My Story

As far as ‘f’ words go, I can think of plenty to describe myself in my forties – frumpy, flabby, fat. I know of a multitude of other women who feel exactly the same.

Excess is a word that sits well with me. Up until this point, my life has had plenty of excess. Excess partying, food, alcohol - excess everything. Life for me had included the expected (and unexpected) ups and downs. The experiences that mold us into being the way we are and make us believe that this is just the way it is and will always be.

At this age we often do what women believe we are put on this earth to do – have children. We willingly and happily devote unconditional love and care to the loved ones that surround us with total neglect for our own well-being. The next thing we realise is that we are invisible and irrelevant to society. Told to ‘sit back’, we wonder how we came to be in a place of such self-pity and unhappiness.

As a person who has always been reasonably active, it was a matter of learning that I was still able to do things. Our bodies start to let us down once we hit that magical age of forty and this can be soul destroying.

Having thought I had plateaued with my weight loss, I was lucky to have been offered to start at a new gym. I met some special people who taught me that life was about what I could do, not what I couldn’t. They supported, encouraged and reignited my passion for exercise, making me believe that I could do anything I set my mind to.

Eight years on, 20kg lighter and 56cm smaller, with one Tough Mudder event and a body building competition behind me, I went back to school and became a personal trainer. With a fire in my belly, I have set out to enable every woman believe in herself. I wish to take my courageous ladies from a base of little or no exercise to a new life of health and fitness.

Bestbodies is my mission to make every woman feel fabulous. To build up strength with resistance training, improving muscle health and bone density, along with cardio training for cardiovascular health. Most importantly to share the mental benefits of exercise and feelings of improved self-esteem and empowerment.

The desire to help my ladies become mobile and physically stable stems from the knowledge that life is not over after forty. Modern medicine means we potentially still have a good 40 to 60 years ahead of us. In order to make the most of these years, we need to be strong both physically and mentally.

You may not believe it, but you can achieve anything. You can lift, bend, run, and weave. Exercise can make you feel fabulous, and Bestbodies will help get you there.