Another decade begins

At the beginning of this week I turned the big 3-0. I’m not really one for birthday’s these days other than for the kids, and the thought of turning 30 wasn’t too big of a deal, if anything it was great! Although I’m on prep again at the moment ready for the next show we were lucky enough to still be allowed a cheat meal, plus it was Father’s day too so a double celebration was in order! We went with Craig’s side of the family to my favourite restaurant in town, The Steak & Omelette, and it was wonderful.

Celebrations with my little family

If I look back over the last 10 years I have an awful lot to be thankful for with so many amazing accomplishments and life changing events, here are just a handful of them;

• I met my husband
• I married my husband
• Oscar was born
• Ava was born
• I started weight training
• I started writing my blog
• I am in the best shape of my life
• I have a sponsor
• I’ve been up on stage as a competitor
• I’ve done a radio interview
• I’ve been an athlete at BodyPower

Stemming on from being invited along to a radio interview I have now had the pleasure of talking with Rachael Dodd from our local paper The Herald, and very soon there will be a little feature printed about my weight loss journey!

It still seems so unreal, everything that has happened since I have started training, I’m so much happier in myself, not only from being healthier but my confidence has grown so much, I’m at last comfortable in my own skin.

I feel absolutely wonder struck when I hear that my journey so far has inspired so many others to get into the same lifestyle and to believe that they too can change the way they see and feel about themselves, it’s a very humbling experience to think that I am helping to inspire people I have never met before just by documenting my journey in this blog.

In my eyes I see myself as someone who is average and from a very average place in life who has simply decided I want more, more for myself and more importantly more for my family, not just in training but in life itself. I want to go beyond the norm and make a better future for our kids. I figure if I am able to do this from my starting position in life, there’s no reason anyone else couldn’t do it too.

You might be thinking, well she’s been able to do what she has so far because… she has the money to do it, she has the time available, has all the equipment needed, has people to help, etc etc.

Well nope, that’s not right at all, we don’t have a lot of money. I work a full time job and then spend almost all of my evenings working freelance in an effort to fund our future dreams. I make the time to fit everything in, I get up at 5:30 am and go to bed at 11pm. We started off training at home with what we had available,  and I have only met so many helpful and like minded people recently due to working my butt off and fighting tooth and nail to get where I am, and where I want to be. It’s an exhausting road but I know that to get the rewards I want it’s the only way to get there.

Another thing I have noticed is that I now feel like I fit in somewhere, I’ve finally found a community of like minded people who I don’t have to pretend with. Already along the way I have met lots of new friends through going to the gym and through competing at my first show who I am hoping to set up training sessions with, well, as soon as I find the time!

To me body building is almost like a hidden culture. On the outside looking in you have a perception of the people involved and how you think they are, but now that I’m becoming more involved, I’ve realised that these sorts of people are by far the most friendly, generous and humble I have met so far. By no means are they the loud mouthed, volatile, up themselves idiots that stereotypes make them out to be.

I’m still incredibly new to the fitness world but seeing this quote always makes me appreciate everyone I see making an effort to change their body for the better;

A brilliant quote

At this point in my life I have never felt better, I can see my future and am more than a little bit excited to get there! I have more goals and dreams than I can count on my fingers but you can be sure that I’m going to reach them.

In short the last 10 years have been great, but the next 10 will be even greater!