Since doing the BodyBlitz challenge in 2010, I had maintained my weight to within a kilo or two of the final weigh-in and continued my training and healthy lifestyle. Yet, I was unable to break through the plateau I’d reached and achieve my ultimate goal weight. Having read numerous success stories over the years in Women’s Health & Fitness magazine, I remembered that some of them said they’d been helped by Ideal Bodies Online. I thought that might be the key to the results I was after.

Upon joining the web-based program, I was assigned two online trainers, who designed a workout plan based on my fitness level, access to equipment, and preferred methods of training, and a customised meal plan.

The meal plan was one of the steepest learning curves in the challenge. While I was already following a healthy diet by most people’s standards, the refinements made by my trainers were what ultimately allowed me to break the plateau and start dropping the kilos again. Specific combinations of food types (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) at different times of the day, combined with controlled portion sizes of each, is critical to achieving success. Who knew a small handful of almonds could become your best accessory?

I also sent my own food plans to one of my trainers and she tweaked them to ensure I would continue to see results. I couldn’t believe how much food I was eating, and losing weight!

Having embarked on the challenge and lost a reasonable amount of weight before, I anticipated certain challenges this time around. A major advantage was starting the challenge at least 12 kilos lighter and with a good level of fitness. Knowing the duration of the challenge and level of dedication required were definitely advantageous, too.

On the contrary, dropping the final few kilos can definitely be a much harder task. You only have to visit a bookstore to see how many publications there are on ‘losing the last five kilos’, which is why I signed up with an online trainer – I haven’t looked back.

I began to see significant changes within the first two weeks. The weight continued to drop at a steady rate each week, and changes were noticeable in photos at the end of weeks four and six.

It wasn’t a steady process, though. At the end of week eight, things began to plateau again and I sent my trainer a panicked email, wondering what I was doing ‘wrong’. But my trainers slightly adjusted my training and food plan and assured me things would continue to change. Lo and behold, I not only reached my goal weight, but smashed it out of the park.

I have lost almost 10 kilos on this challenge, bringing my total weight loss since last year to just over 20 kilos. To give me another short-term goal, I have entered a 10km fun run.

I recommend the challenge to anyone wanting to lose weight, but more importantly, seeking to make a positive and healthy change to their life. The challenge not only achieves physical changes, but improves confidence, self-esteem and, most importantly, happiness within yourself.