Meet Jasmin

Fit Mama Jasmin’s INCREDIBLE before and after pictures. What a transformation!

Meet Jasmin, a self-employed hair stylist and single mum to 15 year old Shania and 6 year old Austin. Jasmin made a huge decision 3 years ago to move herself and her kids from a small mountain town in a cool climate, to the Gold Coast, a large beach city in Queensland, Australia. It was there that Jasmin began an amazing physical transformation, which all began with a personal training session at her local gym. Now? She’s battling negative feedback from ‘friends’ and has found herself a new workout obsession!

What made you decide to get back into shape, Jasmin? It was around the same time you moved interstate to the beach – were you just looking for change in all areas of your life?

I made the decision to move because I just felt like I needed a major change in my life. Being a hairdresser and self-employed means I can pack up and go if I want, since I can build my business anywhere. Once we settled in, it was really living in such a gorgeous, warm climate, with the beach nearby and surrounded by gorgeous people all the time that was the motivation for me to get back into going to the gym. I’d been on fitness kicks before and yo-yo’ed back and forth, lost some weight, gained it back. I was never blown away by my results.

I realized that being a mum and being in my mid 30s, I was never going to look like the gorgeous 20-somethings I’d see at the beach, but I wanted something more for myself and my body. It felt like time for me to take back control of my body and be happy with myself. I had no clue about diet or how to get the body I wanted, so I decided to hire a personal trainer. That’s when I met with personal trainer Carina Napier and she changed my life.

That’s awesome! As a trainer, I can tell you that this is what you want every client’s experience to be. Tell me about what it was like training with Carina at first.

Honestly, training with Carina is the best thing that ever happened to me. Right from the beginning, she was so gentle, kind and patient with me. She taught me so much. She put me on a 12-week program to begin, both a food and fitness program. We really treated the first 12 weeks as almost like a boot camp. Carina knew how motivated I was and knew she could push me, so we just went for it to see how my body would react. I weighed 74 kilos (163 pounds) when we began and after 12 weeks, I had lost 12 kilos (26 pounds)! It was such a big deal for me, I felt amazing.

We really focused on weight training. Carina is very strict about form and taught me correct form for all the exercises we did, so even if I was working out by myself I would always be safe. So many people have bad form at the gym!! Now I see it and I just want to go and shake them!! Ha ha. It wasn’t easy, at all. I have so much respect for athletes and bodybuilders who put so much hard work in and have so much discipline.

You changed the way you ate as well, when you started training – was that difficult for you?

Be prepared! Jasmin’s food prep for the week, along with one of her delicious meals

So the diet (although I don’t even like to think of it as a ‘diet’ anymore – it truly has just become the way that I eat) was surprisingly easy for me. I eat 6 small meals a day, focusing on real foods and fresh food. No crap, no packaged foods or junk food. I guess the key to it is PREP. That’s why it isn’t hard for me to eat this way and enjoy it. My fridge is stacked to the brim with containers of grilled chicken, grilled salmon, salads, fruit, sweet potatoes – it’s just all there ready to go, so once I have that prep morning once a week out of the way, I never have to think about what I’m going to eat again. Planning is what makes it easy.

Do you cook the same foods for your kids as well?

I actually cook different meals for my kids, usually. They’re still healthy meals, for sure, but I’m not as strict about portion control and that kind of thing for them. I weigh my chicken, for example, which I don’t do for their meals, I just eyeball the size.

So what was your workout schedule like when you started training? 26 pounds lost in 12 weeks is an extraordinary result, so you must have been working hard.

I worked out at least 5 mornings a week in the beginning. The mornings work best for me because I could get my workout done, then go home to get the kids off to school and then I would often even go back to the gym again. I’m lucky that being a self-employed hairdresser I can set my own hours, as well as work from home. Now, working out has just become such a big part of my life that it is no longer a chore for me to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to exercise.

