OH! Magazine - Australian Version May 2015 | Page 12

MICHELLE
BRIDGES

TRAINING
FOR CONCEPTION

Michelle Bridges recommends future mums and dads train for conception!
ecently, I was at a fitness expo
where I had a blast, meeting
people from all walks of life who just
wanted to say ‘hi’, or tell me about
themselves and how they’ve changed
their lives by making some decisions
about who they want to be, and how they
want to live.

met, that reduced me to a blubbering
wreck. A woman came up to me and
introduced herself as someone who had
completed
my
12-Week
Body
Transformation (12WBT) program. In
itself, that’s not out of the ordinary, but
she shared with me the details of the epic
struggle she had been through.

It actually tears me up. I reckon I’m a
pretty tough cookie, but seeing the joy in
people’s faces and the sparkle in their
eyes when they tell me how they’ve gone
from being miserable and making dumb
decisions, to grabbing life by the throat
and achieving incredible transformation,
is a very emotional experience for me.

This lady had been trying to have a baby
for seven long years. She was desperate
to fall pregnant so she and her husband
decided to try IVF. Unfortunately, they
weren’t successful. So they tried again.
And again. And again. The emotional cost
of the process over the years was
agonising. Seven years of trying, seven
IVF cycles, and ten heartbreaking
miscarriages. Yes – TEN!

R

It’s the empowerment that gets me the
most. The metamorphosis from the
underdog who is on the ropes taking hits,
to suddenly saying ‘enough is enough!’
and fighting back – and winning. For me,
it’s the stuff Hollywood movies are made
of!
There was one particular family who I

12

MAY 2015 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

So they decided to go back to basics and
focus on getting themselves in shape,
before trying again. And this was where I
came into the picture. They hired me as
their virtual personal trainer, through the
12WBT. Here, they did simple things –
clean up the diet, incorporate regular

exercise into their lives, be supported,
and change the way they were thinking.
The result of this effort was that their
bodies did exactly what our bodies do
when they’re given different messages
about food and activity. She jettisoned
her excess weight (30kg of it!), they got
their organs and immune systems
functioning effectively, and improved
their lifestyle.
Little Elena was born at 9.45am on 29
September. And she was naturally
conceived without any help from IVF.
Mum had an uneventful pregnancy and
she was delivered without complications
at a healthy body weight. And I can say,
from first-hand experience, that she is
the most gorgeous little girl a parent
could wish for.

Michelle’s Tip
A pre-conception program is not just
for mum, but for dad too. Give
yourselves three or four months for your
body to adjust and cleanse itself, and
then get busy and let the fun really
begin!

www.michellebridges.com.au

( Fitness )