02/09/2026
Eight years apart... but that's not the whole story.
My mum put me on my first "diet" at about 14 because I was supposedly chubby, and honestly, I've probably tried every diet known to man since.
The grape diet (yes, that was actually a thing 😂), cabbage soup, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, keto... you name it.
And exercise? Same story. Running, walking, swimming, aerobics, step, dance, Pilates, yoga... I've spent a lifetime moving my body and a lifetime yo-yoing between body shapes.
Then Covid happened and, unbeknownst to me, I was also beginning my journey through perimenopause. My body was changing, the things I'd always done weren't working anymore, and it was incredibly frustrating.
During lockdown I started playing with handstands, arm balances and bodyweight work. One day one of my boys noticed the muscle developing in my back and said, "Mom, you should go to the gym."
My response? Absolutely not. I'll get big and bulky. 😂🙈
Thankfully, my boys knew better. They dismantled that particular myth and convinced me to join a gym.
I went. And I've never looked back. Strength training changed something for me, but food was still the missing piece.
So I got help from an outstanding coach, learned about macros and finally realised I didn't need to cut out carbs, label foods good or bad or deprive myself.
I could fuel my body properly and still change my body composition. And when fat loss was the goal? A calorie deficit. No magic pills, spells or voodoo. Just science, consistency, patience and time.
Six years later, I know that not now, only because I've lived it, but also because I've gone on to study it too.
So yes, my body has changed but so has my mindset.
It's not the bodies at either end that matter to me, it's everything I learned in between. ❤️