The gym was a huge stress relief for me. It became my home away from home…except my gym home didn’t have messy bathrooms or piles of washing I needed to do! It was my escape. It was easier to stay motivated because of my trainer. She kept me focused and when I did have a bad day, or week, or was just feeling ‘over it’, she would talk me through what I was feeling, encourage me to keep going. She was so patient.

After the first 12 week ‘blitz’ I continued on with my training, which became more and more challenging as I got fitter, so I wouldn’t plateau. Finally, I felt like I was getting a little bored with my routine, or maybe just that I needed an even bigger challenge. I was also falling into a bad headspace  where I was being incredibly hard on myself. I’d watch myself in the mirrors in the gym and start mentally picking my body apart. The mirrors just got too much for me. That’s when I discovered CrossFit, which is my passion and love now! (Also, there are no mirrors in CrossFit!)

I definitely want to hear more about CrossFit, because I know you’re really dedicated. But can you just tell me about what you were feeling when you were picking yourself apart? Why do you think that was happening?

I think I was just feeling under pressure in the gym environment to stay looking like this. Women would come up to me in the gym and tell me they thought I looked great and that watching my transformation kept them motivated. It was so flattering on the one hand, but on the other hand I felt it as a huge pressure to be perfect. It may sound weird, but that’s just how I felt. Like I didn’t want to let anyone down by slipping back to being “Fat Jazz”.

The photo that sparked a slew of negative comments about Jasmin’s body, along with her daughter’s response on Facebook.

Around the same time, I was posting pictures on Instagram, a lot of which were gym photos, or me working out, because that’s a lot of my life! After one picture, just me at home getting ready to go workout, I started getting a lot of negative comments from so-called “friends”. I received emails and Facebook private messages telling me that I looked better before I started going to the gym, or that I looked too muscly and unfeminine.

It truly killed me inside. I knew how much hard work and discipline I had put into my body transformation. I knew how much healthier I was and how much better I felt, physically, emotionally, mentally. So, to get comments like that from friends was a horrible experience. It even affected me in the gym – I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be able to work out. My trainer, a few close friends and my daughter were all a huge source of support during that time. My wonderful daughter Shania actually posted on Facebook about it, because she came home one day to find me almost in tears after one of these awful messages. She is amazing! She’s so protective of me, she truly is my best friend.

You’re a lucky mum to have such a wonderful daughter. So, tell me about CrossFit! I know it’s your huge passion now.

Well, there were some girls who worked out in my gym who did fitness competitions. I was looking for a new challenge, but I just couldn’t imagine myself onstage in a fitness comp. I felt like I had a more competitive streak in me and as it turned out, CrossFit was the answer. I have never enjoyed something so much in my life. I push myself to the extreme and I am just so shocked and proud of what my body can do.

My Box is CrossFit Helensvale and it’s such a great community. I love it so much I kind of understand why some people might suspect it’s a cult! In fact, I’ve actually started training to become a CrossFit coach. It takes time and I still have so much to learn, but I will get there. My other big goal was to start competing in the Crossfit Games. I signed up as an athlete of the Reebok CrossFit Open, and I’m actually just about to complete the final round! Competing with other athletes all over the world was just an amazing experience. I’ll also find out my ranking soon, which is a tiny bit exciting!

Jasmin competing in the Reebok Crossfit Open

Overall, since last August I’ve lost 20 kilos (44 pounds), but obviously I’ve put on some muscle as well, so I’m sure I’ve lost more weight in fat than the scale tells me. Recently, I’ve been flooded with much nicer emails and messages than before, from people telling me how much of an inspiration to them I’ve become and asking me to keep up with all the posts and pictures of my journey. Beyond being so flattering, it’s just such an amazing feeling because I’ve never seen myself as an inspiration to anyone, ever. My life has changed.

Jasmin, you are definitely an inspiration! I’m sure my readers will be as blown away by your transformation as I am. Thanks for sharing your story and being featured on Fit Mama Friday!