They’re a common feature in the fitness world, but can a 12-week challenge really change your life?
STORY ASHLEY MANICAROS PICTURES KATRINA BRIDGEFORD
THE smile on Cate Sherlock’s face during our interview paints the best picture of where she’s at right now. Sitting in her workout gear on a couch in her local gym she feels comfortable as she talks about the journey she has embarked on, how far she’s come and how far she has to go. Any inhibitions are removed as a new-found confidence, or perhaps a returned confidence, allows her to provide intimate details of the life she’s left behind.
Cate is a few months away from turning 30. A trained counsellor, she works at a school in Palmerston. Since the start of the year she has turned her life upside down.
“I was in Dublin shopping and I couldn’t fit into any clothes in any of the big department stores and ... I was going ... this is not OK anymore,” she said.
“I was really unhappy, just before I left to go to Europe, just thinking about work and life really ... and I knew my weight had a lot to do with it.
“I was having lots of conversations with people, and people were saying have you thought about your weight as being a particular barrier, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”
But while her weight was an issue, it was only part of what was chipping away at what Cate now refers to as her wellness mentality. The path to making changes came in the form of a 12week transformation challenge run by Fitness Works in Alawa. A member at the Nightcliff branch of the gym, Cate learnt about the challenge when it popped up on her Facebook feed while she was overseas. There are many such challenges around — some very personalised, some more generic.
“I didn’t tell anyone I was going and I sat there on my own, and that was a big thing for me, listening to other people’s stories,” Cate said. “I started to become really emotional about it.
“Personal trainer Kellam Krelle, who ended up becoming my trainer, was talking about how someone lost a significant amount of weight, but then mentioned all the other lifestyle changes she was able to make and I really connected to that.
“Everyone had their own different motivators — mine was weight loss. I did question why some were there because I thought it was just a weight-loss thing, but it was way more than that.”
Cate started to write down goals in that first session.
“I was overeating significantly, or just going to Maccas or KFC, and I was hiding what I was eating,” she said. “I always just wanted to be able to walk into a shop — any shop — and be able to pick a dress off the rack (and say) ‘yea I can fit in this’.”
Cate received an exercise program, did one-on-one PT sessions, a group exercise session and a mental wellbeing session based on specific topics. The topics were sometimes driven by the group, with presentation slides by instructor Churyl Shepherd acting as a guide. Other times the group covered more specific subjects, such as the dos and don’ts associated with eating habits.
Cate embraced the food plans.
“What I liked was the accountability of the program,” she said. “It was about fitness, but it was also about food. What to eat. When to eat. And that really sat well with me. There was structure. There was rigour. Then once a week we were going to our mindset sessions. Someone was going to keep me on track.
“I saw gains in four weeks. I was sleeping better. Sleep was a big one for me.
“Before the challenge I was waking up four times a night. I had a sleep study last year and they said I needed to change my lifestyle.
“Then my boss started to make comments about my overall resilience. I have a tough job and want to take my career to the next level. I really aspire to management, so I needed to do this ... I had to go that next step.
“So when those comments started to come I knew things were going right.”
If the anecdotal evidence wasn’t enough, empirical evidence came when she stepped on the scales in week five.
“That is when I knew. The scales had changed. It wasn’t so much about the number — it was more about the clothes fitting,” Cate said.
“As I progressed everything just started to get better. My relationships with friends got better. The way I saw myself. I got more confidence. I was single at the start of the challenge.
“I was still going out and dating, but I felt I deserved better and with this I got the confidence to say I know I deserve better — so this was all about self love.
“I’m happy to say I have a boyfriend and he is lovely.”
There were also subtle changes to her lifestyle.
“Growing up I’d always been active,” she said. “My dad owned a bike company so I was always around pushbikes. And up until 18 or 19 I would ride all the time. Then I got my driver’s licence and I would drive all the time.
“Work got in the way as well. I’d been working shift work and I went to uni.
“So (fitness) was sort of sporadic. The challenge gave me a routine and I built around it.
“I started to eat less sugar. I gave up alcohol for a while. I was going out on Mitchell St to 3am sober and having huge amounts of fun. I noticed I was probably more fun without (alcohol) than with it.”
All of this has contributed to the smile which, at 40 minutes in to the interview, still hasn’t disappeared. Most importantly, Cate has managed to maintain nearly all the aspects of the challenge.
She exercises six days a week, starting the day with a 5am session. She has maintained her healthy eating habits and enjoys only the occasional alcoholic drink. But her mind still keeps her on her toes.
“I walked into a dress shop and my mind said ‘I can’t fit into that’,” she said. “I had to actually go into the change room to put it on for me to believe it will fit.”
The final series of questions brings the biggest smile of all. Cate started the challenge at 89kg and finished at 79kg. She dropped the equivalent of three dress sizes, from a 16-18 to a 1012. She lost 33cm across her body.
“You’ve got to be ready to make change as someone who understands mental health as well,” she said. “And then you have to accept readiness and a plan, and marry them up. I am heaps more comfortable and my wellbeing goal has been achieved, but there is still more to go. It is about clothes. It is about getting into a dress.
“My one is the races. I’m being taken to the Qantas Gala Turf Club Ball and I want to get into a beautiful dress and feel beautiful for that event.”
The author also took part in the 12-week challenge, courtesy of Fitness Works