Having spent a large portion of 2004 travelling for work, followed by an extremely indulgent Christmas and holiday season, my weight had ballooned to the highest point ever. I had never felt so ashamed of myself, or so out of control.

My problems have always been with food. I’ve always been pretty active, but I had formed a bad habit of sitting around and eating and drinking out of stress and boredom. Unfortunately, those lazy habits followed me home. Food and alcohol were my comforters, my naughty little indulgences to be enjoyed alone and in copious quantities. Ironically though, the pleasure of eating it was short-lived, and I would spend time beating myself up about what or how much I’d eaten, making myself even more miserable.

Another factor that woke me up and made me take a good look at myself was the fact that all of my clothes had become disgracefully tight, especially in the hips, butt and thighs – my problem areas. It was either buy a whole new wardrobe, or do something about it.

I had attempted a couple of 12 week challenges in the past, none of them ever getting further than half-way. I’d always start strong, make a few blunders and then think “Oh what the heck” and throw in the towel. This time was going to be different; I actually entered the BodyBlitz 12-week Challenge, and sent my photos in.

I then enlisted the help of an on-line trainer Sue from Ideal Bodies Online, who put together my programme and monitored my progress by email.



I was so excited! I couldn’t sleep the first night because I knew I was embarking on a journey, I could feel it that things were going to start
happening – finally!

Within a few weeks of following a healthy eating plan and training hard, I had already dropped five per cent body fat! It inspired me to keep going, and each time I lost a centimetre or half a kilogram here or there, it spurred me on, each and every week.

My major obstacle was my eating behaviours – I had to get them under control. With the help of Sue, and another member of her team, Rae Cattach, I learned how to eat smarter. I had been used to eating five small meals a day, but I was eating the wrong kinds of foods, then snacking on all the bad stuff in the afternoons. My new plan comprised of lots of fresh vegetables, lean protein, fruit, oats, rice and lots of water. After an initial struggle, I started to love the new meals I was eating. Whenever I did have a cheat meal and pig-out occasionally, it would make me feel sick, and I’d wish that I’d stuck to the good wholesome food instead!

Another thing that made the challenge more difficult was the fact that my partner, Scott, is trying to GAIN weight. This meant that his meals were always so much larger than mine – which made meal planning a bit more of a challenge! I had to be very careful with portion sizes for myself, and cook extra food for him – all without succumbing to the temptation of eating what he was having!



I still had to travel for work, so another problem for me was overcoming the temptations of restaurant dinners. I had to stay even more focused to get through. Training is also a problem when you are away from home, but where there’s a will there’s a way. I would find a local gym and get there whenever I could – sometimes I had to get up at 4.30am just to get my workouts done! However, without the guidance of my online trainer, and the love and support of my boyfriend, things would have blown completely out of control.

Ironically, at the end of 12 weeks I am again faced with the fact that none of my clothes fit me – but this time they are baggy on me. So of course I had to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe anyway – just a smaller one!

I have lost eight kilograms, and am now 16.3 per cent body fat. I am determined to continue on this path, this is only the beginning! I feel so good about myself and have found such inner strength within me, and I never knew it was there. I started this challenge wanting to change what was on the outside, but in the end it has also deeply affected me on the inside, and I come away from this feeling stronger, fitter, healthier and happier than ever before!