Week 1 - Erin M
Erin is 42 and married with 2 kids, Flynn 5yrs and Edin 3yrs, one who goes to daycare and one who goes to school. Erin and her husband have their own business, so her husband works long hours and is travelling around Melbourne alot. Until very recently, Erin travelled quite often to Canberra for work, every 2-3 weeks she would have to head up to Canberra for work, so would be on planes, at airport lounges with access to food and wine. But now is working from home which is great as it gives Erin the flexibility and chance to be more prepared but also give her access to anything all day. But will be travelling again for work soon, so wants to use this challenge to set herself up so when she does travel again she has created new healthy habits that keep her out of the lounges with food and wine (haha).
1. What have you been currently doing towards your fitness/health goal?
I have been coming to Boss Gym now for about 15 months, so I have been pretty good and regular on the exercise. However I haven't been as good as I could be on the food, well more the wine. I like to have a few wines which unfortunately also turns into not the best food, so that's something I am aiming to focus on for this challenge.
2. What’s been your biggest obstacle so far (outside of the challenge)?
As most people say, you get very busy and life gets in the way and it can be hard to be prepared and to plan. Having kids and getting home after a busy day at work can be tiring and I may have something planned to cook but then I just can't be bothered and I will substitute and go for an easier option.
3. Why did you end up where you are today? (Kids, busy lifestyle, injuries, scared of the gym etc)
I think I have always liked being fit and healthy and I have always considered myself as someone who was fit and healthy. Which is great but in many ways it's bad as you can set aside some of the things you do becuase you tell yourself you go to the gym so I am fit and healthy. So now as I am getting older its not as easy to make the same changes, when you are younger its a lot easier to say "I'm going to make a change" and your body responds quite quickly and now I find I am getting older and my body is changing. Suddenly I am now in a position where I don't really like how I look and realise maybe I am not as fit and healthy as I thought so I am now ready to make that change.
4. What are your goals for the challenge?
I want to loose weight, I want to loose 10kg, this is just a number but wanted to have a set weight loss goal. But I really want to get my life on track so that I can do things that are good for me. I want to feel good about the way that I look, I want to be doing the right things by my body so that I am actually healthy, I want to set a good example for my kids. The other morning I made a piece of toast from one of the recipes in the challenge with natural peanut butter, banana and chia seeds and both my kids wanted it, they wanted my peanut butter, the healthy peanut butter and not the one I normally buy for them. And this felt really good and this is the reason I want to do this, I want to something that sets me up to give me a good lifestyle that I still enjoy but where I am healthy into the future.
5. What mindset are you bringing to the challenge?
I think I am pretty committed, I have learnt about myself that accountability really works for me and I think thats why Boss Gym has really worked for me. If you have to book in and Mia is calling you at 5am in the morning saying "Where are you? You better turn up" that works for me, I am going to turn up. So having that accountability I have said I am going to commit to this even though I know I have many things on over these 10 weeks that is going to make it hard sometimes. But instead of just saying I am going to ride this week off because I have something on, I am looking at ways I can work around it and make it work. I think I am determined and I am ready.
6. Do you want to win this challenge? Are you motivated by the competition and the possibility of winning or are you just doing this for you and the prize would be a bonus?
I think it's nice to have a little bit of the competitive nature come out in yourself, but I wouldn't say it's what fundamentally drives me. But it's a nice little bit of extra motivation and sometimes you surprise yourself by saying "oh yeah, I'll bring it on a little bit more becuase its a competition". But fundamentally I will do one off those fluffy quotes - we're going to be all winner at the end (haha).