I joined a gym after having my second child. We were admitted to the QEII (Tresillian) for a little help with my Son’s reflux and sleeping and in the process the nurses made me realise I wasn’t doing enough for my ‘self-care’. I always loved being active, but I found many excuses not to exercise because of the time it takes, the weather, needing to shower after a long run or a swim, not having family to look after my kids, finding the time around work – one nurse suggested I join a gym as it was the most efficient way for me to exercise (and they have a crèche). The gym was the perfect solution.

In training with Jen, I felt confident in her knowledge and guidance that I had faith in the process despite not knowing what the destination would be. Consistency really proved to be key. I learnt a lot about nutrition. I found it amazing that I had spent over three and a half decades not knowing what I was eating, or how to eat for optimum performance. I learnt a range of new movements/exercises during the strength training and now I aim to keep lifting until I’m old and grey (or older and greyer).

I’m not where I’d like to be with food yet, but I do now know I have the commitment to follow a plan. I am guilty of letting bad habits sneak back in. I can see however that, this is a lifestyle choice and that once again consistency is key. I’ve had my ups and downs – I think I’ve learnt that you just have to keep trying, or keep going in order to achieve your goal/s.

I did achieve my comp goal, but I do feel like I got a taste for it and I’d like to give it another go. COVID impacted my peak week (or lack of) and photoshoot, so when it’s time I’d like to try again. For my first comp, I was thrilled to see the results of the comp prep. This was a year and a bit post baby number two – so it was incredibly satisfying to feel so good in my own skin and to be proud of that achievement.

I do believe I benefited from seeing Jen early in my strength training journey. I don’t think I would have had the quality of training with the correct techniques if I had left it to the gym/‘franchise’ trainers. In this regard, I was invested in training effectively and efficiently and Jenifer provided the guidance and expertise to enable this.

I loved seeing myself lean and competition ready. I was amazed to see strength/definition in my shoulders I never thought I had. It was a wonderful feeling. I have always been a bit shy. I was incredibly nervous about competing, in a bikini on stage. Once I got there and I knew I had put in the work, it was an incredibly liberating experience. It’s a great way to showcase your hard work. It is a celebration of health and fitness. I also made new friends in the process which was an unexpected and valued bonus. I would like to compete again in order to have my family at the event to share the achievement with them.

I think Jenifer was most beneficial in helping me to see the importance of consistency. The consistency keeps it all on the rails. When things fall off the rails (as they do in life), Jen then taught me compassion. In my prep, if I over ate my internal monologue of the old/uneducated ways/habits would make me feel like reverting to some disordered eating habits of restricting – which would only make me hungry and lead to more binging. Jen taught me to see the bigger picture and that helped me to get back on track quickly, resulting in more consistency, less ups and downs and ultimately leading to results.