I’ve always been a fairly active person, but I struggled with my diet. I’d bust myself at the gym for hours every week, trying to eat as little as possible, and then of course, by the time Friday came around I was ready to demolish anything and everything in the cupboards… and I did, twice over!! I was always saying “I’ll start on Monday”, and “this week I’ll be good”. It was a merry-go-round of binging and “detoxing” only to feel deprived which lead to another binge. Even though I wasn’t terribly overweight, I was very unhappy. I was exhausted from exercising so much, and I was highly strung, always trying to work out how to “make up” for my “naughtiness”. It wasn’t healthy.

I became not only miserable with myself, but miserable for others too.

I decided that I had to find something that would work for me, something that made sense and that would get me that lean, strong look that I envied. So I started researching and found Ideal Bodies Online. I figured there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get the body I wanted, so I signed up for the Ultimate Body Makeover Program. It was great!! There was so much food, and I was training less than I had been before, all with much bigger results!

The support was fantastic and it really helped knowing you were accountable to someone.

The biggest hurdle for me was probably trying to overcome my all-or-nothing thinking. I can be a bit of a perfectionist, which meant in the past, if I “slipped up”, I’d throw in the towel, eat everything in sight, feel terrible, and plan to start all over again. My coaches, Sharna and Leanne really helped me overcome this. They helped me realise that one bad meal won’t ruin everything, and that I didn’t need to be perfect all the time.

So now, when I slip up, I take a deep breath, realise it’s not the end of the world, forgive myself and move on.

Taking my after photos I was really surprised... sometimes when you’re in the midst of it, you don’t realise how much you have changed, but I can really see it now. I’m so much more comfortable in my clothes, I feel excited about shopping, confident in my relationship and for the first time ever I have a bikini that I WANT to be seen in!!! I feel motivated to share my success and to help others achieve their goals. It’s so easy to make small changes. You don’t have to change your entire life all at once and you don’t have to achieve all your goals at the speed of light... time will pass either way, so why not spend it getting closer to your goals? I still have things I want to improve, but I’m so much closer than I was 3 months ago, and I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything!

Nici’s Success Tips

• Be prepared! I spent Sunday evenings making lean meatballs, cooking up batches of vegetable soup, pre-packing salads for the weeks, packing individual portions of almonds and rice cakes and roasting vegetables for the week. If you can get up and your meals are all ready for you, there is no temptation to eat anything else!
• Make a sticker chart. I made a chart of my whole 12 weeks, what goals I wanted to reach at certain points in my journey, when my feedback emails were due and when I wanted to exercise. I then gave myself a nice bright sticker for each task I achieved. It makes you realise that you’re working towards your goal every day.
• Keep food simple – make a few things you like, and repeat them. I would make up big batches of soup, cook chicken in some Moroccan spice and roast some vegies, and have various combinations of those foods every day for every meal. It was tasty, and made life simple.
• Don’t follow everyone else. This is your journey, and while it would be great if everybody was doing it, this is not going to be the case, so just stick to your guns! I had family that would indulge in rich foods, friends would offer to make decadent meals for dinner and my partner likes to have some junk food in the house – just because their doing it doesn’t mean you have to. Everyone has different goals, and you need to do what needs to be done to achieve yours.
• Don’t give up. At first I was frustrated because the results weren’t coming as fast as I expected. But if I just threw in the towel, I’d still be the same person I was 12 weeks ago… and even if I still think I can make some improvements, I’ve got a hell of lot less work to do now than I did at the beginning!

Nici’s Favourite Recipe: Chicken and Turkey Laksa-spiced Meatballs

• Equal parts chicken and turkey mince (I would usually make about 1kg at a time)
• 1 red capsicum
• 1 zucchini
• 1 onion
• Good bunch coriander
• 2 tablespoons good quality laksa paste

Chuck all the vegies and herbs in a food processor. Mix with mince, stir in laksa paste. Roll in to small balls, lay on baking paper and bake at 200 degrees for about 15min, or until golden. YUM!!

I would have them cold in a salad with bean sprouts and fresh coriander, or warm them up and have them with a little minced chilli as a snack.