While many women commit to an exercise regime after having children, one Queensland mother-of-two has taken her determination one step further.
Kelli Blanchfield, 40, started weight training six years ago after feeling sluggish, unhealthy and unhappy with the way she looked.
‘Like many mothers I was working full time and spending most of my time running around after my daughters (now aged 15 and 18) so I got lost in household duties,’ Mrs Blanchfield told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Once my daughters were older and home life became less demanding I was able to make myself more of a priority again – so I started working on my diet and fitness and became 110 per cent committed to feeling good about myself again.’
Mrs Blanchfield developed one simple goal.
‘My daughter was graduating and I was turning 40 so I made a promise to myself to look great for her ceremony and to look the best I had ever looked by age 40,’ the community strategy officer said.
Mrs Blanchfield hired a trainer and learned how to squat and lift weights properly and just recently entered her first fitness competition.
‘If you told me five years ago I was going to be standing on stage at this age in a bikini I would have laughed,’ Mrs Blanchfield said, who competed last month at the INBA (International Natural Bodybuilding Australia) Championship competition in Canberra.
‘When I first got up there in my bikini I was absolutely terrified,’ Mrs Blanchfield said, ‘but I had this amazing support in the audience and my husband was there for me as well who is just so amazingly supportive about the whole thing.’
Mrs Blanchfield placed fifth in the novice category in the competition and previously placed fifth in a Townsville competition and third in the Queensland Championships.
‘This was a personal goal for me and I had never expected to place…it was amazing – I never thought I’d get here,’ Mrs Blanchfield said, who is often met with a shocked reaction when she reveals her age.
‘I don’t feel 40 and I look and feel better than I ever have before.’
Mrs Blanchfield is currently working towards the 2016 INBA competitions, and has already started preparing a plan with her trainer.
‘I am absolutely going to keep doing this – I am quite an introverted person naturally so this has just totally taken me out of my comfort zone,’ Mrs Blanchfield said.
‘It is so common for mothers and women to turn to diets or think that they can’t achieve things like this at a certain age, which is just not true at all.’
Mrs Blanchfield hopes to inspire other women to take control of their health and fitness as well.
‘People might say they don’t have time but if you are committed you make the time,’ Mrs Blanchfield said, ‘age or schedule can’t be a barrier to your health and I am so proud of everything I have achieved so far.’
Courtesy of: Daily Mail UK