge?

But if there’s one thing that makes me qualified, it’s that I now fully understand the drive, the hard work, and the sacrifice it takes to build and maintain a fit body. And the contestants of our model search had all that going for them, and a bag of sliced cucumbers.

All of the girls that stepped into the spotlight, with their hard-earned, toned physiques, blew me away. From the enviable six packs to the sculpted glutes, you could tell how hard they’d worked. But most of all, it was the confidence and bravery it must have taken each of them to get up on that stage that really resounded with me. Their passion and desire shone brighter then their smiles. I was so proud of each of them, I starting stressing over every score. I repeatedly turned to our fitness editor Rachel Crocker and whined, “can’t they all win?”

And while they all took first place in my eyes, there was one girl that just lit up the stage with her personality, presence and jaw-dropping killer bod: Chinwoeoke Asagwara. Her beautiful symmetry, flawless V-shape and to-die-for booty made me want to bolt from the judges’ table and hit the gym (and later I did get down and knocked out some push ups).

Congratulations to our winner and to every single girl that took the stage that day. Thank you for your hard work. It paid off.