We are very proud to announce our 2011 Powerplate Transformation Champion, Liz Bear.

Liz is 35 years young, been married for 15 years and has three children - Georgia 12, Madison 10 and Finn 5.  She works full time as a registered nurse in a busy operating room. Liz and her family live in the United States.

Liz gained her excess weight with each baby.  She would lose some of the weight after each one, but always weighed about 5kg (11 pounds) heavier than before she fell pregnant.  Over the 8 years of having her babies, Liz gradually gained an extra 15 kg (33lb).  An additional 5kg crept on after returning to full time work with her change of lifestyle including cafeteria food, lollies or chocolate for snacking and the extra stress. This extra 20kg (44lb) left Liz feeling flabby and as a result she hated the way she looked in clothes and of course without clothes too!  Her love handles were her greatest concern as they were hard to hide in her clothes. And shopping for clothes was no longer any fun - the full length mirrors from all angles and having to pick larger sizes than desired was nothing short of depressing.

Liz had previously tried weight watchers after the birth of her last baby which helped her drop a few kilos.  She now and then would get into running and she even saw a personal trainer, which did help her body shape to change a little, but she never really got any real results.

So, early May 2011, Liz decided it was finally time to reclaim herself and get back into shape once and for all. She started our Transformation Challenge, took her before photos and measurements and went to work.  She used Busy Mums Fitness Club to get ideas, tools and motivation. The exercise videos gave her additional workouts for burn weight in her home and she expecially found the BMFC Daily Nutrition & Fitness Tracker especially useful as it made her more concious and accountable about everything she was putting into her mouth. Also, seeing what Sherah, Mireille and other mums on the site achieved post children gave Liz motivation.

In the 7 remaining months of 2011, Liz lost her final 13kg which is 18.6% loss of her total starting weight.  She lost 5cm from her arms, 23.25cm from her waist, 13cm from her hips and 8cm from off her thighs.

Liz believed that previous to her body transformation that she had always eaten relatively healthy, but just too much.  It was her portion sizes that were "killing her".  She cut down on her portion sizes by about half and soon realised that it was more than enough to feel satisfied and comfortable.  Liz didn't go on a typical 'diet', but instead she reduced her portion sizes and made healthier food choices.  At dinner time, she would eat what the family ate only less, making this easy to maintain for any busy mum. Liz felt that bread was her biggest weakness, especially because it was always available at work for free.  She decided she needed to master this weakness by avoiding it as much as possible.  She literally stayed away from the free bread that she could hear calling her name in the break room, by going outside to eat her lunch.  She also had the additional constant temptation at work of lollies and snack size chocolates sitting on the front desk.

Liz's Results
	Before	After
	May 11	Dec 11
Weight	70kg	55kg
BMI	25.6	20.8
Arm	30.5cm	25.5cm
Waist	92.75cm	69.5cm
Hips	103cm	90cm
Thigh	61cm	53cm

She previously found it hard not to slam down a few snack sized treats each day, until one day she just decided to stop!  She doesn't know where this will power came from but she was able to totally avoid these for three months.  Now that Liz has reclaimed her pre-baby body weight and shape, she enjoys one of these treats once a week.  Another key point that has worked for Liz is not eating after 7pm, which stops any late night bingeing and allows the body to digest the food.

Cardio is Liz's main choice of exercise.  She weekly goes on three 5km runs, swims and does a 45 minute spin class.  She also does one weight session each week.  This ongoing regular exercise program is giving her body a great shape, health and fitness, and also essential mind strength.  Liz highlighted that running has taught her that she can do anything.  She use to think that she couldn't run.  She discovered that when she just kept running, even when her brain and body were telling her to stop, that she could pretty much accomplish anything! "I ran 6.5 km's last May (when my pic was taken) and it took me 55 minutes.  I ran 6.5 km's today and it took me 40 minutes.  I have shaved 15 minutes off my time.  That is a 1 minute quicker per kilo lost! :)"  Exercising has also caused Liz to feel amazingly healthy and good about herself.

Liz plans to continue exercising and making good food choices to ensure she maintains her transformed body. She said that she weighs herself at regular intervals to ensure she remains on track.

Liz loves the motto "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". "It's what I keep telling myself. It's very true."

We are very proud of Liz.  You achieved your goals through consistency, hard work and well balanced choices.  Your results are outstanding and inspirational.  You have showed once again that a really busy 'real mum' can achieve 'real results'. 

Congratulations Liz!  We are super confident that you will love your fantastic new Power Plate® my3™ valued at $4,840, which is kindly sponsored by Power Plate. Enjoy!

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