Not so long ago John Paul “J.P.” Soucy ate just about everything in sight. His favorite food item was pepperoni pizza and why not. His family owned the Pizza Dome in Old Town and Soucy was a power weightlifter who once bench-pressed 495 pounds. He ate a lot of pizza. The more bulk he carried, the better.

“Anything that wasn’t good for you, I’d eat. Hamburgers, pizza. I love pepperoni on pizza. I’d make one pizza and eat two. I used to eat two large pizzas over the course of a movie and still be hungry,” the 22-year-old Soucy said.

But pizza is becoming a vague memory to the former Orono High School football player. His family sold the business last year and Soucy has changed direction and has become a bodybuilder. The bulk has given way to muscle tone and definition.

“I started making the transition from powerlifter to bodybuilder about a year ago. Now I have to watch everything I eat. My workout has changed dramatically,” Soucy said.

Thus far the transition has gone well. Soucy trained hard, going from 210 pounds down to 1741/4 pounds for the Supernatural Bodybuilding Championship in Providence, R.I., in June where he won the junior division and placed third overall out of 65 competitors.

His goal is to win at the National Pro and Amateur American Qualifier in Washington, D.C., in March and become a professional bodybuilder.

“You have to win a national title to earn your pro card. That’s what I’m after,” Soucy said.

Soucy’s motivation comes from several sources. He lives in Bangor and owns the Bangor Athletic Club where he is a personal trainer. He said another area personal trainer provided some of the motivation.

“He said that I could never become a bodybuilding champion without him training me. That pushes me,” Soucy said.

The other source is his wife, Nishka. The former Agnieszka “Nishka” Morze and her family moved to the United States from Poland in 1985.

“We lived in Glenburn and she moved in a few doors down the street,” Soucy explained.

Nishka attended John Bapst in Bangor and graduated from the school in 1997. She is now a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor. Although the couple knew each other, they didn’t begin a relationship until they ran into each at the Bangor Athletic Club. They will celebrate their second wedding anniversary in December.

“She supports me 110 percent. She’s the one who told me I should do it,” Soucy said.

Soucy said his wife developed his diet that consists of chicken, salmon, and tuna.

“I eat perfect. I can’t give my [complete] diet out because some of it is a secret. There are people here trying to beat me,” he laughed.

Soucy has dropped his calorie intake from 4,000 to 2,000 per day. He tracks his calories, carbohydrates, and proteins. Although he has lost weight and undergone a lifestyle change, a loss of appetite didn’t come along as part of the package. His work helps him take his mind off hunger pangs when they strike.

“I’m hungry now, but I stay busy training clients. Trying to teach them to live a healthy lifestyle. That keeps my mind off food,” Soucy said.

His workouts begin at 5:30 each morning. Each day he works on a different muscle group in an intense 40-minute program. Soucy says his wife is his training partner.

“She wants me to win so bad. She pushes me just as hard as another guy would. She has such high expectations and goals,” Soucy said.

Nishka says she does some bodybuilding but not to the extreme as her husband.

“I support him. Normally, people have days that they don’t feel like working out with the weights. So, I help push him past his limit,” Nishka said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net