Nicole's Life Had Been 'Interrupted' - Not Any More!

I recall that I was reasonably active as a youngster.  I played representative softball in primary school and representative netball in high school.  I remember choosing to do Primary School PE Teaching as work experience in grade 10.  I just always had an interest in fitness and sport.  Then, something went astray.  I’m not sure what, but I like to refer to it as being ‘interrupted’ for the next 20 years.
 
Slowly, somehow, I lost interest in life and gained…. Fat.  I don’t doubt that my story is not dissimilar to others.  I lost confidence, lost self esteem, gained weight and jumped onto the roundabout that is yo yo dieting.  Weight gain, followed by weight loss, followed by weight gain, followed by weight loss… and then ultimately more weight gain.
 
In late 2008, I decided I was going to change my life for good.  I just didn’t know how I was going to do it.  I started exercising and didn’t see any results. I was chatting with a friend one day:
 
“I don’t understand, I’ve been exercising every day for two weeks and I haven’t lost any weight”. 
 
To which he responded:
 
“So what are you going to do, Stop?” 

That was it. 
 
He was right.  I can’t stop.  But I needed help, I just wasn’t getting the balance between nutrition and exercise right.  I didn’t have a clue how to do it.
 
I saw the Ideal Bodies Online advertisement in a magazine and sent Sue an email.  I was really just dipping my toe in the water and it was sometime after my original enquiry that I revisited the idea and enquired again, this time with a more serious desire to make the changes necessary.
 
For me personally, I had previously set so many weight loss goals and not followed through, that I had to have a different focus.  I wanted to lose over 25 kilos and that number just seemed too overwhelming.  So I chose an event that I wanted to enter at the end of 2009.  It was the Run, Swim, Run event at the Noosa Triathlon Festival in October.  That, was my goal. 
 
I set to work on my first IBO program.  My new Mantra became:

“I must be willing to give up what I am, in order to become what I will be”.

The support and encouragement from Kristin and Maxine and the online IBO community was invaluable.  I remember all the little milestones like running for the first time, then running my first 10km event, then beating my time on the next one and the next one.  I remember feeling the confidence grow as my strength and fitness improved and as a by product of this, my weight was plummeting.  Between January and November 2009 I lost 27 kilos, but I have gained so much more in the way of confidence and self esteem. 

I completed two IBO programs and have continued my fitness journey.  I completed the Run, Swim, Run event and cried when I crossed the line.  Now, I am training for my first triathlon.  I train 6 days a week and it has become such a normal part of my life.  Training and healthy eating have become non-negotiable behaviours for me. 
 
I could not have achieved what I have without the support, and knowledge I have gained from my IBO programs.  

I am continuing on my journey and setting more goals for my health and fitness.  One of my goals is to now become a personal trainer.  I want to inspire other people to change their lives.  I’m just a normal Wife and Mother of three.  I have the same pressures, issues and complications as anyone else.  But I have now learned that I have resilience and determination.   My life is not extraordinary, and anyone can achieve what I have.  You just need (as Sue says) Patience and Consistency. 
 
Thank you to Kristin and Maxine and IBO for teaching my how to balance training and nutrition to get results and maintain health.  Thank you for the knowledge and support.  I know I did the ‘hard’ work, but without the programs and support, I would still be going around in circles trying to get it right.