Certified Personal Trainer

Certified Pre & Postnatal Coach

Certified Older Adults and Children/Adolescents Coach

Certified Gym Instructor, Group Exercise Instructor, Group Exercise (prechoreographed), Group Dance Instructor

First Aid

CPR

AUSactive Registered Professional - Level 2 (previously Fitness Australia)

Certificate III Fitness

Certificate IV Fitness

Young, overweight, sedentary and hating the way I looked...

I was a moderately active kid who danced ballet, played netball and dabbled in Judo. However when I became a mum at the age of 18, I stopped being active and I began to struggle with my weight and body image.

The initial stages of my journey in 1999 were motivated by my quest to get my weight under control.

The realisation came the day I could not get in and out of the family car without huffing and puffing and the thought of walking the 500 metres to the local shopping centre was daunting for me. At a young age, inexperienced, a mother of two young children, with no idea of how to eat well and move my body, I had reached 105kg on a 167cm frame.

Weight loss journey…

I discovered Weight Watchers and I initially calorie restricted without much emphasis on physical activity. I initially lost some weight but then I began yo-yo dieting. It wasn't until I met my amazing Weight Watchers Leader, Kathryn Heath, who soon became my mentor and best friend, that I changed my mindset, became consistent and reached my goal weight of 64kg in 2004, which I maintained up until 2019 with my third pregnancy.

In 2001, I found the bravery to attend adult jazz ballet and tap dancing classes and I loved it. My childhood pleasure of dancing came flooding back. It was at this point in my journey that I learned that you need to enjoy the physical activity that you adopt, as it makes it much easier to adhere to. I also learned that the right support, eating healthily and moving my body regularly, were definite requirements for achieving my weight loss goals.

I became a Dance Teacher…

I love dancing and I'm a firm believer in moving your body through your preferred type of activity. In 2002, soon after starting jazz ballet and tap dance, I began performing on stage. I could not believe how quickly I had been able to adopt a new lifestyle and enjoy exercising.

It wasn’t long before I discovered Latin dance, in particular Salsa dancing. I learned quickly and was thoroughly enjoying my new lifestyle.

In 2003 I started teaching for local dance schools. Then in 2005, I started my own dance school called “4 The Love of Dance”, where for 10 years I taught kids and adults to dance and keep fit. To think that that over weight, sedentary girl was now a Dance Teacher running her own school.

Instructing group fitness...

With a new found love of dancing and a body that now preferred to be moving constantly, unlike the sedentary one I used to have, I soon discovered other forms of physical activity that I enjoyed.

I found Zumba Fitness and I was soon addicted.

In 2011 I became a certified Zumba Fitness Instructor and added Zumba Fitness to the program within my own dance school. I also began instructing at Edge Health Fitness Club.

I love Zumba so much and highly recommend it. I probably enjoyed teaching it more than anything I’d done up to that point. It suited my personality and my love of dancing. I took a break from instructing Zumba when I fell pregnant in 2018 and hope to return soon.

I started strength training...

In 2012, I began consistent strength training. I had been doing cardio, cardio and more cardio which really helped me to lose a lot of weight but something was missing. I felt cardiovascular fit but I had no muscular endurance, strength or muscle definition.

I used to be ‘that woman’ that thought by lifting weights I would end up looking beefy and bulky. However with the right female Personal Trainer, Marnie Scobie, educating me, I discovered that strength training not only improved my appearance, it helped me to crush my cardio workouts by making me faster and able to go for longer. It helped me to feel confident, strong and independent. It helped me to fight off Osteoporosis and improved my lower back pain. However something I hadn’t bargained on, was the positive impact it had on my mental health. Ladies, don’t be afraid to lift some heavy weights.

Addicted to training and dieting...

As you can see, over the course of 14 years, I went on quite the journey.

I went from being overweight and sedentary to doing structured exercise up to 20 hours a week.

Initially I wasn’t even able to walk 500m to the local shopping centre but went onto teaching dance, group fitness classes, weight training and I was also taking RPM classes and doing regular HIIT sessions, training or teaching twice a day to fit it all in.

