Introducing our BodyBlitz Grand Champ

Body image battles
“I’ve always been critical of myself. When I look at imperfections on my body, I think ‘I don’t like that’ and ‘I don’t like that there,’ “says the bubbly 30 year old over lunch at a Melbourne café.

It’s day two of the Grand Champion Weekend, and Liz and I have managed to slip in a quick chat as we take a break after a busy morning. It’s been a hectic two days of photo shoots and interviews, but Liz is all smiles about her achievement.

Liz has never been unhealthily overweight. She has, however, had many ‘fat’ days – days when she couldn’t fit into clothes that she desperately wanted to wear.

“I felt very unhappy. I didn’t want to go out because my clothes were too tight,” she says. “I didn’t have anything to wear. When you don’t feel very attractive you don’t want people to see you and I wanted to stop feeling like that.”

Unhealthy obsession
For most of her teens and adult years, Liz has been obsessed with diet and exercise. “I’ve lost weight by myself in the past from putting together my own diet and exercise plans, but I’d always end up putting the weight back on,” she explains.

From her wedding to birthday celebrations, each landmark event in Liz’s life has been earmarked by a goal to lose weight. A disciplined dieter, she became caught up in a cycle of ‘all’ or ‘nothing’ – hitting the gym hard and cutting out ‘naughty’ food for a period of time, then crashing and bingeing after the big event.

“For a whole year before my wedding in 2006, I worked hard to lose weight. I was not going to be a ‘fat bride’. However, after my wedding, I quickly put the weight back on and felt unattractive.

“I’d be relatively ‘healthy’ for a week then come the weekend – I would go off the rails and counteract all the good I’d done,” she says.

Stats Before After Height 160cm 160cm Weight 75.1kg 53.9kg Chest 92cm 81cm Waist 86cm 60.5cm Calves 40cm 35cm Arms 33cm 26.5cm Thighs 86cm 50cm Hips 111cm 92cm

A fresh perspective
After a while, however, this yo-yo attitude towards health and fitness became too much. After gaining additional weight, Liz decided to seek diet advice from an online trainer and sign up for the BodyBlitz 12-Week Challenge.

“I wanted to do something different. I thought that a professional program written specifically for me would help me achieve the best results.”

The structure was provided, now all Liz had to do was to forget about counting calories and stick to the plan created by her trainer Sue from Ideal Bodies Online.

Diet and exercise
One of the major keys to her amazing results was taking her training and diet to the next level, and educating herself on the importance of these two elements working together.

“I’ve always exercised pretty hard, however I’ve learnt that it’s important to lift heavier weights to increase muscle mass and burn more fat,” she says.

“I’ve learnt that regular power walks or walking on the treadmill at an incline can be just as effective as running.”

I’ve also learnt the importance of having protein with each meal. Before, I wasn’t really eating much meat, whereas on my program I had protein with every meal.”

Liz also felt lucky to have the support of her husband, who adapted well to her new healthy eating plan.
“My husband certainly supported me, as it was a bit of a change to his lifestyle too.

His meals changed a bit too, but I could still cook a healthy meal at night that we could eat together,” she says.

Despite the many obstacles, Liz’s power never wavered. “Yes it was hard, but I knew that I was never going to give up,” she says. “At my birthday, I cooked an afternoon tea for my family, and it was really difficult to resist the treats!”

Success
So how did Liz achieve such impressive results? Aside from an innate desire to achieve perfection, Liz believes that it was her ability to stay focussed on her fitness and nutrition plan that enabled her to lose the 20 kilos.

While she was ecstatic with her results, Liz is quick to stress the importance of a post-blitz maintenance program. Like many women who complete the Challenge, Liz found it hard to introduce regular foods back into her diet.

“If you take it too far you can take it to the other extreme. If you get too lean, your mind can go a bit. I wanted to maintain my results, but at the same time, I realised that it wouldn’t be a fun lifestyle to continue as full on as I was.”

So how has Liz managed to strike a balance? “You certainly don’t want to be overweight, but there is a certain weight that your body is meant to be,” she says. “I want to have a life of balance and motivation, I love working hard at the gym and pushing my body, but I don’t want to freak out if I miss a session. I plan to eat healthily for the majority of the time and try to be flexible.”

And with that, Liz flashes a happy grin at our waitress as we dig into our lunch.

For your chance to transform your body and win great prizes, visit www.bodyblitz.net.au