Her gym tights are no longer tight. A whole wardrobe of gorgeous clothes now needs adjusting. Even her bra has shrunk by a cup size.
And Ashleigh Triplett couldn't be happier. The sa国际传媒 Health Club Challenge participant is now floating between sizes - too small for some and too big for others. But she's delighted that the effects of her hard work are noticeable.
"It's really fun to see the difference and feel the difference," said the selfemployed esthetician, who doesn't want to go clothesshopping too soon because she plans to lose more weight. "I don't want to keep re-buying my wardrobe over and over again."
At 28, Triplett is the youngest of the Health Club challengers, five people who were selected for a $3,000 package of fitness assessments, personal training, diet consultation and emotional counselling.
Co-ordinated by the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, the 12-week program is intended to guide participants to a healthier lifestyle, as well as another 350 people who are taking the At-Home Challenge with tips in the sa国际传媒 in print, and online at timescolonist.com/ healthclub.
Fellow challenger Tania Bonfield, 38, is also noticing a change in the fit of her wardrobe and accessories.
The band of her wristwatch has shrunk by several links and the collars of her tops are looser.
Even her shoes are now too big, by as much as a full size.
"It's crazy," said Bonfield. "Weight loss and getting more physically fit will just change your whole body type."
Sport physiologist Paula McFadyen of the Canadian Sports Centre Pacific said the Health Club participants are taking in fewer calories than they're burning, so their bodies are using stored fat as a fuel source.
Meanwhile, their muscles are adjusting - gaining size and strength in response to their exercise regimes.
Even their palates are changing, she explained. As their bodies become less accustomed to the caloric rush of sugar and fat, they stop craving the experience or flavour.
McFadyen said weight loss is best undertaken gradually and slowly: A healthy loss is about two pounds a week, which is sustainable and gives the body a chance to adapt to different food sources. It also gives muscles an opportunity to adjust to carrying less mass.
"We gain weight slowly over time and it's healthiest to lose it slowly over time," said McFadyen.
Final weight-loss numbers for Bonfield, who began the challenge at 270 pounds, and Triplett, who started at nearly 300, won't be revealed until next week.
But one of the lessons of the challenge is that it's not just about losing weight, but about learning to live with healthier habits.
At the start, Triplett hoped to lose 60 pounds in 12 weeks. "I was like, 'I'm a big girl and five pounds a week will be no big deal,' " she said.
So it was a bit of a shock to learn two pounds a week was much more realistic.
"There were times I was getting really down on myself because the weight wasn't falling off," said Triplett. "I had to just sit back and say, 'You know what, you are doing everything you are supposed to do.' "
Triplett said seeking healthier alternatives in her diet is now becoming more automatic. She avoids highsalt foods, looks for things such as flax-seed bread over enriched white, and opts for water over soft drinks.
Triplett said the smell of fast food, which she once loved, now makes her queasy.
Oddly, one of the difficulties has been convincing friends that her new food and exercise regime is part of her life, not a sacrifice.
Recently, she went to a restaurant with pals to celebrate a best friend's birthday and asked for a healthy, low-sodium menu.
"I apologized to the waitress, saying, 'I'm sorry, I want to be out and celebrate my best friend's birthday, but I just can't eat what they are eating.' And people were saying, 'C'mon Ashleigh, you can have cake on your best friend's birthday,' " said Triplett.
"And I [said], 'No, I'm going to lose an extra pound for my best friend on her birthday.' "
Triplett has said from the start that she comes from a family of curvy women and has no huge desire to lose those curves. But in August, when she serves as a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding in Jamaica, Triplett says she will be ready.
"I will never be skinny and I don't want to be," she said. "[But] I want to be able to wear a great bathing suit."
