My initial goal was to get my abs back, but as the challenge went on it became much more than that. I wanted my determination, fitness, self control and confidence back. After I lost my mum, I fell into a comfort eating spiral and I found I had lost all of those things along with my abs.

The challenge was actually fun. I’m not going to lie, the first three weeks were really tough – physically and mentally. I felt like giving up in my first HIIT session and I really struggled with the food for the first two weeks as I fully embraced the diet and took responsibility for the food I consumed.

After the initial shock to the system, I found I enjoyed the food and I understood that sticking to the food meant I could train harder and I saw I was getting fitter. My body started to change as well, which spurred me on to stick with it.

The team aspect to the challenge also helped with the challenge, the weekly challenge sessions were awesome as I got to meet a cool group of people who were also going through the same thing.

I’m so happy with my results. My body fat percentage went from 40.2% to 34%. I lost 7.5kg in body weight, 7.6kg in body fat mass. The physical changes surprised me the most, my body started to change quickly, week by week I noticed changes, which was really encouraging and motivating through the challenge.

If you are reading this and are considering the challenge or a change, please do. You will be challenged, you will consider giving up, but if you follow the program, stick with the food and listen to the advice the trainers give you, you will see results.

At the beginning of the challenge that goal was simply to feel confident wearing obscenely tiny gold shorts in front of hundreds of thousands of people in the parade today.  A goal that in hindsight feels a little superficial.

In reality I have achieved something a lot more valuable which is a much better understanding of how small changes can make massive impacts to my health and fitness. I am a lot more aware now of not only the nutritional value of what I eat is but also how to swap out foods and manage portions in a way that helps rather than hinders my goals.

I can now confidently say that I am in the best shape of my life, which at 36 is a lot more important to me than tiny gold shorts. 🙂