Stats Before After Height 168cm 168cm Calves 34cm 32cm Weight 63.8kg 57kg Arms 29cm 24cm Chest 90cm 82cm Waist 75cm 66cm Thighs 58cm 50cm Hips 98cm 86cm

Finishing this challenge has been a phenomenal achievement for me one that’s afforded me not only greater self esteem, increased energy and a higher level of motivation but an enormous sense of relief! I’m now keeping the internal furnace stoked up with plenty of exerciseand my nutritional commitments come from 12 weeks of habit-changing moderation that has afforded me an amazing outlook on life! I can now enjoy the pending summer with ease and enjoy the odd splurge!

My greatest challenge was to remain consistent to take the emotion out of training and to embrace it into my daily routine in manner of eating, bathing and breathing. That was hard –5am starts amid dark, freezing and miserable conditions certainly didn’t evoke a lot of motivation! And a demanding routine complete with children and full time work still beckoned bringing with it the challenge to remain perpetually organised lest I fell in a screaming heap of failure!

My other challenge was to embrace said failure. My most enduring habit was to ditch everything if I suffered a set back pig out and wait for the next Monday to start fresh. This thinking essentially jeopardised my goals even further but the pursuit for perfection was MY tyranny of progress and one not to be challenged! So embracing the occasional binge, missed training session, illness or injury whilst never losing sight of my goals was a slow process,I learnt to get straight back on the horse (or treadmill) and kept on keeping on despite feeling like an utter failure. It was a massive change in thinking but one that was hugely empowering!

So my normal routine of binge, starve and hate myself was replaced with five small protein rich meals a day, coupled with a routine of cardio and resistance training and plenty of sleep. I got myself a lot of workout DVDs for indoor spinning and running and routinely updated my library of iTunes in a bid to mitigate any impending boredom (and hence an excuse to stop). Eating consistently was initially difficult but to aid the prevention of a metabolic wind- down or alternatively a nasty, all-out binge the task of eating for fuel and endurance as well as satiety was important. It was imperative not to miss meals. In the last 12 weeks, I’ve eaten better than I have in my whole life! I have no desire to do triathlons, reach mountain peaks or swim huge distances. Going forward I just want the peace of mind that my life is no longer dictated by the miseries that come with perpetual crash dieting, binging and self hatred. Being fit affords you freedom of choice and a sense of empowerment. I just want to live a happy life, feel fulfilled, confident and know that I am continuing to be the best I can be. This 12 week challenge catalysed that change for me. I couldn’t be happier!