"If someone offers you a quick fix solution, you should sprint...the hell away from them!"

My Story, in my words. It's not a quick one & neither was my journey so grab a coffee, read the words for what they are & enjoy!

Not every trainer will have a weight loss story of their own & that doesn't make them better or worse at the overall job, similarly, I also practice as a Midwife & I haven't had a baby of my own but it sure as hell doesn't affect my qualification or performance!

I like to share my story as its a real one. There was no quick fix, no cheating through, no mentor to guide me. It was me vs me. I had to make that choice to commit, make the tough changes & decide what I really wanted to do. A life change. Time to step off the yo-yo quick fix merry-go-round that was making things worse both mentally & physically.

Strap yourself in & enjoy the journey!...

Step 1: You have to want to change.

I can honestly say I tried the quick fixes; the "meal replacement shakes (for a few days), starving myself, then binge eating out of hunger & anger, trying 'fat free, low sugar options" eating 'healthier choices of salads' loaded with sauce, cheese & calorie building goodness. Going for a walk & feeling great so rewarding myself with food... yeah, these don't work & neither does being envious of your sisters & friends for being 'skinny'.

My comfort was food.

Large portions of heavy, dense foods with second helpings at dinner, processed high calorie snacks with empty energy reward, entire packets of chocolate biscuits & minimal exercise! That, my friends, is how the scales went up, each year steadily adding on from 70, 80, 90... up to 120kgs at my heaviest at 15 years old. All the things I had tried were all quick fixes. Nothing I had done was for the long term & I did not understand this at that young age nor, did I have the will power then to put in the effort needed to make the changes.

It finally dawned on me after seeing my sister go off looking fabulous with her friends for a great night in a wonderful dress (that a'ha moment!) that I had a year to get serious to be able to fit into a nice ball dress or not attend the high school ball due to my size & embarrassment.

Well, the truth hurts: nothing comes easy & to lose weight, it is god damn hard to change your entire lifestyle, eating habits & learn to enjoy being active, fit & have it as a normal day to day habit.

Step 2: Be serious about you want to achieve...

Stop investing in empty promises. This includes low calorie, intense workout challenges at the gyms (I've seen these in action & they can work short term, but not something to promote for lifestyle & long term. I've seen more people gain back the weight they lost & more after doing challenges like this!).

Stop with the ridiculous low calorie 'diets' & thrashing yourself at the gym everyday for hours on end. For one, hours of cardio is boring (if not, good for you!) & for two, you will be so exhausted, drained, moody & lethargic after a few days from such a drastic deficit, especially when you're being active, it will wreak havoc on not only your physical well being, but your mental well being as well.

Do not just copy a 'comp prep diet' you googled on the internet... are you prepping for a competition or planning to live your life like you always are?... no way! The sooner we accept that the body was made to move & be active the easier it will be to have it as a normal, everyday habit. Be honest with yourself on this one; are you honestly wanting to change for the long term & get control of your health or, are you wanting the weight to be gone as quickly as possible without having to exercise?

Yes, this is an honest question you need to ask yourself, because having done it myself & now helping people to do it themselves everyday I can see when someone is serious & determined to put in the hard work compared to someone who wants the instant quick fixes we're so conditioned to seeing everyday.

No one else can do it for you... something that was a bitter pill to swallow at 15 years old. I quietly told my mum what I was going to do so she would support me & since my plan was out in the open, I'd told someone so now, I wanted to succeed properly & this would keep me accountable.

Step 3: Put your thoughts, plans & goals onto paper (it was paper at 15 years old for me!).

This is the step you need to take action on. Get the words out of your head & onto paper, on an app, Microsoft word or as a reminder in your notes. This for me, was my overall goal of losing 20 kilos written out, a graph (hand drawn) of my starting weight, the start date & a weekly spot to weigh in for 20 weeks. Next was an empty notebook I would use as a food diary to write out every food I ate for each day. I did not have knowledge of exercise let alone optimal nutrition or understanding of the 'carbs, fat, sugar, protein' for health but, I knew deep down what changes needed to be made first including, SMALLER portion sizes, better choices for my snacks & less of them, MOVING my body & understanding it would not happen overnight but, if I stuck to it, it would work.

