Hi, my name is Nat, I am 54, and I am decided to join AEFM because I don’t remember a time when sport was not part of my life, of who I am. Both my parents were sports teachers, so I started quite young, with ice skating, modern dance, skiing, gymnastics.

Then, in my teenage years, I took up athletics: sprinting and hurdles in particular. As an adult, I kept running, I started swimming as well, and I caught the fitness bug: I really enjoyed Les Mills and then F45, and more recently I started reformer Pilates.

For years, the gym has been my happy place. I trained at 5:00 am every single morning, and I ran several times a week. I particularly loved doing all the charity races like the Sun Run, the Beach to Beach, the City to Surf, and my favourite, the 35 k Bloody Long Walk which quickly became my yearly “bloody long run”!
I speak in the past because unfortunately, I have had to stop training for over a year. As a result, I have lost a lot of weight – mostly muscle.

But I am back at the gym! And although I am nowhere near as strong as I used to be, I am confident that my body will quickly recover thanks to the discipline and mental strength that come from years of training and showing up.

Because for me, sport is not only about performance. It’s about staying connected to myself. I also wanted to take part because I struggled with body image and eating disorder when I was younger. Today, I want to make a different statement: that our bodies do not have to be perfect to be worth celebrating. Strength can change shape. Confidence can be rebuilt. And women deserve to feel visible, powerful and proud at every age.