Michelle Gillroy

If you told me 17 weeks ago that today I’d be 25kg’s lighter, I’d never have believed it! But here I am feeling 100 percent fitter, healthier and happier thanks to Vision Randwick. Fitness training and weight management were no stranger to me. Having had three high risk pregnancies, being unable to work or exercise saw me stack on 30 kg’s or so each time. Fast forward to 21 years after having my third child, I couldn’t blame the pregnancies any longer and my weight had crept up to the most it’s ever been.

My knees were in constant pain and I had written off any chance of returning to the things I love such as running and hiking. The final straw came from a routine doctor’s consult, where alarm bells were sounding of high blood pressure and the threat of future medication. This distressing news was what I needed to shift my mindset. I didn’t want to return to my old regimes for weight loss of counting points as they were not sustainable. Coincidentally, I met up for coffee with my good friend Sharon. Her transformation in body, mind and spirit was truly inspiring and she credited it all to Vision Randwick. She spoke so enthusiastically about the gym, the community and mostly about Trent and the other trainers.

I already had a good feeling about Vision Randwick and this was reinforced the minute I stepped into the gym and met Trent. We chatted for two hours about my weight history and my goals. It felt like a psyche consult and Trent analysed my personality to a tee. Trent filled me with confidence from day dot, and he continues to do so every day. I found the MyVision app super easy to navigate and tracking my food became second nature and food choices are easy to plan with the app calculating all the macro nutrients. As I was super unfit and wary of injuring my knee again, I found the classes challenging but achievable and the trainers encouraged me to make modifications to preserve my knee.

I quickly fell in love with all the classes and gained the confidence to go and use the gym equipment on my own. What surprised me most is how much I have grown to love my PT weights sessions which started with Trent and are now with the lovely Valentina. Resistance weight training was new to me, and I never imagined it would make me feel so good. Trent has created a super welcoming environment where members and trainers quickly become friends rather than clients. Everyone is supportive of one another, encouraging and celebrating personal goals and are genuinely thrilled when you have success but also empathise and guide you when you have setbacks. It really outshines any other gym I have ever been a member of. Every week I have managed to lose weight and I credit much of that to the support that is available to me. The first 10 kilos that I lost, I cried as I stepped off the scales as it meant so much to me.

Life right now looks a whole lot different to four months ago. I look forward to waking early to train, and even after an eight-hour workday on my feet, I eagerly rush back to the gym for the 6pm classes with my newfound friends. I feel healthier than I have been in years, and have even made a comeback to running, a passion I thought I would never again enjoy. During the month of October, I participated in the ‘One Foot Forward’ campaign running over 200kms over the month and raising money for The Black Dog Institute. I recently participated in the Sydney Foam Fest, a 5km running mud and foam obstacle course which was great fun. I have my sights set on Tough Mudder, and soon trekking in Nepal.

I am open to a whole new realm of possibilities now. I saw a quote which really resonated with me, “In six months’ time, you will either have sixth months of excuses, or six months of progress. The choice is yours!” I still have a lot of goals to kick, but I know that they are 100% achievable. Joining Vision Randwick has been one of the best life decisions that I have ever made! (And yes my blood pressure has decreased to a healthy level!)