UBX Blog – Rethink Impossible

UBX Member Story – Amy

September 25, 2019 at 4:54 am by UBX

“I’M FIGHTING TO START A FAMILY”

“I realised that I’d gotten to an age where I wasn’t really doing anything for me, and at that time, after 20 years of marriage, my husband and I really wanted to start a family, but we weren’t having luck falling pregnant naturally. We had been trying for nearly 10 years with no explanation as to why it was not happening. I knew I needed to go down the path of IVF in order to have kids, but I knew to do that I had to do something about my weight first”

Amy is a Teacher Aide who began her journey with UBX in November 2017.
When she first started, Amy weighed in at 110.5 kg with 43.8% body fat.
Today, Amy weighs in at 84.4kg with 26.5% Body Fat

I signed up to UBX Nambour in November 2017 as a Foundation Member. When I joined UBX I was obese. I had absolutely no fitness routine other than walking the dog a few times a week.

I was going to my local supermarket to grab groceries and stopped for a coffee just outside. Inside the shops by the supermarket and cafe, the owners of UBX Nambour had a pop-up stand. I’d never heard of UBX before, nor anything like it, so I didn’t have a great knowledge of things like HIIT or crossfit. At first I saw the boxing gloves, and accidentally caught eye contact as I was waiting for my coffee, and Greg and Hayley being as friendly as they are, they invited me over for a chat – I guess they could tell I was interested. As soon as they started explaining the boxing aspect, I was so intrigued, I think that’s what got me so excited about it.

In the past, I had joined a gym and done many Karate lessons. I loved doing both of those activities, but on their own I had not had any success. I kept trying to validate that the cost of a personal trainer would be worth it. However, deep in the back of my mind I highly doubted that I would find someone who could actually help me, and that I would be able to afford to keep going long enough for it to make a difference.

Amy at the start of her UBX journey

“MY GOAL WAS TO GET UNDER 100kg”

I have been overweight for my entire adult life. At no point had it really bothered me. It didn’t stop me from doing much. I did not see my weight as an issue and neither did anyone around me. Or if they did, I was not aware. I knew my weight was not healthy, I just never made it a priority to do anything about it. My goal was always to get under 100kg, which I’d never achieved as an adult. I wanted to be both fitter and lose weight. Every now and then a doctor would say that I should try and get my weight to under 100kg and I got very close a numberof times, but I just couldn’t maintain it, and I would balloon back to around the 120kg faster than the weight came off.

Turning 37 and the realisation that I was closer to 40 then I wanted to be, was constantly on my mind. I realised that I’d gotten to an age where I wasn’t really doing anything for me, and at that time, after 20 years of marriage, my husband and I really wanted to start a family, but we weren’t having luck falling pregnant naturally. We had been trying for nearly 10 years with no explanation as to why it was not happening. I knew I needed to go down the path of IVF in order to have kids, but I knew to do that I had to do something about my weight first, I just didn’t know how. Because I didn’t know how to start, it was this viscous cycle where I just didn’t end up doing anything.

Emotionally, it was very tough to admit that I felt very stuck and I felt like there was no direction as to where I could go to get help, or to make a difference, or make a change. It was depressing, because I wanted to start a family, but I felt too embarrassed and was scared being judged; scared of failing. Seeing that UBX pop-up was just the right timing, and after understanding the concept, I knew immediately it was something I would like. The no fixed class times suited me as a Teacher Aide, and it was cheaper than a PT.

“I HAVE SO MUCH CONFIDENCE NOW”

I was a boxing novice at the start, and I kind of felt awkward to begin with. Despite it being so new to me at the start, and not being the best at it straight away, the coach encouragement kept me motivated. I didn’t feel like just because I didn’t get it immediately, it wasn’t for me, or I couldn’t keep going. There’s always something new to learn, and I’m still working on things like footwork and moving around, but I have so much confidence now.

Also, because you’re just there busy doing your own thing, and so are the other members, you don’t feel intimidated, you just get it done. Having the support of the coaches to show you if you’re not doing things correctly, and the fact that they’re always there to help makes you feel so comfortable and you know you’re on the right track.

I love the fact that for me, it’s an individual challenge every time I walk through the door, and I think that’s because of my personality type. UBX workouts can also help people who may want that friendly competition and are driven by things like Myzone screen, or doing more reps than each other, and I totally respect that, for me I’m simply driven to be better than I was before. I also love the flexibility with the workout that I can challenge myself as much as I want to any given day. I don’t go into UBX to compete with the person beside me, I do it for me.

Once I’d met my initial goal of getting to under 100kg, my self-confidence and drive had improved so much, so now I’m not so focused weight, I’m more so focused on maintenance and improving my performance, like being able to lift heavier or do more reps.

“I KNOW NOW HOW I CAN CHANGE THINGS, AND HOW I CAN CONTROL IT”

My idea of body image has changed a lot in the past two years. Before UBX, I was hiding a lot behind certain clothes, and never wanted to go out and go shopping because even the things that did fit just weren’t attractive. It’s so relieving to know that I can walk into the majority of stores now and be able to pick something off the rack – I didn’t have that for over 20 years. At the time, I didn’t have the confidence to actually do something about how I was feeling, I especially didn’t have the knowledge that I do now; now I know how I can change things, and how I can control it.

My social confidence has definitely changed. I always felt like I was the biggest person in the room which was demoralising, to have that stigma around you. I felt I had to be careful about who I sat next to, or who I spoke to and how I would make them feel. I even felt like I’d be judged on the things I would eat. Looking back, I can’t believe I put up with it and didn’t do something about it earlier, to make a choice to make myself a priority earlier, but I also choose not to live with regrets. I wasn’t unhappy, I live my life, and recognise that there are people out there in worse situations. My weight didn’t stop me from doing much, I would always give things a go, I could swim 1km in a pool and stand up paddle board, which I still can do today, but admittedly back then, the weight did make things more challenging. I didn’t let it define me, and losing weight hasn’t changed who I am, I’m still me, but there are things like the fact that my blood pressure is much healthier now.

“ALL I HAD TO DO WAS SHOW UP”

There was a time lat year where I became really unwell with a virus and had to have nearly a month off. It took everything in my just to get to work each day, which barely left any energy to make it to my training. At that point, it was tough to get myself back into it, but I just reminded myself about how far I’d come and I knew all I had to do was just show up. On those days or weeks when it is hard, I tell myself to just “show up”, it doesn’t matter if I lift heavy or anything, just being there and getting it done.

I’m fighting to have a baby; to start a family and be in the best place I can be to do that.