Lisa Quine

This 12 week journey for me has been 21 years in the making. You see, I have had this demon with me for that long now.

I was an obese teenager, I disliked who I was and I had no confidence or self-worth. I was miserable, though people looking at me would of never of known as I never allowed them to see the sad self-hating person inside - just the big funny, jovial, smiling exterior is all I allowed anyway to see.

So, just before my 21st birthday I started my first “Diet” and so the cycle of yo-yo dieting commenced.

In the past 21 years I have been on many different diets, I have read and purchased numerous books, magazines, programs, nutrition guidelines and actually have an amazing amount of knowledge, but this was actually my undoing as I had so much information running around in my head that it was confusing me and I was jumping from one method to another with no set goal in my mind other than to “lose weight” - and this I did. Very well in fact… over and over and over again. I couldn’t tell you (and neither could my wonderfully patient husband) how many times I have lost and regained this last 5 to 10 kilograms - I actually think I should of recorded it and I would now be in the Guinness Book of Records!!!

It was driving me insane (not to mention my poor family).

My weight would go up and down and of course so would my “happiness” level with myself. One month I would love the person in the mirror and the next month I would be loathing the person staring back at me. The strange thing I found though is that others didn’t seem to recognize my self-loathing, but instead would come to me for weight loss and fitness advice as they thought I was so in control and happy with who I was. They didn’t see my daily struggle and torment that was going on inside as I never let it out or shared it with anyone. I felt as if I was deceiving everyone including myself.

I was in a really unhealthy place mentally and also physically. I knew switching and changing methods was not good for my body and more importantly my mind. I was frantically seeking for balance and consistency, but the harder I searched the more out of control I seemed to be.

I needed to achieve balance not only for myself, but more importantly for our kids as I did not want to pass on to them an unhealthy relationship with food and body image.

What I realised I needed was not a “generic” one size fits all program (as I had already done nearly every one on the market and here I was... 21 years on and still doing the same ole thing). What I needed was to wipe the slate clean. What was necessary was to start afresh again, as if I knew nothing. And so, this is how I choose Ideal Bodies Online.

I had read and seen many 12 week challenge transformation stories and Ideal Bodies Online was a name that had come up in quite a few of the transformation stories over the past few years. I had been on the IBO web site a few times before as well and looked at the different packages available, but had never gone any further then just looking.

So I spoke with my husband and told him what I wanted to do and I am sure he must have thought... here we go again!!!!! But you know what? It hasn’t been here we go again, as this time the program was for ME. It was tailor made for me, to fit in with the time and resources that I had available.

I also decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it properly and get one on one mentoring through my journey as well. I knew that I needed to “undo” a lot of old habits, thought processes, self-sabotaging thoughts and correct my relationship with certain types of foods and introduce them back into my eating plan, but I had no confidence to do this by myself. So there was another realization for me.

I had to reconnect with myself and get back to believing in me and my ability to achieve my dreams.

What I have really enjoyed from this 12 week program is having someone there with me every step of the way. Deb, my mentor has been a rock for me every step of the way. I found someone who knew “exactly” what I was going through as she had been there and done that, knew where my doubts and thoughts were coming from and was able to help me to realise that everything I was feeling was completely normal and natural and OK and that I wasn’t going through it alone. The one on one mentoring was a definite winning formula for me.

I loved that IBO wrote a program that was mine and fitted in with my very busy lifestyle of being a working Mum with two young children.

The program I was given enabled me to workout at home early in the morning, which is what works for me and each week was different, so I certainly didn’t get bored with my exercise. It also didn’t require for me to do multiple workouts each day (though I could if time permitted), as I simply do not have that sort of time available in my day.

I found the eating plan easy to stick with, actually, the hardest thing for me was adding carbs back into my menu.

I had been on a couple of programs previously which really limited carbs other than at breakfast (I was quite a bit of a carb-a-phobe) and I knew that I had developed a really unnatural relationship with them and this is one of the major things that I wanted to address with my program. I now love having my carbs at both breakfast and lunch - oats, sweet potato, pumpkin are things that I eat every day and miss them if not on the menu. I had also completely omitted dairy and fruit from my diet and these are back in as well. One of my favorite morning tea snacks is Greek yogurt with protein powder mixed through it and fresh strawberries on top!

I would have to say that my eating is now far more balanced and I know that my body needs this fuel if I want to be able to train hard each and every day and still get everything else done as well. IBO has also made me realise that I wasn’t training hard enough. I don’t mean doing hours of exercise each day - far from it. I mean intensity for both cardio and strength training. I love lifting weights and how it feels and how it changes your body, but I now challenge myself each and every workout with my eye on my end goal knowing that the workout I am doing right now and that extra kilo on my dumbbell and extra rep I get out is going to be the one that gets me there.

I can’t say that the whole 12 weeks went smoothly. I certainly got impatient with my perception of slow results, but this is when both Deb and Leisl reminded me that my consistency and good daily habits would reap rewards for me and that I just needed to trust the process. My meal plan was also modified for a couple of weeks which got things moving as well.

Consistency and patience was a bit of a mantra for me, but one that has certainly paid its dues throughout this journey.

I am really happy with the results that I have achieved on this 12 week journey, but for me they are not merely physical. I have overcome some big hurdles and for this I am really proud of myself. I have a new feeling of freedom with my food. I feel more balanced with the lifestyle that I choose to lead. I love being physically fit and eating good healthy foods and being passionate about my health and this feeds into all areas of my life.

While I have not achieved my “Ideal” body as yet, I now KNOW what the ideal body I want is and I am starting to also “Feel” what it is like to have. I have come to realize that my dream body does not have an “end” date when it will miraculously appear, but it is simply a work in progress and as I achieve more it will continue to evolve and will only get better and better with... guess what - consistency and patience (and a bit of hard work thrown in)!!!!

Thanks so much IBO. I have reconnected with myself over these 12 short weeks. I believe in myself again. I am trusting my choices. I have enjoyed the journey and I am looking forward to my next 12 week journey as I have already decided this is where I am heading. No more fad, quick results programs for me. I am achieving my dream the ideal way, through balanced and consistent daily choices.

Lisa’s Success Tips:

Plan out your entire training week and make it a priority. NOTHING gets in your way of training. If you train early in the morning - have everything out the night before. Set your alarm and just get up and do it
Prepare. Prep as many of your meals on the weekend. Cook up in bulk, weigh out in portions and freeze. No excuses for not being prepared.
Focus on what you want. Find pictures of women who you want to look like and look at them all of the time. Read their stories and let them inspire you. These women will help you through those times when you think it is all a bit too tough - after all, they have those feelings at times as well.
Find a program that is balanced, supportive, inspiring and that you believe and trust in and stick with that one program. Be consistent with it, ask questions, take the advice and you will reap the benefits of your hard work.

Lisa’s Favourite Breakfast

Omelette

1 egg and 3 egg whites
60 grams roasted sweet potato
1/2 cup lentils
Frozen spinach
Diced onion and capsicum
1 teaspoon of curry powder

Whisk it all up and cook in a non-stick fry pan with the lid on. Once almost cooked, fold the omelette in half. I eat this most days or otherwise have a protein oat pancake.