110 Sep/Oct 2017 oxygenmag.com.au
Spotlight
She has the
WORLD AT HER FEET
I
was at the lowest point in my life
before I made the decision to start
training. I felt depressed every single
day, weighing in at the heaviest I
had ever been at 95kg, wearing size 16-18
clothing. I was constantly tired; my moods
were a rollercoaster and I felt like I was
trapped and out of control. To be honest, I
hated myself. I hated being told that I was
loved, because why would anyone love me in
this state? The inner voices continually told
me I was not good enough; that I was
not worthy of things like happiness
and success. There are only so
many times you can tell yourself
these things and then you start
to really believe them. I was
my own worst critic.
It was only when I dug
deeper, and started to question
those inner voices, that I
realised I was in fact worthy of
absolutely every success in life. I am
turning 33 this year, so talk of starting a
family in the next few years has been on the
cards. I want to be able to give my children
the best start in life and I knew that if I was
to fall pregnant at 95kg it raised huge health
concerns for myself and our child. I did not
want my bad lifestyle choices to affect the
chances of having a healthy baby, so it was
now or never. This was the moment that
I realised I needed to make changes now,
as I am not getting any younger. So at the
beginning of this year, after some positive
self-talk, I began to focus on my nutrition and
joined Crossfit Greater West where I found
my love for training. Once I heard about the
Oxygen 12-Week Challenge, I couldn’t sign
up quickly enough! I knew that this was
what I needed to find my happiness once
again and I was beyond excited to be a part
of team Hattie, who is my inspiration. Here
I am now, 20kg down and a size 10 but most
importantly: I am no longer constantly tired,
my moods are stable and I can’t wipe the
smile from my face. I’m even prepping for my
very first Fitness Model Competition Season
A 2018, which has been a HUGE dream of
mine for over 10 years.Nowadays if you meet
the confident and fit
Oxygen Challenge
Winner, Carina Gabb,
you would never
guess that she once
felt trapped by her
own inner demons,
physically and
psychologically out
of control. She was
her own worst critic,
but what sets Carina
apart from the crowd
is that she chose ‘her
hard’. She decided that
being overweight was
harder than starting
her fitness journey
and has built herself a
healthy lifestyle from
the inside out.
This new-found confidence has sparked
a fire within me and it’s something that I
will never let go of this time around. I have
made this a lifestyle change and there is
no going back.
The hardest part is starting but once you
do, I promise it gets easier. Don’t listen to
that inner voice who tells you lies like ‘I can’t’,
because you most certainly can. I am living
proof that anything is possible if you just
have some belief in yourself and
keep going. You are going to
want to give up, it is going
to get hard, but nothing
worth having in life
comes easy; we all
need to work for it.
Being overweight is
hard. Maintaining
weight is hard. Losing
weight is hard – choose
your hard.
The most rewarding part of
my journey so far has been that I
have become an inspiration and motivation
to so many others. This journey has never
just been about me; it has also been about
helping and lifting others along the way so
they too can find the happiness they truly
deserve. It’s a feeling I cannot describe when
people reach out to me and tell me that I
have helped to inspire them in some way.
That is what it is all about: sharing the love.
Training takes all the day’s worries away. No
matter how bad my day was, by turning up
and pushing through either Crossfit or the
gym, it always leaves me satisfied and feeling
exhilarated. It doesn’t just help my physical
self; it helps my mental state as much as
anything.
It is never the perfect or right time to face
difficult challenges in life but if you can learn
to get through the tough times and continue
to strive for your goals, then that makes you
successful.
My final bit and possibly my biggest
piece of advice is this: on the days that you
do not want to turn up, these are the days
you absolutely must. That is when the
magic happens.Proudly brought to you byOverall
WINNER