woman's own lose a pound a day diet



[crying] i feel like i have to be strong for everybody. just wonder who's going to be strong for mesometimes. i don’t want to do this anymore, i justwanna rest and have a sleep. i just feel like it’s all a bit much.

oh well i have to go out there and feed thebaby now. meet elle, an ordinary woman on the brinkof an extraordinary journey. at eight months pregnant elle is planningto do something inspiring, to make a dramatic example of how each of us has the power tochange our core identity.

wife of husband jon and adoring mother ofinfant daughter kiana, elle is about to undertake a life changing journey. i just can be really hard. a journey that will push her both mentallyand physically as she struggles to overcome the limitations of circumstance. it can be difficult because people have theirown opinions on what i'm doing, and what i think i should be doing. you did a beautiful job. not only will she attempt to shed the post-pregnancyweight, but elle is also hoping to develop

her body into the peak physical conditionnecessary to compete on an international sports modeling stage. next year in may, 2011 i will be competingin an international sports modeling physique competition. and it would be roughly nine to ten monthsafter my second baby. but the journey has little to do with winning. because as soon as i step on stage, as faras i'm concerned i am a winner. now genetically unfortunately i'm not blessed,i don't have great genetics where i can eat whatever i like and can stay fabulous andthin.

my genetics are more round, so it just meansfor my competing, it can be a bit of a challenge. with her second pregnancy now in its thirdtrimester, the enormity of the challenge is clear. however, to make the odds even tougher elle will be avoiding traditional weight loss advocates, such as dietitians and gyms, but she isn'tcompletely without resources. i don't have a mentor, and i don't have acoach. but i do follow a system that my husband haspioneered over ten years of working one-on-one with people. it's confidential, and he doesn't tell meeither.

he just tells me this is the next phase, hekeeps it close to his chest, but this time he's revealing more of his secrets to me,which is fantastic. i'm very blessed to have him on board. elle met her now husband jon while both wereworking at an inner sydney hotel. over the years their marriage has had itsshare of problems, many of which having stem from the trauma and neglect of elle's darkerpast. my childhood was very short, my parents wouldfight a lot, but my baby brother and sister needed me. so i had to grow up pretty quickly, my mother was indifferent, and my dad was a drunk.

he was aggressive and a very heavy drinker,and he would beat me quite a lot. it was a lonely time, i was very sad, andi would cry. i used to think that i wasn't worthy of theirlove, and that if they're not going to love me, then who else would? even today i still have trouble with relationships. because i think sooner or later everyone isgoing to leave you, so i distance myself from other people to avoid ever getting hurt. elle's teenage years were troubled, and emotionallytough. falling in with the wrong crowd she was oftenwithout a home.

when i was 14, my dad kicked me out of homein a pretty profound way. i had nowhere to go to, i was just a littlekid that nobody loved. i had so many people tell me that my dreamsare stupid, and that i would never amount to anything, and after a while, you startto believe it. the area was rough, there were a lot of gangsand it really was a case of predator and prey. a live or die situation, it was tough community,with nowhere to live, i needed money, but honest work was scarce for someone so young. so i aligned myself with the wrong kind ofpeople, and for a while it profited quite well.

i knew what i was doing wasn't legal, butbeing in the gang was like having a family. people look out for you, took care of you,something that had been missing for most of my childhood. as those teenage years progressed, the harshrealities of this lifestyle began to catch up with her. nobody gets out, if i had stayed on that pathit was going to end in either prison or death. i was young, but i was getting to an age wherei could be trialed in court as an adult, and not a minor. and i just couldn't live like that anymore.

i wanted a new life, i wanted to be completelydifferent. i wanted to be all those things i always dreamed i could be. so i started an apprenticeship as hairdresser at a five-star hotel. on my first day working there i met jon. we became friends, and he was really different,he wasn’t like anyone i had met before. the early years of elle and jon's relationshipwere complicated and uncertain, but after many difficult years jon was able to instillin elle the principles of certainty and self-worth that aided in turning her life around. and that was really only possible becausejon came into my life, gave me the tools to

be able to do that, and it will basicallybe the exact same tools that i'm going to put into practice now to compete on the worldstage. it was a painful process, i cried, i kicked,i screamed, sometimes i loved it, other times absolutely hated it, but my whole life changedwhen i met jon, and i was only able to blossom and grow into the person i am today becausei have the certainty that not only did jon love me, but that he could show me how toconfront and then overcome my limitations. everything in life is going to take a littlepiece of you. i just have to roll with the punches and sortof go with it and go, okay tomorrow is a new day, and try not to beat myself up about itemotionally.

