Getting married and having kids young has had many benefits, but as a young mum I found many aspects incredibly difficult. With a never-ending pile of mundane tasks I felt like it was all too much. I felt like I wasn’t good enough, I felt alone, I felt like my life didn’t matter to anyone. Somewhere along the way I had given up.

I spent a great deal of time wishing, but after a while I finally realised that wishing wasn’t going to get me anywhere. If I wanted something I had to find the inner strength to make it happen. I had to be responsible for my life. It was at this time that my husband decided to take on the 12-week BodyBlitz challenge, and after hearing about it I decided that I wanted to do it too.

I wanted to make it happen, to stop making excuses and be the best me I can be. Reading Liz Bickerton’s story struck a special cord with me. My husband was also a great source of encouragement. At the end of each day he would ask me how my workouts went and encourage me to achieve my goals.

At first I found lifting weights to be difficult. After my second child was born my body felt like it had lost so much condition and I couldn’t believe how much strength I had lost. My energy was also really low at the beginning of the challenge, but I just took it one day at a time and did my workouts whether I felt like it or not.

After three weeks I started noticing significant gains in strength, and was generally feeling a lot more energetic. However, it was hard to not be discouraged by the fact that my weight on the scales had hardly changed. I wanted to give up the weight training and just do cardio but my husband was persistent and persuasive in his belief that I should be lifting weights to increase my metabolism, as well as doing cardio.
I have to admit I loved the feeling of pushing heavy weights, but I was scared I was going to bulk up big time. At this time my husband hid the scales from me, which was annoying at the time but turned out to be a positive thing.

The diet changes I had to make were pretty extreme because I was used to eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Usually this was highly processed food like bread and biscuits. However, during the challenge I was surprised that I never felt hungry because I was eating every two to three hours.
Looking back at the end of the 12-week program, I’m still not 100 per cent sure where I want to be, but I have made significant progress. Physically I feel much more in tune with my body, I sleep much better and have a lot more energy.

At the beginning of the challenge I could only run 1.5km before feeling exhausted. Now I can run 4km and still feel fresh. Eventually I plan to run a half marathon but I know I have to set smaller goals first!
Throughout the 12-week challenge I have definitely grown and made progress, and even my relationships have improved. I look forward to continuing my training as I strive to be the best I can be. c