Walking home from school after a few months was one of my goals & when I managed to do it (about a 30minute walk) I was so pumped.

My gym experience: I took all my savings out & asked mum to drive me to the local gym where I paid upfront for a year membership. Walking through that door was very tough, with me feeling embarrassed, ashamed & scared, walking into a gym which I had never been in in my life. I used to get dropped there after school & use the women's room where I hid in baggy t-shirts doing my routine of 20minutes on the cross trainer, recumbent bike & upright bike before heading home. It took a long time & a friendly worker there to approach me one day & ask if I wanted to come upstairs to try a 'body combat class' with her (I nearly had a panic attack! me, in a class with other people around me?!). Well, after building up the courage after a couple of months at the gym doing my own thing, I went up with her (I unfortunately cannot recall her name) because she kept at me (in a good way). I hid in the back row, in a corner trying not to be notified & surprised myself by not only not collapsing mid way through, surviving & actually enjoying it!

Thanks to that friendly worker for being kind to a young, shy & not-confident 15 year old because from there, I slowly added a few more classes into my routine & loved the atmosphere, motivation, energy & inspiring instructors... (never dreaming one day I would be one!).

This slow increase of fitness & energy with weight decrease helped me add more everyday fitness activities into my life including walking to & from school (about 30 minutes one way), riding or walking to the gym (about 5 minute ride or 12 minute walk) & adding in walks around the suburbs every now & then, PLUS I swam in the pool at the gym (during the quiet time on Saturday afternoon) adding in some laps to mix it up, still in my baggy t-shirt over my plus-sized bathers but hell, not something I would have had the confidence to do initially! These are the small wins along the way that matter.

Step 4: Keep track of your progress & tweak things as you go (we're not perfect!)

This included keeping to my weekly weigh in day (Sunday), being active, somehow, everyday, writing out my food diary every evening making sure the day was complete; I used to highlight the 'poor choices' including extra servings, sugary sweets, soft drink from the start so not long in, I could identify days with a lot of highlighter on them & what I needed to change to get that highlighter being used less (which it did!!). Remember SMALL steps & changes, its not a race, its a lifestyle change & teaching yourself to live better without being angry or hating on life!

This included some examples; starting with 2 helpings at dinner down to 1.5 to then ween down to 1 helping. Instead of eating the entire packet of chocolate mint slice biscuits, I would have half the packet, then 4 biscuits, 3, 2 then, decide nights where I didn't want them at all. I cut out 'fast food options' swapping those nights to subway if need be & cut out all soft drinks from the get go (again, these were written in my note book on my goal page so I could see them every day, keep track & make changes as required).

Being 15, I did not have a car license, did not my own fridge to do my own shopping, no one in my family needed to lose weight so they did not have to change their food habits, I had to make choices for myself taking responsibility for what decisions I could make, situations I could control & get over those 'hurdles' we can so easily create in our heads. Adapt to challenges, change & make smart choices. It can be hard but, if you want it, you CAN make it work for you!

Seeing my graph go steadily down each week was such a drive for myself, starting at 120kgs & seeing the scale change every week (some weeks more, some weeks less, it didn't matter, it was consistent & working for me!) I felt my clothes become looser, the school uniform was getting baggy & I did not hate exercise, I actually wanted to go to the gym, it was now a habit for me & a normal part of life.

It took about 20kg weight loss for some people at school to notice & ask me about it, I brushed it off not wanting the attention (scared of failing?) but, knowing it was becoming noticeable was a good drive to keep going.

You know what they say; others will see the difference before you do!

This is important to understand again; the quick fix won't help you long term as it's always a 'race to the finish line to go back to eating yummy foods, bigger serves, going out for meals & stop exercising like a comp prepper' If you're only willing to put in effort or make changes for a small period, you can't realistically expect your body to stay the same once you go back to your old habits...? Small changes, being active & learning to live with these health habits will be your best successor.

Step 5: keeping the balance right & continuing when the goal is hit!

