Jacqueline – a working single mum of four – is proof that losing 45kg CAN be done! She also now has daily ‘me time’, literally out-runs her kids and has time for her friends. Oh, and she’s just gone skydiving.
Third-time 12WBTer Jacqueline has a secret to share. She’s lost an amazing 45kg over three Rounds and it’s all because of a simple decision she made to start getting up at 4am.
She uses words like “perfect”, “fun” and “relaxed” to describe some of the ways her life has changed, which is all the more meaningful when Jacque recalls the day she signed up for 12WBT. “I was at work and felt like I couldn’t breathe – I felt pressure on all my internal organs,” she says. “On the side of my computer screen popped up a 12WBT advertisement. I clicked it to have a look and thought I’d give it a shot. I needed to do something!
“I thought 12WBT would be just like everything else I’ve tried – you lose a bit of weight then it just comes back on – but it worked! I lost a LOT of weight.”
Success With the Meal Plans
Says Jacque, “Everything in the program works together. I wasn’t eating properly, so when I first started, nutrition was the focus. I just followed the 12WBT Meal Plans. I didn’t have to decide what was for dinner and I knew that with the Shopping Lists everything was already in the house.”
She adds that she decided to cook different food for her four kids, and made two meals each night. That suited her fine, though, especially as she had enough of her 12WBT food for lunch the next day.
“When I came home from work I made what was on the Meal Plan and had dinner within half an hour,” she says. “I’d put a second serve in my purple Tupperware container, which I’ve taken to work for lunch every day since I started.”
Changing Her Mindset to Change Her Life
Jacqueline’s a big fan of Michelle’s Mindset Video Lessons. “They keep you focused and get you to deal with the underlying reasons why you became what you were,” she explains. “Mish gets you to think about why you were doing that to yourself. Now I walk every morning for two hours and it gives me time to think – it’s processed a lot of problems and enabled me to move on.”
Jacque credits the Pre-Season Tasks putting her on the right track. “They start you thinking about why you want this,” she says. “If you start the program unsure, you’re not going to commit. If you know you want to make a change, you know the time is now, then you will honour your commitment.”
Pictures of a Sunrise Inspired a Change
One of Jacqueline’s main motivations for signing up to 12WBT was her kids. “There’s just me looking after them, so I need to be there long-term. But when I started 12WBT, I felt selfish because I went to work in the morning, came home, had dinner, then went walking in the evening and didn’t get a lot of time with them.
“Then I read a blog post by someone who’d taken photos of the sunrise when she’d been out walking and I thought, ‘I like sunrises, so I’m going to get up in the mornings.’
“I introduced myself to the three hours before 7am, which normally I slept through, and have done it ever since. I walk 10km, and in my latest Round I’ve incorporated runs into the routine.
“The best thing is I have time to sit quietly and eat breakfast before I have to wake the kids up. I’m more organised than ever – those three hours are amazing. And I don’t have to take time out of the evenings. I still have ‘mum time’ with the kids, so it’s perfect.”
Jacque keeps track of progress with a Fitbit and says, “If I don’t do my morning walk, I only do 2000 steps in a day. But if I go for my morning walk it’s 20,000 steps before I go to work!”
Jacqueline’s Wake-Up Weapon
An early start can be the biggest challenge of the day, but Jacque uses this trick: “Sometimes in the morning I hear Mish’s voice in my head saying JFDI – Just Freakin’ Do It!
“The hardest bit is getting your feet from the bed to the floor. To get from 7am to 4am I moved my alarm back 15 minutes at a time. I didn’t necessarily get up, but I woke up and when I got to 4am it just wasn’t worth NOT getting up. Some mornings I go out and my hair’s not brushed and I look atrocious, but nobody else is out there!”
Sharing the 12WBT Journey
A surprise bonus for Jacque has been a healthier friendship. “After my first round, my best friend said, ‘You’re too busy for me now, so I’m going to get up in the morning and come walking with you.’ For the first three months, walking on my own was thinking time, and when my friend joined me I was ready to have someone to talk to while walking.”
Jacqueline adds that it was encouraging to be involved with an online community of like-minded 12WBTers.
“Joining the 30+ Facebook Group was motivating. I know the photos are real before-and-afters because I talk to these people every day,” she says.
“When I put up my photos, the responses bring a tear because they’re from people who feel how I felt when I started. It’s nice to pay it forward to the next lot of 12WBTers trying to change their lives.
She’s also made good use of the 12WBT Forums. “They’re a great place to ask questions to the Support Crew. I’d never run in my life so I had a lot of questions, like how’s my foot supposed to hit the ground, and should I wear shoes when running on the beach?”
Meet the New Super Mum!
Jacque’s four kids are loving their newly energised mum. “I wasn’t fit at all before, but now I can go roller-skating and swimming AND run further than them! My 10-year-old wanted to come for a training run with me. I told him he had to run a long way and he said, ‘I can do it.’ He’s quite fit but only made 1.5km. So we walked after that and he hasn’t asked to come again!”
Jacque says the program’s Mini Milestones have kept her setting new physical challenges: “I love them as an excuse to push myself further than I dreamt I could go.”
She’s just completed one of her biggest milestones … jumping out of a plane! “About 20kg ago I made a crazy declaration that I’d go skydiving if I ever hit 65kg – and I did!” she says. “Since joining 12WBT I’ve climbed mountains, run a half marathon, done crazy things!” Now she can add sky-diving to the list. The big question is: what’s next?!
If Jacqueline can be happier than she ever dreamt AND run faster than her four kids, you can too! Sign up with 12WBT and give yourself the best chance to be the best version of yourself!!
