All my life I never wanted to be “fat” both my parents were because of injury and medication and I was determined that, that would never be me. So I spent most of my life incredibly active and always watched what I ate and if I ate (quite often especially in my teens I chose not to).

Fast forward to when I was 18 I fell pregnant and when this pregnancy ended without a living baby, I found out that I had PCOS and that in order to have any more children I had to lose weight, but in typical doctor way I was never told how to do this. Turns out that being really strict and over working myself (swimming 40+ laps of a 50 meter pool every day and walking everywhere) works. Within a year I was pregnant again this time with a healthy baby but this meant I couldn’t go to the local pool every day and quickly gained weight so I started doing Windsor Pilates for around 2 hours a day which hurt like anything but in a year worked well and I fell pregnant again, which ended in another healthy baby.
So in 3 years I had 3 C-sections and my stomach muscles were shot. I also became extremely busy with 2 babies under 2 years old. I was also experiencing an exacerbation of my mental illness, My OCD (I have also since been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression and Attachment Disorder, I also hear voices) was becoming huge so I had no time for me and my health everything became about my kids and husband.

Now I am 35 years old and don’t recognize me! I have become so sick of what I see in the mirror and now that my babies are teenagers I have decided to look after me. But when I do what I used to I hurt so much. My back and my feet I never thought I was so unfit and having been a smoker since I was 14yrs old doesn’t help at all. But I keep seeing this youtube clip of this guy Arthur and his transformation and Oh My Goodness if he can do it then so can I (surely). I need to get the program that he did so I showed my husband and he agreed (I think it was because he also wanted to lose weight) and after years of being a meat worker had destroyed his back it was hard for him.   

So we got the videos and started with The Diamond Dozen then we jumped straight to Strength Builder (you know cause that is the smart thing to do hahaha) ultimately we went back and followed (sort of) the list that DDP has put together. I have found that motivation has been the hardest part for me, I am really good at procrastinating and when the depression hits it is near on impossible for me to do anything. I have also quit smoking (day 20 today) which has sent everything into a tail spin but I stayed true to my diet Gluten and dairy (well lactose free at this stage) and I eat mainly dry salads (no dressing) and DDP Yoga has been a part of every day I aim for either just before breakfast or not long after depending on the day because I find that if I leave it much longer than that than the day will get in the way and I won’t get it done.

My end goal is to finally lose all my baby weight (16 years so far it has taken) but I want to be fit and beautiful for myself, husband and children. I still have 53.1kgs/ 117lbs to go but I will get there and the best part is I am not in pain. I am never hungry and I have already lost 17kgs/29lbs in only 3 months and around 11cms off my waist alone and if you have PCOS you know exactly how hard you have to work for those results but I am not done yet and I will keep going until I reach my goal.

I have changed so many things, like no longer smoking, drinking water, no more alcohol, no more fast food, no processed food. I live by the slogan “The longer the shelf life, the shorter yours”. I want a long healthy life so making these changes for the most part has been easy without cravings.       

I can’t wait to see what the future holds :)