by Hayley Pigram

Over my time as a Personal Trainer on the Gold Coast and in Hobart, there are a few statements I have heard many times.

“It’s easy for you you’re fit!”
“I bet you’ve always been fit and skinny.”
“Do you just eat salad and vegetables all day?”

I give a simple response to all of these; not even close! I completely understand what you’re going through, I have been where you are right in this very moment. Are you still not convinced? Keep reading and by the end, you will know my full story from the; sweat, tears, frustration, the slip-ups. All the way to the; pride, confidence, determination and pure happiness. This is not just a story about weight loss but this is the past four years of my life laid out in the hope it will inspire people to change their life as I did. Please be advised, the material below may contain; large doses of vulnerability, inspiration and cliches.

I never thought I would have self-confidence issues. I grew up in an extremely loving, positive family and was always a happy person. I spent thirteen years as a dancer and even in that competitive environment I never experienced negative thoughts about my body, I never understood people who constantly scrutinised themselves in such a damaging way. Fast forward to 2015 when I was living in London working as a Nurse and I had never felt so negatively about myself. That was the point I made the decision to turn my life around.

My physical transformation

My initial goal was set, I needed to lose the twenty kilograms I had gained…yes, you read that correctly, twenty! What I didn’t plan for was the way it would completely change my life.

I commenced my complete life overhaul with a change in diet by consuming lots of lean protein, good fats and carbohydrates. I added a combination of running and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workouts. Now I have to be honest, I had; a sprinkle of competitiveness, one very loud alarm clock, two cups of sweat and tears, a generous pinch of support and about a thousand litres of determination running through my blood that got me through every day. Was it easy? Most people would say no but I’m going to say yes and no.

So what was easy and what wasn’t? Yes, it’s easy to make small changes that have a huge effect, not always so easy to say no to temptation. Yes, it’s easy to say you will get out of bed to exercise, not always so easy to actually do it. Trust me I failed time and time again. I had a few tantrums, I made silly excuses here and there but I never really gave up. What you have to remember is there will always be challenges and setbacks but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Always remember what your end goal is and what you need to do to get there. By the same standard, you have to remember you are human and you can’t beat yourself up when you slip up, just get right back up on that spin bike and keep on pedalling.

Reclaiming my confidence

Over the years I continued to train hard and in no time it became not a diet but my lifestyle. I lost the twenty kilograms I aimed for but then it became more than that. My mental health had plummeted to an all-time low before I made the decision to do something about it. I had negative thoughts that; I was never good enough, I should cover up my body, the girl standing next to me at the bar was judging me. The sad truth is these didn’t necessarily stop when I started to lose weight, they lingered in my mind until I got to a point in my progress where suddenly I regained confidence. Could it be that I was happy; purely unequivocally happy?

It was never just a physical battle but one that is mentally and emotionally straining. Remember there is light at the end of that seemingly never-ending thirty-minute HIIT workout, and I promise you IT IS WORTH IT. Every last struggle, tear and set back, completely worth it.

In the beginning, I never knew how I would feel today and I never thought I would become addicted to the feeling. What feeling do you ask? The feeling of; reaching goals, looking in the mirror loving the person staring back at me, strong not just skinny, going shopping knowing I was comfortable in almost anything, proud every single day, the rush of excitement walking into the gym (Seriously!) knowing I might set myself a new record. These are just some of the feelings I never expected would affect me so profoundly that I decided to build a whole new career around them. I know how dramatically this feeling can change lives because it changed mine.

For me, personal training women and men of all fitness levels and ages at The Studio has been a dream come true that I would have never imagined I would have. I look back at photos of myself and could have never imagined I would be where I am today. I just know if I can get others to experience what I did it would change their life too.

Are you ready to begin your own transformation? A great place to start is a 30-minute complimentary consultation with The Studio’s Personal Training Team.