From fear of exercise to feeling strong: Shelley's 18-month fitness transformation
What does a health transformation look like when weight loss isn't the main goal?
For Zing Wellbeing member Shelley, it looks like strength, confidence, eating a greater variety of foods and discovering just how much her body is capable of.
Shelley was already active before joining Zing Wellbeing. She trained at the gym six days a week and regularly lifted weights.
But her relationship with exercise was very different.
With a history of sciatica and disc degeneration, Shelley says she felt as though she was constantly in "protective mode". She worried about what might happen if she stopped exercising and whether previous problems could resurface.
Fast forward 18 months and Shelley is still training six days a week.
But now?
She's pushing herself. She's lifting heavier. She's doing CrossFit. She's trying new things. And, most importantly, she feels strong and confident.
This is Shelley's story.
Shelley's fitness journey before Zing Wellbeing
Looking at somebody who exercises six days a week, you might assume they're already exactly where they want to be with their health and fitness.
Shelley's experience shows why there's often much more to someone's story than we can see from the outside.
Before joining Zing Wellbeing, Shelley was extremely active.
She explains:
"I was quite active, in the gym six days, doing everything I could to maintain my body."
But Shelley says she was approaching her workouts from a place of protection rather than progression.
"I was always in protective mode lifting weights. I was always worried if I stopped, my injury would resurface and definitely the unknown outcome from sciatica and disc degeneration."
Exercise was something Shelley felt she needed to do.
Eighteen months later, it's something she genuinely wants to do.
From exercising cautiously to wanting to lift heavier
One of the biggest changes Shelley has noticed isn't how often she trains.
It's how she approaches training.
Shelley still trains six days per week and now also participates in two evening CrossFit sessions.
But instead of constantly second-guessing herself, she is excited about what she might be able to achieve next.
"I push myself. I want to lift more and lift heavy, doing more than I could ever imagine, wanting to try new things. I love where this is taking me."
That's a very different definition of a fitness transformation.
There doesn't always need to be a dramatic number on the scales.
Sometimes progress is going from being afraid of what your body can't do to becoming excited about discovering what it can do.
Why strength training can be so valuable for women
For many women, exercise has traditionally been associated with burning calories and losing weight.
But there are so many other reasons to move your body.
Resistance training can help improve muscular strength, maintain and build muscle and support bone health and physical function.
Strength also has practical benefits.
It's about being able to carry things, climb stairs, get up from the floor, participate in activities you enjoy and continue doing those things as you get older.
For women who are new to strength training, the goal isn't to immediately lift extremely heavy weights.
It's about starting at an appropriate level, learning good technique and gradually progressing.
If you have an existing injury, persistent pain or medical condition, it's particularly important to seek individual advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare or exercise professional before changing your training.
Why progressive overload matters when you want to get stronger
Shelley's desire to gradually lift more highlights an important strength-training principle known as progressive overload.
Put simply, your body adapts to the demands you place upon it.
If you want to continue becoming stronger, your training generally needs to progress over time.
That doesn't mean adding huge amounts of weight every workout.
Progress can involve gradually increasing resistance, completing additional repetitions, improving exercise technique or increasing the overall challenge of a movement.
And progression should always be appropriate for your individual ability and circumstances.
For Shelley, being excited to progress represents something even bigger:
confidence.
Shelley's relationship with food has changed too
Exercise isn't the only area where Shelley has noticed a difference.
Before Zing Wellbeing, Shelley describes her diet as highly restrictive because of food allergies and intolerances.
She was worried about eating certain foods because of previous reactions and says there were periods when eating and even drinking could be difficult.
"I had a restrictive diet due to intolerances and allergies, worried about if I just ate I would flare up and it happened regularly, even if I was careful."
Today, Shelley says her diet feels less restrictive and she has been able to introduce more variety.
"My diet is now not as restrictive. I'm eating some foods that were a no-go before and I have no flare-ups. I'm even eating foods that I never tried before."
This is Shelley's individual experience and shouldn't be interpreted as advice to reintroduce foods that cause an allergic reaction or medically diagnosed intolerance.
Food allergies can be serious. Foods associated with a known or suspected allergy should only be reintroduced under appropriate medical guidance.
But Shelley's experience highlights something important about nutrition more broadly: healthy eating doesn't necessarily mean making your diet increasingly restrictive.
Does healthy eating need to be restrictive?
When people decide to "eat healthier", it's easy to focus on everything they think they need to remove.
No sugar.
No carbohydrates.
No bread.
No dairy.
No eating after a particular time.
Before long, the list of foods someone believes they're "allowed" to eat can become very small.
Unless you need to avoid particular foods for a diagnosed allergy, intolerance, medical condition, ethical reason or personal preference, healthy eating can include a wide variety of foods.
Variety can also make healthy eating more enjoyable and sustainable.
Rather than asking only, "What should I remove?", it can be helpful to ask:
"What nutritious foods could I add?"
That might mean trying a new vegetable, adding another source of protein, experimenting with wholegrains or legumes, or simply cooking a healthy recipe you've never tried before.
Fitness progress isn't always about losing weight
Shelley's story is another reminder that health transformations don't need to revolve around becoming smaller.
Progress can mean:
- Becoming physically stronger
- Building lean muscle
- Increasing the weights you can safely lift
- Trying a new type of exercise
- Improving your fitness
- Feeling more confident in the gym
- Eating a greater variety of nutritious foods
- Learning new recipes
- Feeling less intimidated by exercise
- Discovering what your body is capable of
There may not be a number on the scales capable of measuring some of the most meaningful changes.
"I am strong. I am confident."
After 18 months, Shelley sums up her transformation in just a few words:
"No more second guessing, no more hesitation. I am strong. I am confident."
And perhaps that's the most powerful part of her story.
She was already exercising before Zing Wellbeing.
The transformation wasn't simply going from inactive to active.
It was going from protecting to progressing.
From hesitation to confidence.
From worrying about what her body might not be able to do to discovering that she can do more than she imagined.
That's why we believe women's health journeys should be about so much more than weight loss.
Yes, changing your body composition or losing weight can absolutely be a goal.
But so can becoming stronger.
So can improving your fitness.
So can nourishing your body.
So can trying something new.
And so can reaching a point where you can confidently say:
I am strong. I am confident.
Congratulations, Shelley. We can't wait to see where your strength journey takes you next.
And you can join Shelley on the Zing Wellbeing app and program here
Shelley's story reflects her individual experience and results will vary. Zing Wellbeing provides general nutrition, fitness and wellbeing information and is not intended to diagnose, treat or manage medical conditions. People with food allergies, intolerances, injuries or medical conditions should seek appropriate individual advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