In just over one year, I dropped just over 60kgs naturally... (yes, I have loose skin, even with muscle today & weighing more, it still claps on me when I jump around!).

Having never worn anything apart from baggy, plus size clothing to hide in, walking into the school ball in a size 8 gown felt amazing. I felt happy, healthy & mentally, more positive with everything & could even stand to be in photos now! I don't have many photos of me back then because I used to hide from the camera, hide in the back so I couldn't be seen, or, they have been thrown out.

If you can acknowledge there isn't 'a finish line' & step away from the really well advertised "skinny teas, cabbage diet, meal replacement shakes all day & extreme exercise challenges with horrible calorie deficits" & look at your health & fitness as a part of your every day life; you continue to work, continue running the household, paying bills, washing laundry, making the bed, being a parent, looking after children & pets... your health should be a daily task as well.

By having the weight graph, food diary & overall plan written out, you're already a step ahead of 'thinking about it' to take the leap & put these thoughts into action.

You are not competing against anyone. You have a different life to everyone else, so what works for John Smith may not suit your lifestyle nor, work for you. (hence why the one diet fits all trick doesn't work!!). You are a different body type, height, body shape & totally different person to your friend who weighs 'x amount'. Track YOUR OWN results. If you don't see the results happening, make changes. If you have it written down that's easy to do, as you have all the information in front of you & will be able to see what can be improved on. Do not get in the dangerous game of constantly comparing yourself & your weight to others (something I see a lot with clients starting out). This is a never ending cycle of despair, anger, binging, unhealthy habits & something you don't want to spend your time & energy on being unhappy about.

Slow progress is GOOD progress. Realistic expectations of weight loss is important. Sometimes the graph line may plateau for a couple weeks & that's fine! It does not just drop off easily every week. You need to acknowledge what you're putting in, along with what you're doing to burn the fat physically as well. If you are not an active person realize it will be a slow journey but also, you do not need to slave away for three hours a day in the gym to get where you want to be (hormones, period cycles, time of day, bowel movements, different scales etc. can all play games with your mind for this journey but, that can of worms isn't for today!)

I learned: Acknowledging your body will change as you get older; FACT. You don't sit on the same weight number your entire life, it is normal to fluctuate up & down. What isn't normal is allowing it to go up, up & up because we live in denial & "nothing works for me!".

Take photos of your journey. These are what will show you the real difference over time. They show the measurements, body changes & a visual representation of your hard work being successful. (something I wish I had known to do back then!).

Take body measurements at the start & end of every month or so (you can do this with measuring tape around arms, legs, hips, waist, & chest) these numbers written down will motivate you especially when added up. 10cms overall loss in a month is a lot more motivating than 1.5kg on the scale for most people.

Stop the angry relationship with your scales! This is a tough one. They are a tool used to track progress NOT MAKE YOU HATE YOURSELF. For your weight loss journey, use one scale set in your house, gym or doctors & go off that one (scales can be out by a few kilos each, which can lead to a disheartening mental state, incorrect weigh ins & hating the process). As mentioned earlier, small, slow progress is real progress. Keep the weigh in to once a week on the same day at the same time. Do not be tempted to jump on the scales "just see what it is today' or 'checking what damage a meal out with friends has done' This is not a good mind set & something you may have to work at. Weigh yourself on the set time & day, add it to the chart & go from there with changes, plan for the week ahead & how you can continue as you are or, make any small adjustments for the better.

Get help if you are struggling to start This isn't from the TV shopping channels. This is you, reaching out (like the scared 15 year old I was) to help you achieve your goals. This may be from a personal trainer, joining a new gym, finding a fitness class or walking buddy to keep you accountable, booking in a one-on-one training session or, seeing a dietician or nutritionist. These people are trained in their specialized fields & know what they're doing & are happy to help you. If you do not 'click' or feel your money is being valued as a client, then move on to another service, but do not give up completely! More people want you to succeed then fail & are willing to help you do it, you just need to trust the process, be willing to make changes & listen to the advice provided. You can have everything planned out, written out & a clear path ahead but, if you aren't willing to honestly try & actually adapt to these changes, you won't be getting off that weight gain-loss merry-go-round anytime soon.

