Caroline shines brighter than ever as our new Challenge winner!
This year’s Shine Challenge was all about inspiring women to set health, fitness, wellness, and routine goals to improve their fitness, body composition and overall lifestyle, and we were so impressed by all the women across the Fernwood community for putting themselves first. We believe everyone has walked away a winner, but in true challenge style, we have crowned the incredible Caroline from Fernwood Petrie as our 2021 National Shine Challenge Winner – congratulations Caroline!
Over her six-week journey, Caroline experienced the most incredible physical, mental, and emotional transformation, empowering herself and her fellow participants to shine inside and out. Caroline took this challenge head on, showing how consistent hard work can lead to incredible results!
From being the most reluctant to change in her initial gym coaching sessions, she became the person who embraced the program the most. Caroline’s positive mindset and behaviour changes are a true testament to her strength, determination, and willpower and what this Fernwood Challenge was all about.
After 18 years of always putting her family first, Caroline decided this was the time to prioritise herself and spend six weeks dedicated to her health, fitness and nutrition. Caroline followed a program and tried new exercises, going from not being able to do one push up on her toes to five in a row!
She improved her relationship with food through the new Fernwood Food & Mood coaching workshops to learn how to eat optimally to nourish and support her body, which she said improved her whole family’s health.
Caroline’s husband has Neuroendocrine tumours and at the five-week mark of the Shine Challenge, Caroline said he received his cancer markers back and they had come down from 131 to 73. His oncologist asked what had changed and he said the only thing different was he had been eating the food on his wife’s six-week challenge – to which the oncologist replied, “Well keep doing it!”*
Such an incredible bonus to her already amazing results; 4.8 kilograms down, 4.5 percent bodyfat lost and 25 centimetres down. Caroline said at the beginning she couldn’t really afford it, but at the end couldn’t afford not to do it. Aside from weight loss, let us not forget those non-scale victories too; clothes fitting better, exuding confidence outside of the gym and overall fitness improving in her exercise sessions.
“To the staff, Di, Tanya, I love you both. So warm and kind and encouraging us all the way. Thanks for all the incredible activities along the way,” Caroline said.
“To the trainers, Link, Aimee, Ange, Sarah, what can I say, thank you for all the time and effort you dedicate to help us become the best people we can be. You are all unique women with unique qualities, and I cherish every single one of you.
“To my tribe of incredible women who show up every day, stronger, more courageous than the day before, killing every workout, I could not be prouder of you.
“Thank you for everything you have done for me and the continued encouragement and gentle push in the right direction. I cannot wait to continue our newfound friendships and to continue our journeys at Fernwood! Finally, thanks Mel for making our dreams come true and for providing us with an opportunity to better ourselves in a safe, loving environment.”
We are so proud of Caroline’s achievements and to have her as a valued member of our Fernwood community. Well done Caroline for giving your all to this challenge and encouraging all women to shine brighter both inside and out. Enjoy your well-deserved $5K cash prize!
*Disclaimer: This information is a personal account only. Always consult your medical or health professional for health-related advice.
