Before falling pregnant – I was always sporty, but you would never catch me in gym.

I found it boring..

I fell pregnant with my daughter and put on a whopping 30 Kgs!

But the weight didn’t sink in till walking in Cavendish mall one day. My husband was pushing the pram, and a woman approached me and asked me when I was due (bare in mind I was not pregnant at the time)

I was devastated!

That’s when I told my husband Riad Adams ,who is a personal trainer, that he needs to get me in shape.

My confidence was low and I felt horrible in my own skin. Going to gym was daunting – especially seeing all the fit woman around.

Riad had to teach me from scratch. I didn’t know what a squat or a lunge was. I could just about curl a 3kg dumbbell.

Setting a big goal

I set my eyes on doing a fitness show. I’m goal driven and 23 March 2013 (a year after having my daughter) was the deadline I needed.

I trained twice as hard – 7 days a week, twice a day.

Some days were dark. My newborn wasn’t sleeping. I was trying to adjust to being a new mom, a wife , work and now gym life.

Many times I wanted to give up, but the support from friends and family pushed me through.

Anyways from a body fat of over 38% to 10% for comp day.

I  can now say I DID IT!!

The toughest part was the eating. I learned to eat whole foods, good carbs and lean proteins.

And I learned that starving myself was not the way (which used to be my go-to).

I have now switched careers and become a personal trainer at Virgin Active Claremont and I couldn’t be happier.

My approach is to teach my clients, to give them the confidence to lead a healthy lifestyle, and be empowered to make healthy choices.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you”

Scarlet x

Claremont, Cape Town.

• You can contact Scarlet at scarletj88@hotmail.c­om

SUBMIT YOUR STORY AND WIN

Scarlet wins a R500 voucher courtesy of our sponsor for the “YOU CAN live life well” series Wellness Warehouse to be spent on their online store with free delivery nationally.

I believe very strongly that ordinary every day people like you and I derive great inspiration from the achievements of people who seem similar to us. If they can do it.. damn.. so can I! Right?

So through this program we will continue to tell people’s personal stories.

I want to great an archive of hundreds of stories of people who have changed their lives while others believe they cannot.

Submit your story to help@sleekgeek.co.za with the Subject line “You can live life well”

We require:

• Your story in your own words covering at least (How you got to a point of change, how you made the change, tips and advise for others)
• A selection of before and after photos
• As many words as you need to tell your story

In advance, we regret that not all stories may be published. Your story is as important as anyone’s story but we can only publish one a week and the editor will make decision on this.

If your story is published you will receive a R500 voucher to the Wellness Warehouse online store with free national delivery.