Dianne Ray

My story is like that of many other women and there is no difference what age you are. Over 50’s seem to see it that way. I am deaf and a mother of 5 adults. I am 53 years old and I have always been lean and in the underweight range between my 20s and 40s. I have always loved life, sport, running (always involved in half marathons, triathlons, etc.) but my nutrition has never been right. I have always gone up and down and been on the wrong diet.

I have had an old injury reoccur 4 times or more and this made me lack motivation. I was up and down with motivation and never had enough confidence.

I have wasted many hours exercising at the gym and following diets and nothing seemed to change. I have spent many years and lots of emotions trying to achieve a physical goal.

Two years ago I had family struggles. I was on a roller coaster up and down until I decided to apply myself to a 12 week challenge to try to achieve results and improve my confidence and success.

I then applied to study certificate III in fitness at TAFE. I have had a long term dream to become a personal trainer and help those in the deaf community. I wanted to complete this last year and really enjoyed the study at TAFE.

Last October we had more struggles in the family. My 5th son had a terrible accident and I have been going through a very traumatic and stressful time, losing my confidence and having an unbalanced eating approach.

My family struggled to cope but I had to be very strong to keep it together with my 5th son.

I was determined not to give up my study at TAFE and to keep going. I struggled and missed exercise with all the study and work I was doing and visiting my son in hospital after work. Now my son is on a long road to recovery and my study is still not complete.

With my self-esteem now at an all-time low, I decided to sign up with Ideal Bodies Online. This was my chance at trying to have another go at a challenge for me to change and be fitter and learn to be a positive influence on my family and myself.

I signed up for a coaching program and I received a nutrition plan and weight and cardio program from IBO. This gave me all the tools and guidance to understand what I needed to eat and it was my saviour. I looked forward to every training session and fell madly in love with weight training.

I now eat to fuel my body instead of eating according to my emotions. I actually eat much more than I did before, but what I am eating is now healthy and nutritious!

By week 5 I had noticed a big change in my body and it was exciting for me because my 2nd son was getting married and I was the mother of the groom. My family noticed and said that I was looking glowing, strong and healthy. I was very pleased and my 5th son was able to walk at his brother’s wedding. He is still on a long road to recovery but it was very pleasing for me to see this.

Unfortunately following this I had a knee injury and I was out of action for a week and a half. I was frustrated and wanted to give up but I didn’t wait to waste my challenge. I called on Kristin and Allyson to help and they were so wonderful, they gave me advice to change the workouts. I was very happy with what they did to help me.

I was totally focused on making this journey work for me and staying even stronger. I copied al the tips of motivation and nutrition from the Member’s area and took articles with me to read on the train to and from work every day. There is no excuse, you can it in your own time!

Again in week 9 I got sick and was off for a week! It was so close to the end but I knew I must be patient to recover until I could get back to full strength again.

Finally week 12 and I have finished! Yay! I am proclaiming to be fitter at 50. I feel so proud and excited.

It has been such a struggle for me but to reach this goal is wonderful.

I had a photo shoot and I was very surprised to see I had lost 8kg! I haven’t seen my weight like that in many years. It was most exciting for me to see my old jeans size 10 fit me that I haven’t worn in 3 years. I got to keep them and not throw them away thank goodness!

I have energy to burn, I feel so young and vibrant at 53!

The 12 week challenge has taught me how to manage my emotional eating and love my new body. It has left me feeling much more confident and happy with myself. For me this is just the beginning of a permanent lifestyle change.

My big thanks go to Sue, Kristin, Allyson and Sharna, all of Ideal Bodies Online team. They gave me wonderful and very simple instructions and advice during the 12 weeks. I won’t ever forget this, it’s a wonderful challenge for me at 53 years old!

My target is to go back to study and get my other certificate, IV in fitness and get on with being a personal trainer and serve, share, love and help the deaf community. I also aim to run the city to surf in August next year, do a half marathon and ride 100km around the bay in October this year. I will keep going with my training workouts which taught me to keep fit and strong, which I love! Maybe next is figure competition… one day.

Dianne’s Success Tips:

Never give up and don’t listen to negativity. Anything is possible if you keep your dream to reach your goal.
Stick to the right path and don’t look back at the past.
Listen to your body, if it is telling you to work hard, keep pushing yourself to your limits.

I am sorry for any misunderstanding with my English as I am deaf.