This month I cannot wait to introduce you to Stacy. I guess Stacy is who you would classify as a "normal" everyday woman. I think Stacy represents a strong, motivated and committed woman who has put her health and that of her family as a priority.
Before you read on to Stacy's interview I would just like to thank her. This is exactly why I think she is amazing!
Who is Stacy?
I am 47 years old.
I have been married to my husband for 17 years and have two daughters
( aged 21 and 19 ) and two step children ( aged 22 and
20 ). For the most part I have been a
stay at home mum (although raising four children is a full time job in
itself!). When my youngest started high
school I decided to re-enter the workforce.
I work for an IT company 2 days a week and really enjoy it. How long have you been a member of a gym / trained with a Personal Trainer?
I joined Fernwood about 6 – 7 years ago with a friend (who
went about twice!!!). Being an
overweight middle aged woman I was always intimidated by the thought of going
to a gym with all those buff bodies and sweaty men so Fernwood was always a
good fit for me. I muddled along doing
my own thing at the gym thinking that that would be enough to keep me fit and
help lose the weight but that wasn’t the answer. About 2 years ago I decided that I had to do
something serious about my weight and decided to try PT which I absolutely love
and will keep doing forever!
Over the last few years you have
lost a lot of weight…why did you make the decision to embark on diet / exercise
program? How did you start out?
I can’t really remember a specific event/moment that made me
realise I had to do something about my weight.
I had been very unhappy with my weight for a long time. I just decided that it wasn’t going to go
away on its own and that I needed to do something about it before it took a
toll on my health. I started by going to
a Food Coach at Fernwood once a week and got quite excited by the fact that I
could actually lose weight so I built up the courage to take the next step
which was to try PT. I had known
my trainer for a long time so I think I felt “safe” going to her and that we
would work well together. So almost 2 years later and I have lost almost 25kg –
only 3kg off my goal!!! The key to my
weight loss success is definitely a combination of diet and exercise.
How did you manage to balance
family, work, exercise?
I’ll admit, I had spent the last 15 – 20 years doing
absolutely everything for my husband and kids so it took a little while for
them to get the hang of mum doing something for herself, although they have all
been my biggest supporters throughout. I
am very much a routine orientated person so I quickly got myself into the habit
of getting everybody off to work/uni etc then heading straight to the
gym. Nothing gets done around the house
until mum gets home from the gym. I
go to the gym three days per week (I work Monday and Friday) and my husband and I
try to do some exercise over the weekend whether it’s walking our two dogs or
playing golf.
A huge part of weight loss as you
know is making sure that you keep your diet on track. How did you maintain this balance having to
feed yourself and the family? Did they
have to make changes also?
I have always been conscious of what I feed my family but I
have definitely stepped it up a notch since I started my new healthy lifestyle. The family have slipped into the new
“menu” very easily. My husband is fairly
health conscious and the kids (whether they like it or not) know the benefits
of healthy eating.
You have recently taken part in the Oxfam
100k trailwalk. Why did you choose this
as a goal? What was your training
schedule like and how did you balance this with the family demands? How did you feel completing the walk and
after? I imagine you are extremely proud
of yourself and your team mates!
I am the sort of person who likes to have a goal to keep me
going and my trainer mentioned to me one day that she had a friend who was
trying to put together a team for the Oxfam Trailwalk and that I should have a
think about doing it. I had never done
anything like that before in my life and wasn’t even sure if I could do
it. I thought about it for a few days
and then just decided to take the plunge and do it – I figured what could be so
hard about walking!!! I think losing my
weight and getting fit actually gave me the courage and confidence to believe
that I could do it.
After a couple of team changes we started training in early
February every second Sunday. We started
off by doing one section (about 14km) at a time. In about April we started increasing our
walks with our longest training walk being about 40km. We also did night walks in preparation for
the event. Walking at night creates its
own challenges and we tried to be as prepared as possible. In about April I also started doing an extra
PT session every week (which was usually a boxing session) to try to build up
my cardio fitness.
We had a great team – we just fitted really well together –
with each of us bringing something different to the team. We couldn’t rely on youth to get us through
so preparation was an absolute necessity.
(A statistic for you Vicki – we had a combined age of 197, 13 children
and 2 grandchildren).
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| The team at Checkpoint 5 ... |
We had the absolute total support of our families who spent
many hours driving around Mt Nebo dropping off and picking us up from training
walks. However pretty much everything we did in the months leading up to the
event revolved around the trailwalk – normal family life had to be fitted in
around training walks.
Completing the Oxfam Trailwalk was definitely the hardest
thing I have ever done!!! There were times during the event that every one of
us wanted to quit but we kept each other going and with the encouragement of
our wonderful support crew we finished it in 44 hours and 20 minutes. Crossing the finish line was amazing – I have
never had such a sense of satisfaction in my life. Finishing something like this that was so far
out of my comfort zone was incredible – I will remember that feeling
forever. We set a goal to raise $1,000
for Oxfam (we actually raised $2,000) and finish as a team of 4 and we did –
slowly – but we did it!! ( Ok, I admit that I'm a bit teary here .. Vic x )
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| With the welcoming committee ... |
Now that you have finished the
trailwalk and have recovered, what are your goals ... for the rest of the year,
for the future?
After finishing Oxfam Trailwalk I wanted to spend a few
weeks just doing normal things with the family – like sleeping in past 4am on a
Sunday morning. I was back at PT on the
Tuesday however I gave myself an extra couple of weeks before getting back on
the diet. About a month after trailwalk
I set myself 3 goals – to learn to run 5km without stopping, get to my goal
weight and to plan a mega holiday next year with my husband. I’m 3kg off my goal weight, plans are
underway for a trip to Europe late next year and I can now run for about 3km
non-stop which is quite an achievement for someone who has never run further
than about 5m in her life!
What advice do you have for other
women who would like to set some goals and lose weight or embark on a "big
adventure"? How do you suggest that
they stay motivated and committed?
My advice to women about goal setting is to start
small. Don’t set yourself a goal that is
too high because you’ll only get discouraged.
Don’t be too hard on yourself – we expect much more from ourselves than
anybody else and we are way more critical of ourselves.
As for weight loss, what worked for me was to set a total
weight loss goal (which started out at about 25kg but has increased to about 27kg)
but to take your time doing it – don’t rush it – take one week at a time. If you have a bad week (and I’ve had plenty)
just start again and keep going. Having
the support of my husband and kids has really kept me going. There have been plenty of tears and
frustration but they are always so supportive of me. Being told by your family
that they are proud of you is the best incentive ever to keep going. Once the weight started coming off I had more
energy and was a much happier person to be around so really everybody
wins. I want to be fit and healthy for
as long as I can to enjoy my family.
I feel fitter and healthier than I did 10 years ago and I
actually think I look better as well. I
now don’t mind having my photo taken and I love getting dressed up to go out –
two things that I absolutely hated when I was overweight!
Don’t be afraid to do something out of your comfort zone
because achieving those things is usually more satisfying. Completing the Oxfam Trailwalk was so
rewarding – I never thought I could do something like that, I made 3 really
great friends and I’ll always know that if I can walk 100km in 44 hours and 20 minutes
without stopping, then I can pretty much achieve anything I set my mind
to.
Above all, do it for yourself because you’re worth it!
Well, there you have it everyone, you must admit, Stacy is one pretty amazing lady! I think possibly her most important words are her last ones ...
Above all, do it for yourself because you're worth it!
Thank you again Stacy! You certainly know how to inspire us all!
them! Send your humorous, inspiring or heart-warming story, along with your name, address and contact number, tothe APA at 
