I have four lovely children but four pregnancies have put a strain on my body. I felt tired and drained every day and wasn’t sleeping well, and by the time my fourth baby was 10-months-old I hadn’t lost any weight. I was still wearing maternity clothes because I didn’t fit into anything in my wardrobe, which was really depressing.

My mother-in-law emailed some photos of my family and me at a barbeque and I couldn’t believe how much weight I was carrying. That was when I decided something had to be done.

I had planned to do the BodyBlitz challenge for several years but used all the excuses I could think of. This pattern of thinking isn’t easily broken, but I realised my weight was the one thing in my life I could control and it was up to me to get results.

For years I have bought Women’s Health & Fitness, as I love all the information that’s crammed in each month. I kept my magazines to motivate and prepare for the challenge. I cut out the BodyBlitz, workout and recipe articles and put them in a book.

I want to motivate all the women out there who can’t afford a PT or a gym membership. They may help you get results but you don’t need them to get the body you want.

I had a gym membership but couldn’t get a babysitter to look after my children while I was at the gym, so I would put my baby down for her sleep in the morning and train like mad for an hour and then do the housework.

Before I started the challenge I learnt to look for triggers that would make me overeat and thought about what I could do to curb this unhealthy habit.

I rewarded myself with new clothes and runners at Easter instead of a truckload of chocolate, and while people around me were saying they felt disgusting because they ate so much chocolate, I was feeling great about being in control.

 I have attended many celebrations over the past 12 weeks, including three family birthdays, a wedding and Easter. These events are normally celebrated with lots of food but I am so happy I jumped over these hurdles and maintained a healthy diet.

Years ago I would read about the BodyBlitz winners having personal trainers. I would say to myself, ‘I don’t have the money for a trainer’, but that was just an excuse. You can do it on your own; you just need to summon that determination inside of you, stay focused on your goal and stop making excuses like I did for years.

My 15-year-old daughter took my before and after photos and when we finished she told me how proud she was – that was the icing on the cake. I am now a much stronger and more determined person because of this experience. I made a promise to myself and stuck to it – and you can too. c