Introducing Louise

Meet our second challenge mum who will be sharing her journey with you - Louise.  Louise has also been training with Body Beyond Baby for quite a while and took part in the first challenge.  From her own account she has yet to make the proper commitment that she knows it takes to make a real difference in her health and fitness.  She has now decided to make herself accountable to you all by being a part of our blog which I think is a great step.  Well done Louise and all the best from here - we will all be here to support you along the way.  Meet Louise:

"I have been training with Jen for about two years now and this my third challenge. I wanted to write about the challenge not only to be more accountable but also because I have struggled with achieving results in the past.  I have been up and down with both my weight and my fitness levels since the birth of my little girl Amalia.  During my pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and was on a strict eating plan.  I was quite happy to be extra healthy for my baby, but once she had arrived I conveniently forgot all of the doctor’s advice and went crazy with all of the foods I wasn’t allowed when pregnant.  Not good, especially as my doctor warned me I was at a higher risk for type two diabetes if I did not get my weight under control.  So I started training with Jen in 2010, but to be honest I was a bit hopeless.  I felt like I was doing the training because was I was supposed to, not because I wanted to.  I also didn’t change my diet, which back then consisted of fairly healthy main meals but copious amounts of chocolate.  Regardless of my terrible attitude, I could see the value in training with Jen.  She motivated me when I had no motivation and pushed me to do things I was not aware I was capable of.

I took some time off from training when I started studying last year, intending to fit in exercise where I could but never got around to it.  So I was very excited about the first challenge in 2011 and the opportunity to get back into training.  I didn’t realise how hard it would be going back to exercise.  I had lost confidence in my abilities and was not sure whether I could complete the challenge.  The first few sessions were a real struggle, more in my mind than in my body.  I ended up surprising myself with the level of fitness I started to achieve, but at some point I started making excuses, eating chocolate again and missing sessions and I did not finish the challenge.  In hindsight, not only did I not have confidence in my abilities, I also don’t think I prepared myself psychologically enough to be able to change my habits.  Although I was disappointed in myself, I had gained confidence in my fitness and thought I would do better next time.  When the second challenge came around in 2012, I could not believe how much I was enjoying the sessions.  A run around the oval used to leave me exhausted but this time around I wanted to keep on running all around Centennial Park.  Another great bonus was that I wasn’t craving chocolate anymore.  The high that I would normally get from chocolate was taken care of by the endorphins from the exercise, funny that. I managed to lose some weight and fit into a smaller pair of jeans (high five for me) but there was definitely still room for improvement.

With all of these experiences behind me, I am feeling confident enough to get through the 12 week challenge. My goals are to get to a level of fitness where I can do all of the things I love like dancing, horse riding and skiing without collapsing.  I’m looking forward to training in the icy cold early sessions and doing burpees in the mud this winter if it means that I can achieve my main goal which is to implement these changes to my diet and exercise permanently and improve my quality of life."