‘How I Lost 30kgs And Built My Confidence After 3 Pregnancies’

Like most of us, Sophie Guidolin hated the thought of exercising. But then something shifted.

Looking at super toned health and fitness expert Sophie Guidolin, it’s hard to believe that the mum-of-four actually grew up hating exercise.

It was only after gaining 30kg through pregnancy that Sophie realised she had to do something about her health.

“I’d never stepped foot in a gym and I didn’t like to sweat,” Sophie tells Kidspot. “I didn’t like the breathlessness of cardio, and I came from a non-competitive family.”

So, it was little wonder when Sophie became pregnant with her first son Kai 11 years ago at age 19, that fitness wasn’t uppermost in her mind.

“I gained almost 30kgs through inactivity and poor nutritional choices, and also developed gestational diabetes,” said the now 30-year-old who is based on the NSW coast.

“Soon after Kai was born I became pregnant again with my son Ryder [now 9] so I never really lost that first pregnancy weight and was daunted by the prospect of caring for two babies.”

Whilst pregnant with Ryder, Sophie started walking and to her surprise, grew to love the feeling that exercising gave her.

She liked it so much that after the birth she decided to start focussing seriously on her health and decided to study fitness and nutrition whilst working two jobs.

She also decided she would start training for fitness competitions, however it wasn’t a straightforward path to success, and she began to burn out.

“I suffered from ‘gymtimidation’ and had absolutely no idea how to train when I started,” Sophie admitted.

“I grew massive shoulders and carved obliques because they were the only body parts I knew how to train! I burned up hours on the treadmill in a bid to get leaner, and I was under-eating, although I didn’t know that at the time.”

Eventually Sophie said she started to get smarter and learned to incorporate structured weight training and tracking her macros.

This ultimately led Sophie to create THE BOD, a leading online health and fitness program with a macro-led nutrition approach which helps people to correctly track their macronutrients consisting of proteins, carbohydrates and fats to achieve their weight goals.

She began to see her life transforming before her eyes. “The rush I got from weight training was more than anything I had ever experienced.

I still love that feeling of completing a hard training session, and the body confidence that being strong brings.

“I also realised I could eat all the foods I loved and still achieve the physique I wanted.

It was like a magic trick – all of a sudden, exercise transformed from a drudge to a passion, and I could eat anything I wanted. I now eat chocolate, burgers and ice-cream. I just track it and am aware of what I put into my body.”

Sophie explained that she ‘reverse dieted’ up from 1,200 calories to more than 2,500 calories a day, and actually dropped her training to three to four times per week.

“My body composition changed and I was able to manage my lordosis [an inward curving spine] and scoliosis,” she said.

“I was hitting PBs on the gym floor and on stage. I stopped fighting my body and learned to trust the process, and trust that my body could do what I asked of it.”

Now also a mum to four-year-old twin girls Evie and Aria, Sophie has gone onto win the IFBB Bikini Pro and took out gold at the Arnold Classic. She now runs her body and family like a well-oiled machine.

Every morning she rises at 4am to train and each week, meal preps for her family.

“My husband Nathan and I have never allowed fussy eating – we believe families should eat dinner together, and with our businesses to run, we’d never have time to pander to fussy tastebuds!” she said.

“Our kids now have a really broad palate and love getting into the kitchen on meal-prep Sundays to bake and taste-test.”

Sophie credits her parents for passing on their tenacity to her.

“They always said to me daily ‘you can be anything you want to be, with hard work and dedication,’” she said.

“They truly believed that and allowed me to not only believe it but make decisions with that as my entire life philosophy. Both my parents are incredibly hard workers, having jobs alongside running their winery and farm.

“I feel this was valuable in forging my own work ethic and shaping the person I am today. It’s why I don’t flinch when the alarm goes off – I have an opportunity to create the life and career I want, so I leap out of bed ready to conquer the day.”

Now the model of a successful working mum who has it all, along with a rocking body and a swag of trophies to boot, Sophie said all anyone needs to achieve their health and fitness goals is self-belief.

“I never did this to ‘win’ anything,” she said.

“My body transformation has been years in the making and started not with the goal of winning a trophy but to prove to myself and my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to.”

This article was first published in Kidspot and was republished on theAsianparent with permission. 

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