Our Profile of the Month for the month of July is our dedicated and awesome member Diana De Francisci.

Diana first trained with TF back in August 2013. After taking nearly five years off, she returned in January 2018 to kick some serious goals. During her absence Diana made a very serious and drastic decision to change her life, which she will share in her story below. When she returned to Terrific Fitness, she returned knowing she would be welcomed with open arms, just like returning home to your family. So when Diana returned, I took her under my wing and promised her that my team and I, would never abandon her and that we would be there to help her every step of the way.

Diana is an incredible woman who wanted drastically to be the best role model and mother she could be to her gorgeous boy Xavier, which is why she made the drastic changes she did. She then tapped into all of the tools provided at TF to help her with her fitness, strength and her nutrition to take her journey to the next level and embrace a life full of activity, health and fitness. As a result, Diana has dropped a total of 19.5cm in the five months she has been back. All in all this wonder woman has dropped a total of 130cm from around her body since the first time I met her. There is no way we would take credit for that total results because Diana did that and needs to be recognised for her success. When she got stuck and needed to get going again, we were there for her and helped with the remaining 19.5cm.

Diana’s journey is far from over. She has a stack load of goals in store, and together we are working through them one at a time. So you need to watch this space!

To say I am proud of Diana is an understatement. Diana holds a special place in my heart for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that she is someone full of tenacity and resilience. When the going got tough, Diana got tougher. She didn’t use her obstacles as excuses not to succeed; instead she turned them into reasons to succeed! She is an absolute power house and a huge inspiration to everyone around her, especially to her little man.

Diana, you really are an incredible woman, and I am honoured you chose us to be part of your journey. I for one, am always here for you my love!

Here is Diana’s journey, in her words:

“When I think about what my life was like before re-joining the team at TF after a 5 year break, a lot has happened. 

When I first joined up with a couple of friends who convinced me to join 1 class a week, I was very reluctant as I was a bigger girl and thought that I wouldn’t be able to do any of the exercises and I’d just look like an uncoordinated elephant. So off we went to our very first class and as I watched Terri demonstrate the exercises I looked at my friend and thought, ‘nope not happening, I can’t do any of this.’ Anyway I continued the class and finished my very first 6 week challenge as it was called way back then. I stuck with it for the next 12 months, losing weight and getting fitter, but as my son got older I couldn’t make it to the circuit classes anymore, so I quit just like everything else I seemed to do with my life; too hard, so I just quit. 

My self-esteem was pretty low, at my biggest I’d been, fitness decreasing and motivation at an all-time low. I got lazy and used every excuse I could think of.

Things got worse, weight ballooned and I got even bigger than I was when I had joined Terri at Terrific Fitness. But in my eyes I didn’t look that bad; boy was I wrong. Very wrong. 

I tried every diet, shake, pill, tablet, and joined gym after gym for a few months as I was motivated to lose the weight I’d put on after having my son. 

One day I was playing with my son and I was puffed out walking to the park, which is 200 meters from my house. Ii thought to myself ‘I don’t want to be that mum anymore, who sits on the sidelines and just watches her kid have fun at the park and be worried that I would get stuck on the slide if I even attempted it.’ At over 130kgs I was desperate and I knew I needed to do something drastic otherwise I wouldn’t have the quality of life I wanted and be the best person I could me for Xavier and myself.

It all came down to mindset. I knew I had to make a change and it started with a simple don’t eat sugar and high fat foods. So the junk food and my love of bread and butter had to stop. 

With that I have lost over 50kg and maintained a healthy achievable weight and gained a confidence I never thought I would have. 

I have been a member of many gyms. I’d go for a few months and then lose the motivation and get bored. The trainers at these gyms would give me boring programs that would stay the same for 8 weeks or until I remembered that I needed a new assessment, only to get another un-motivating program that saw me not seeing any results. I have always loved group fitness but working full time I couldn’t get to them unless I went at night, and with no option of being able to bring my son I again couldn’t go, and I just wasted my money.

I’ve followed Terrific Fitness from back in the day, and always thought I’ll go back one day. The kids’ room and the luxury of being able to attend a gym and do what I love doing “group classes” at times that suited me and knowing my son was welcome was a very very big tick in my book and I knew Terri would understand me and my situation and welcome me back with open arms into the TF family that we all are. 

I would walk slowly to start and short distances 2-3km would tire me out, but I kept persisting and can now walk 10km with no dramas. When I joined Terrific Fitness again I jumped straight into 2 days a week, but most weeks I’m there 3 times a week, and I have kept this routine up since January. I’ve missed a few classes from injuries but always made the time to make up those classes as I didn’t want to miss out as this was finally something I was doing for me. From the start I would try to push myself as I was worried everyone was looking at me, but that soon passed as everyone there has the same goal.  

I changed my eating habits drastically leading up to this massive life change and I dropped the junk and comfort food and started making better choices, but since re-joining TF my food habits have changed again and for even better. Instead of me going for a slice of bread and a slab of cheese I go for the high protein option.  

I started TF in January 2018 after almost 5 years off. My life is still hectic and crazy with after school activities and now gym 3 days a week, but I have better tools and resources to help me with meal planning and food organisation and decisions. I made a lot of changes to my life before re-joining, and TF just made me more determined to actually stick to these changes

I feel amazing! I have dropped from a size 24 to a normal size 12. I can walk into any shop and pickup anything off the rack and know it will fit me. Shopping is becoming fun, but more so my fitness levels have gone up 10 fold. I am now not the sideline mum, I’m now the mum who says “let’s go kick the ball at the oval’ or ‘let’s shoot some hoops’, or ‘let’s go for a scooter ride’, but most of all spending that quality time with Xavier makes it all worth it. 

I love TF and I love exercising. I can’t believe I just said that but it’s true. I used to go to the other gyms because I felt I had to go, but now I want to go. I’m determined now more than ever. I have a goal, and Xavier has made friends at TF as well so it’s a win-win. I actually enjoy training now. There are different classes to choose from and no matter what class you do, it’s never the same program so it never gets boring, unlike the other programs I used to do.

If you are thinking of joining TF, don’t delay. They aren’t just a gym, they are a family and support and encourage everyone regardless of fitness level and they have a kids room, so win-win for everyone.” – Diana De Francisci, Mernda

*Weight Loss and Training Disclaimer