New Years Eve 2010 – Turning 40 was fast approaching and the thought of being FAT and 40 was a depressing one. I decided my New Years resolution would be to turn things around and be FAB and 40. I decided to have a major overall, Step one would be cutting out all alcohol until my birthday in 17 weeks. Step two changing my eating habits radically and Step three I knew I had to move it to lose it. I knew a few people that had had success with Curves so decided to give it a go. I made an appointment and met Kerry for the first time who gave me the run down and shared her own story to give me hope that it could be done. I weighed in at 83kgs GULP !!! I told Kerry my goal was to be under 70kgs for my birthday in May. Kerry assured me that this was achievable. I loved the fact that everyone was so friendly and fantastic cheerleaders for encouraging you on. I had some bad days when I felt it was all too hard but I knew if I didn’t stick with it I would only be letting myself down. At every monthly weigh and measure I saw the cm’s dropping as did the weight and this gave me the incentive to keep on going. When things started to slow down I attended the weight management class and learnt I was not eating enough, once I started following the Curves eating plan the weight again started to come off. My size 16 clothes went off to Lifeline and I started to fit into things I hadn’t worn in years. The day before my birthday I had my final weigh and measure 69.4 kgs !!!!!! Exactly what I wanted to achieve. I celebrated my 40th in Fiji and even wore a bikini.

Curves was recommended by a work colleague after enduring 18 months of severe ill health, several hospital stays, and countless medical procedures. A specialist finally diagnosed severe chronic fatigue syndrome (auto immune disorder) and sub class blood problems. He recommended a long prcess back to better health beginning with 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week. Of course Curves is perfect for that, so I went to Victoria Point to begin my journey. It began in Sept 2009 after being through the lowest and most difficult times of my life. I was unable to work at all during this illness and as a result this placed huge strains on my family, both financially and physicall and emotionally. The constant pain and uncertainty of this illness was very had to deal with. From my first visit at Curves I was impressed with the owners, Helen and Vicki and the coaches. Every single person gave support, empathy, understanding most importantly great advice. I was always greeted with a friendly hello and always left with a "Have a great day". The weight management plan is fantastic. To this day, I still follow it. The yearly challenge at Victoria Point gives me extra incentive and motivation to reach my goals. The support group meetings have been invaluable in gaining more knowledge and help.

I was diagnosed with severe depression in 2007. After 2 years of reduced activity, emotional eating, weight gain and trying to navigate the empty nest syndrome, I came across an article in the local paper about Curves. I joined in March 2009.