Faced with a pain that paralyzed her, she chose life and found in bodybuilding an extreme discipline to channel her suffering, initially seeking a distraction for her mind. Ximena recounted that after a heavy blow in life, one seeks a way to save oneself, grabbing at straws. What began as a chemical attempt transformed into a rigorous discipline: 'the pain of the body distracted from the pain of the soul.' Training became a way to transform her body into a fortress. Six months after starting to train, she was already competing, and nine months later, she won the Nationals in Buenos Aires. She found herself at a crossroads: to give up or to continue. 'I didn't want to stay, it wasn't my choice. I had to choose whether to continue or not, and I chose to live. I chose to live in honor of my son, I chose to live in honor of my daughter.' In her search for a way to carry the paralyzing pain that left her 'dead alive,' Ximena decided to go to the gym hoping to generate serotonin and dopamine, always avoiding medication because she didn't want to become a zombie. Regarding the speed of her transformation, Ximena confesses that 'there are things I can't explain because I believe every muscle is pain, it's the pain I carry inside, it's the anger I carry inside, because that's how I train, I train with that pain.' Ximena stated that a strong body can better withstand the blow and that 'with a strong mind, the body is like clay.' The 'three, four hour, very hard' training sessions took her momentarily out of her suffering. She found happiness and joy again without being defined by the tragedy: 'you can go on and you can smile again.' Her next goal is the World Championships in Buenos Aires on December 12. She acknowledged that she trains with anger and that lifting weights is her way of 'letting out a lot of anger.' This process of physical and spiritual transformation not only allowed her to keep living but also to compete internationally in the 'bikini' category. She emphasized that although she will always carry that pain, she does so 'dignified' and 'without being a victim'.