Where am I now, 15+ years later...

I am heavier than 58kilos I can tell you that but, I have worked hard to build muscle, change my body through fitness & also fluctuate up & down, because I like to have balance with my life including eating out, having a drink, eating chocolate & also reigning it in when I start to notice I am a bit too relaxed with the treats...like we all do! I don't rely on the scales each week, I do a weigh in when needed but I go off my fitness in the gym, how my clothes fit, photos taken of me & how I feel overall first.

Today we are blessed to have gyms, trainers, online coaching, amazing apps; my fitness pal, calorie trackers (which do the calculations for you), fitness workout apps, photo progress apps etc. available at our finger tips. I myself being 15 years old without any knowledge of gyms, calories or weight training did a lot of guess work, you will notice I never mentioned calorie tracking/ counting in my method, that's because I didn't have the knowledge or guidance back then to know how many calories was in my dinner, but using my journal I could tell when I had had good days or days when I had perhaps given into the temptation of eating something I maybe shouldn't have & could improve from there (self accountability).

I did a lot of cardio when I started & lost a lot of my weight (maybe because I had no idea what I was doing, how to use any of the machines properly or, didn't want to do something wrong or be laughed at...?). Whilst I still went in & moved, which in itself was brilliant, it wasn't until I tried my first 'pump' class with weights, that was when I realized how great weight training was (later learning how important it is in everyday life!). If I had done some weight training along the way I may have ended up with a bit less loose skin flapping about but, I don't care because I put in the hard efforts & I smashed it baby!

Over the years I noticed how hard it was for others to get started, have an understanding of the weight loss process & I was frustrated with the constant 'set up to fail' quick fixes thrown in our faces over the best formula or; "have you tried eating better & exercising more?" (this said nicely to a client upset she had 'tried every diet under the sun & nothing worked! with one exercise day a week'... she honestly had an 'aha moment' of; oh, I haven't looked at it that way, because that means changing). Surely helping people with their health is better then setting them up to fail & preventing health issues later on in life is a far better approach!?

My need to help people & see them succeed plus be happier has lead me on a big journey since my initial weight loss. If you had of told me back then, that one day I would be dead lifting over 100kgs, weigh half of what I am now, be able to complete obstacle courses, fun runs & inspire others to challenge themselves, I probably would have thrown my half eaten packet of potato chips at you... haha.

Since then I've studied my cert 3 & 4 in fitness, completed multiple courses to benefit my learning, skills & help my clients more including kettlebells, boxing for fitness, battle ropes, functional movement, shoulder rehab workshops, pre-post natal exercise programs, online podcasts, took the challenge to get qualified to teach body pump & body attack fitness classes & have run successful boot-camps, ab classes, client weight loss successes, rehab post operatively & general health & fitness (could go on for awhile here but again, reigning it in!).

Wanting to do it my way (not under an umbrella franchise and being forced to tick money making boxes) & have people in a safe, friendly, motivating environment, I now have opened my own private studio "Jurassic PT" where I run multiple small group training classes throughout the week & have one-on-one personal training clients who look forward to their session every week, who are all in for different reasons (remember that one size does not fit all scenario earlier?).

With this newly growing website, Instagram page instagram.com/smc_jurassicpt & my other job (oh yes, I somehow managed to complete my studies as a nurse & Midwife during all this fitness work as well?!) training women safely & appropriately pre-intra & post partum; an area which I felt was lacking in the fitness area, I now provide very specialized services to all my clients & nothing is ever in the too hard basket; I have trained people recovering from major hip surgery, previous back fractures (YES that was a long road for that client but, they never gave up!), during pregnancy (having a Midwife at your side is always reassuring in this instance & can provide you with some much needed education, specialized training & a higher understanding of what is actually going on with your body through each trimester & any health issues arising along the way, not just a basic 'you're pregnant' level of training), lower back pain, form correction & so much more.