I was also heavily calorie restricting and I began taking certain food groups out of my diet. I did get amazing aesthetic results but unfortunately it all came at a cost to my overall well-being.

Set backs and lessons learned...

I might have looked great but my body was burning out. By 2015, my hormones went out of kilter, I was exhausted, getting sick and injuring myself all the time.

By the age of 39, I was beginning to notice the physiological and psychological effects of living a busy life, working full time in office administration, running a small business, raising two kids on my own, part time study, restrictive eating, not sleeping, and exercising to extremes.

Having come from being overweight and sedentary, I had it in my head that if I slowed down or increased my calories, I would gain all that weight back and get lazy again.

The problem was, the lifestyle I was living was causing hormonal imbalances, weight gain, fatigue, injury and depression, so if I kept going I would have become a train wreck.

Becoming a Personal Trainer...

My journey has been a roller coaster ride as I'm sure many women have been through themselves. It was my journey and witnessing the struggles that many women face, that inspired me to become a Personal Trainer.

So after 15 years of working in the Department of Health, in a job that was “supposed” to be helping people become healthier, I decided to pursue my dream of helping people to become fit, functional and fulfilled in life.

My amazing Personal Trainer and Mentor, Marnie Scobie always told me that I had the knowledge and experience to help to other women just like me. She guided and educated me and never gave up on me when I hit some bumps in the road along the way. I can’t thank her enough for her support.

I became a Mum again recently, at the age of 43…

After a miscarriage and IVF cycle in 2017, I fell pregnant again naturally in 2018. I was healthy, fit, strong and was ready to be one of those “fitness mums” who would train throughout her pregnancy and bounce straight back and get my “body back” postpartum.

Unfortunately I ended up with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), a pregnancy complication characterised by severe nausea, vomiting and dehydration that lasted my entire pregnancy.

To top that off I developed Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction and could hardly move without extreme pain. I ended up practically bed ridden for the whole pregnancy and the pain continued postpartum. But it was Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) that completely changed everything for me and the decisions I made next on my journey.

My diagnosis of Pelvic Organ Prolapse…

With a diagnosis of a grade 3 cystocele (bladder) prolapse and a grade 2 rectal (bottom) prolapse and a grade 2 uterine prolapse after I had my baby, I felt like my heavy lifting days were over. This diagnosis floored me, not only as a women, still only in her 40s, but as a Personal Trainer. I was just heading into my new fitness career and was loving every minute of moving my body and training clients. I thought I’d never be able to train with intensity ever again.

I initially rehabilitated with a Women’s Health Physiotherapist called Stacey from SMCPhysio, who taught me how to breathe, do Kegels properly, as well as easing me back into moving my body safely once I had a pessary in place. She was so understanding and empathetic.

Strength and Lady Parts…

There were no personal trainers in my local area that specialised in training the postpartum athlete, most used conservative approaches that had women forever locked in the cycle of doing glute bridges and kegals.

Then I found my Prolapse Coach, Terrell Baldock in Canada, and initially did her online Strength and Lady Parts program. Then I began working one on one with her as a Founding Member of her Online 60 Day Body Revitalisation Program.

We blended rehabilitative tips and cues with challenging, high-intensity training. She taught me the techniques to use to engage my core and support my pelvic floor during technical lifts. She taught me how to release tension and gave me progressions (scaled versions) of the exercises, which gave me the confidence to train again.

Becoming a Certified Pre and Postnatal Fitness Coach…

Going through pregnancy and postpartum the way I did, opened my eyes and highlighted to me that there is a shortage of personal trainers within the Fitness Industry, with the right knowledge, understanding, empathy, skills and experience to work with women. I decided right then, that I wanted to be that Trainer that could make a difference.

Whether she is pubescent, trying to get pregnant, trying to manage hormones, are pregnant, are postpartum, going through menopause or are now heading into their later years., all females need to have their needs taken into consideration when prescribing them with physical activity.

FEMFITLIFE supports and guides women to become fit, functional and fulfilled in life!