Trish Bebrouth-Smith

Trish - Regaining Her Figure!

My story is like that of many other women, but with a twist. At 41 having had five children I wanted to get my figure back. I had always been lean and in fact underweight before my first two babies which meant the few kilos I retained after each pregnancy actually sat well on me. It wasn’t until after the third baby that I started to have to work to regain my desired shape. By the time I had the last two I was finding it impossible to lose the last six to eight stubborn kilos.

"I had many well meaning people tell me that this was as I was now forty, I had finally grown into my womans body and I should just except it. That didn’t sit well with me!"

I had lost the weight after my third child by following strict diet and training programs and didn’t see why I couldn’t do it again. I had always admired the physiques of the figure competitors and that was a look I really wanted to aspire to. I had been training at the gym for years at a really high level but it just didn’t show. Then I saw Liz Bickerton in the Womens Health and Fitness Magazine and her amazing transformation. It was there I read about Ideal Bodies Online supported diet and training programs.

"I decided that this is what I wanted to spend my Christmas and birthday money on – getting my body back!"

Everyone thought I was crazy because they had seen me do it before by myself and felt if I just really put my mind to it I could do it again. But my youngest was now four and I had been trying unsuccessfully for all that time. I needed to be accountable to someone! It turned out to be the best present of my life!

Amidst lots of head shaking and dubious comments I set about following the program implicitly. There were times when my weight barely dropped at all and I felt angry about all the perceived sacrifice and wondered if it was all worth it but that’s where the online support kicked in and I was given the strength to persevere and I’m so glad I did. It has been so worth it! My results surpassed even my expectations! It was Cherie who took my initial body fat % when it was sitting at 25% and listened patiently to all my humorous (so I thought) self deprecating comments, and again for the final measurements when it was 15.3%. We were both so excited she had tears in her eyes and she said “See I knew you could do it Trish. Look I’ve got goose bumps” We were both sort of jumping up and down! It felt amazing!

"The journey was not without Its hurdles. The major one being one day into my challenge my Mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given one month to live!"

My immediate thought was to cancel the program and spend every waking second with my beautiful Mum squeezing every bit of love, wisdom and shared experience out of our short time remaining. Then I realised my Mum is someone who loves her own company and cancer of not the last thing she would want is to be robbed of her solitude by grieving children wanting to spend every waking second with her. When I expressed my reservations to Mum she told me to definitely not give up. I used my training as diversional therapy and threw myself into it with vigour and passion. It became like an ode to Mum. After all it was my Mum that gave me her gym membership 20 years ago - and so began my love of weight training.

I’ve gained so much from my journey: The knowledge that I AM strong. I CAN follow a goal from beginning to end. Just because you are over forty and had several children doesn’t mean you can’t have the body you desire if you are willing to COMMIT to the transformation.

"I've discovered an inner FORTITUDE I thought I’d lost and a PRIDE in my body I thought was long past."

So my journey of twelve weeks was a time of transcendence and not only do I have a body I am proud of and happy to house my newly enlightened mind in, but I’ve gained all of this by forging ahead in the face of adversity................... and best of all I still have my Mum!