I have been reading WH&F for years and every time I saw the amazing results in the BodyBlitz challenge I was inspired to take part. I’ve started it many times before, but after a week or two I would lose focus and give up with the same excuse: now’s not a good time.

After celebrating my 31st birthday this year I decided that this was the year I was going to achieve my health and fitness goals. I’ve always been fine with my exercise regime, but it has been my eating that has let me down. So I decided to seek the assistance of the team at Realm and signed up for their weight loss and mentoring program.

My mentor, Simone, met with me weekly to keep me focused, track my weight loss and talk about any challenges. Just knowing that I had to go in each week and get weighed and be held accountable for my results was enough to keep me focused. I was also attending the Realm boot camp sessions three times a week, which pushed me to work hard.

The first few weeks were the hardest – my body took a while to adapt to the new style of eating. But after the first few weeks I was in the zone. Every Sunday I would sit down and plan out my eating and exercise program for the week.

I’d do the weekly shop and know exactly what I was eating each day so I didn’t get caught out. I live with my sister and she also took on the same eating program, which was fantastic. We would share the cooking and helped each other to stay motivated on days where getting up at 5.30am to go to boot camp seemed too hard.

The biggest challenges were dealing with social outings and travelling for work. If I was able to look up the restaurant menu on the internet beforehand I’d plan what I was able to eat before I got there.
When I was travelling for work I would ensure the accommodation I was staying at had gym facilities so I could do my workouts. I never left home without having a spare protein shake in my handbag in case I got caught out longer than planned and needed something to eat.

Throughout the whole 12 weeks I ate exactly to the plan. My friends and family were a great support and would accommodate my eating plan when cooking meals for me. The key was being organised and prepared for every occasion. On the front of my food diary I had the quote, ‘to get something you never had, you have to do something you have never done’. I think this is so true, and I’d remind myself of this when times got tough.

There was a point about mid-way through the challenge when I wondered if it was all worth it as my weight loss had slowed down to 0.1kg and 0.2kg each week, but Simone was great at making me realise that it isn’t just about the number on the scales.

I’m glad I stuck with it – in 12 weeks I managed to not only lose 9kg, but 41cm in measurements. During the 12 weeks I also achieved my goal of running 10km in under one hour. So now I’ve started training for my first half-marathon.

I know now that I can do anything I want if I put my mind to it. It’s all about good planning and having a positive attitude. I want to thank the team at Realm and my friends and family who have supported me through this challenge. The world is now my oyster and I have so many things to achieve.