For as long as I can remember I have been a comfort eater. Even though I would exercise and train hard I couldn’t lose weight because whenever I was stressed, sad or happy I would eat.

The comfort eating had become a vicious cycle and when it started to affect not only my own weight and self-esteem, but my relationship with my husband and three children, I decided do something about it and take the 12-week BodyBlitz challenge.

For me the challenge wasn’t just about losing weight and toning up, it was to change a lifelong habit and rebuild relationships with myself and my loved ones. I have found that even though I have changed physically, the biggest change to me has been emotional.

At the start of the challenge I signed up with Ideal Bodies Online. Through this I received a nutritional plan and a weight and cardio program. I also signed up for a personal mentor, as I felt that I needed to communicate with someone who could be objective.

My husband was a wonderful motivator throughout the challenge and was my trainer at home and in the gym. He helped me with my technique, and when I was about to give up he would encourage me to push that little bit harder.

I was faced with many hurdles throughout the challenge. My husband and children were all sick with a virus for a week, and as they got better I started to get sick. This meant I couldn’t train for four days. I also came down with two bacterial chest infections that required antibiotics and left me feeling lethargic.

In the past this type of stress would have led me to emotional eating, but instead I read motivational articles that I had downloaded from the internet. I also wrote in my goals journal as I found writing my feelings down made them easier to manage. For the first time in my life I was visualising myself succeeding instead of failing.

I really began to notice a huge change in my physical appearance and fitness level at around week nine – I was feeling fantastic. My husband and I started to spend more quality time together, and I began to believe in myself again. This made it easier for me to control my urges to emotionally eat.

I believe my children deserve a mum who is happy, confident and healthy. I want to see them grow up without the unhealthy relationship I have with food impacting on their lives.

Now I eat to fuel my body, instead of eating according to my emotions. I actually eat much more than I did before, but what I am eating is healthy and nutritious. I no longer eat sugars or processed foods, and I always read the label before I buy a product.

I have gone from not wanting to run at all, to really enjoying running on the treadmill or at the oval near my home. My husband and I go to Thumped and Body Combat classes together at our local gym. I can lift more, squat more and press more than I could before and find that I hate not exercising.

The 12-week challenge has taught me how to manage my emotional eating, to love my new body and has left me much more confident and happy with myself. For me this is just the beginning of a permanent lifestyle change.