Today, we are offered quick fixes, convenient everyday items & filtered Instagram photos filling us with unrealistic expectations everyday! My biggest annoyance with all this is that people then hate exercise because they have tried a 6-8 week brutal challenge of minimal calories & HIIT training everyday for these weeks to lose some weight, then feeling like crap when they finish or drop out of the challenge & gain the weight back & more without learning anything along the way apart from 'this is what is required of me to lose weight & live like for the rest of my life?! I cant do it so I guess that isn't for me'... sound familiar?

As a trainer, it is tiring constantly feeling like we are running up hill in a weight vest trying to help people achieve their health & fitness goals appropriately, when the shiny quick fix offers are thrown in our faces being so easily available & doing so much damage to our clients physical and mental wellbeing.

My advice to you from my 15 year old 120kg self; Do you want to change?...

• Avoid overwhelming yourself with needing to change a, b, c & purchase x, y, z before even starting.

• Take some photos, take your measurements & write down/track your eating (you will slowly learn a rough idea of your calories overtime & eventually may not need to track at some stages when you have better understating of what you're consuming to what you're burning in the gym.

• Do a weekly weigh in

• Acknowledge change is for life, you can still have fun & live well balanced, but whatever you were doing before you start your journey wasn't exactly working, so those habits need to be challenged

• Ask for help; this can help you remain accountable, avoid yo yo'ing & save time by correcting things as you go along if need be.

• Find a gym/studio that wants you to be better & succeed, not just a paycheck for them or a number lost in the system

• Understand about 90% of people are in the same boat as you, trying to be better, maintain their health & fitness & feel better, so stop comparing!

• You don't know someone's journey so do not compare your progress to someone else (remember injuries, rehab, mental health, starting up, returning back... there is no right way to do it for all or same level of progress)

• If you aren't enjoying the exercise part of it, change it up? can you go for walks around the block, have a treadmill or equipment at home, can you ask a trainer for some guidance or try a new class?

• If someone is willing to take a chance on you & help you the entire way, LET THEM!! a trainer who wants you to succeed & will go out of their way to help you as an individual is like finding the end of the rainbow!

Remember, your journey is just that; ITS YOURS. I am lucky to have fallen in love with the process & found my life calling in areas I am so passionate about to now, be able to help others change their life for the better & achieve things they did not think possible or, within reach.

That comfort zone feels great, as are baggy clothes, denial & comfort food but, health issues arising from weight, even weight gain seen during pregnancy are not great & can lead to co-morbidities further on & expensive medical bills, appointments & treatment plans. I can confidently say if I had of kept going with my 15 year old mindset & lifestyle I would be facing a totally different health picture today & that is scary to think about.

Physios, chiros, GPs & massages are great, but they shouldn't be the norm & part of your every day week (unless medically indicated or as injury/ rehab etc.) If problems are rising from your weight, act on it! get moving, change your eating habits & get it started.

If you're scared, worried people will judge you, have no idea what to do in a gym or not sure where to start, send me a message! (these feelings are normal!) I have done it, I have continued to live happily & not hating life in a vicious merry-go-round of dieting.

I live my life trying to get the real information out there & push people to succeed to make their own weight loss journey happen! (some photos on the Jurassic PT Facebook page facebook.com/jurassicpt.com.au) If you are an old school gym junkie or, have maintained your weight for years/ succeeded in your journey continuing on; firstly kudos to you! but remember, someone is walking in for their first session today, someone took a big breath & hours of mentally pushing themselves to attend at all, someone is walking/ exercising with their headphones in trying to be invisible & not stand out in the gym. A small nod, a smile, encouraging fist pump or even a hello/ "you're smashing it" comment to help motivate them along can make all the difference in someone continuing on or giving up.

We all start somewhere & when you're ready, Jurassic PT (also known as me, Shelley) has got your back, because we need more success stories, smiles & making fitness fun in this world!

Thank you for those who made it to the end of this story I have not shared in full before.

I really hope it has helped inspire, motivate, given you some a'ha moments or some good points to consider to your own journey plus, given you a in-depth look into my own journey in my own words of how I did it back then.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Jurassic PT is always happy to help you started, so flick a message through once you decide you're ready to go!

Keep lifting, keep moving & always keep smiling.

- Shelley

Jurassic PT

Personal trainer, Midwife & Nurse