Stats Before After Height 178cm 178cm Calves 38cm 38cm Weight 81.9kg 72.8kg Arms 32cm 29cm Chest 100cm 89cm Waist 82cm 72.5cm Thighs 65cm 59cm Hips 93cm 83cm

Four kids, a reality check and a husband in the army drove my motivation to complete the BodyBlitz Challenge. Unfortunately, like many Australians, I have spent a large portion of my life battling weight issues. I have tried fad diets only to yo-yo back again, I've launched myself into on again/off again exercise regimes but one thing lets me down every time is that I never seem to be able to follow through and finish anything I start.
November of 2005 brought with it the lowest, darkest time of my life. My weight had ballooned out to an all-time high, the scales were well into three figures. I was so ashamed I actually stopped weighing, I couldn't bare to look at the scales. At this point I entered a world of self sabotage and incredibly bad habits. My motivation went out the window and I was an emotional wreck. I had been diagnosed with severe degenerative osteoarthritis requiring more knee surgery, and my husband had just been posted on his third six-month operational deployment overseas. It was at this lowest of low point I found the strength to begin the fight to get my
life back.
The hurdles I faced on my journey were immense! While my husband and kids supported me, maintaining my diet was difficult. I had to prepare meals for my family as well as maintain a strict regime of my own. On top of this I had to find time to exercise. This meant getting out of bed at five oclock in the morning for a couple of hard sessions in the gym before scrambling home to prepare breakfast, organise my four children, sort and coordinate school routines and extracurricular activities. I had never been an early-morning person, so this new schedule was like being whacked in the head by a piece of timber!
But without doubt, my biggest physical hurdle has been doing all this with chronic degenerative osteoarthritis in both my knees. After being told I will need knee replacement surgery before I'm 50, and having endured years of constant pain, I was determined to just break out of the potential downward spiral this circumstance was setting up for my life. My exercise has not fixed the problem, and I have suffered my fair share of agonising nights after long days in the gym. The pain is still there, but I've conquered the anguish, the depression and the fear. I have shown myself I can use my body in ways I never thought I could.
The benefits are clear! On the physical side, I've lost weight, centimetres, toned up and gained muscle. I have so much more energy, I can ward of illness faster, I can do more and fit more in my day and my oldest daughter even says 'Mummy you are so skinny now!'
There have been considerable health benefits. I limp less with newfound muscle strength to assist my degenerative knees. My increased energy levels are helping me cope with the demands of my big active family and all the challenges of being an Army wife.
Finally, emotionally I have come a long way. The journey back has not been without pain but for the first time in many years I have completed a project. The challenge allowed me the opportunity to seek some closure on all those painful chapters from my past. I feel such a huge sense of relief, I don't feel like such a failure or disappointment anymore. I am a finisher. I am an achiever. I am a doer and I can!