working through issues of abandonment anddependency, they strove to forge a new life together. a life that would be built upon trust andintegrity. 10 years on, elle is hoping to share the samelessons that helped redefine her own life with others who have been preconditioned tofail. and i'm hoping to be able to inspire womenout there who think they can’t do it or it's impossible. if you set something for yourself, you seta goal, you set a task then you can achieve it, all you have to do is believe in yourself.

by applying the same principles to her strugglewith post pregnancy weight elle hopes to demonstrate that through self-belief anything can be achieved. unfortunately, i don't actually have a nannyto take care of my children, a chef to prepare my meals, a chauffeur to drive me to wherei want to go, someone to do my washing, any of those things. i don't have a personal trainer, i don't havea nutritionist, i don't even have gym membership. it's very important for me to show my daughter,i want to show her that she can achieve anything that she puts her mind to, and the best wayto show her that is to do it myself. as preparations for the world stage intensify,elle's journey to overcome the odds will test

the limits of her mental and physical fortitude. sports modeling is about being fit, healthy,and having a toned physique. it's not about being super skinny like youmay see on catwalks, and things like that. but, it's more emphasized on having muscledefinition. understandably elle has a long way to go. i'm at a huge disadvantage because i'm startingbehind. i haven't got any momentum behind me. my body hasn't really been doing much in termsof preparing for sports modeling competition, it's been preparing to have a baby.

so my body has had a completely differentgoal. so i am 85.5 kilos, and i'm 41.2 percent bodyfat. with the baby now overdue, elle has been admittedinto hospital where doctors will attempt to induce the birth, but despite their best efforts,elle's contractions are yet to begin. i've been in the hospital for four days forhigh blood pressure, and i'm still no closer to having my baby, and i am very upset. i miss my husband and my daughter and i wantto go home, but i'm feeling very sick, and nauseous, and cramping in my stomach. and they keep doing all these tests on me.

i feel like a lab rat. after yet another night of extensive testingand anxious waiting, elle is allowed to return home, but the reprieve is short-lived. i've been in hospital for five days, and iwas able to go home because i had gestational hypertension which basically means i had highblood pressure, and signs of preeclampsia, but now i've come back to be induced. i am hoping that my body starts to do whatit's supposed to do, and i'm just going to try to trust that it knows what to do. so i've got my tens machine on, and i'm gettingcontractions, and i'm ready to go downstairs

now, because i am 3cm dilated. yay, i walked around hospital up and downstairs,everywhere i could try to bring on the labor naturally as i could. so here it goes. energy. after five days of prolonged waiting, andnervous anticipation, the moment has finally arrived. spread your legs there, ok. focus on taking slow big breaths.

but the ordeal is far from over. the birth of elle’s second child is agonizing,lengthy, and at times complicated. but after nine hours of excruciating laborshe's greeted by the small face of her infant daughter kamika. you did so well my darling, oh my goodness. healthy and happy, baby kamika's arrival intothe world brings both joy and relief to the nervous family waiting by elle's side. but as one journey ends, another is aboutto begin. 10 months away, and this body is going tobe on an international sports modeling stage.

where is your baby sister? the long pregnancy now behind her, elle'sfocus has shifted to regaining the body that she has lost. so this is week one, and my plan is just tolet my body recover, and to just get back to normal after giving birth, and then nextweek i am gonna look at eating a little bit better, and making sure that i am having the right nutrients and vitamins and really focus on that, and getting rest when i can, so thatwould be my first priority it's taking care of myself so i will take care of my girls. but with two infant children to care for...

[i am so tired] ...the task of losing almost half of her bodyweight has never seen more difficult. the baby is not due to feed until 2 but shewoke up screaming for milk, and then my toddler started screaming for me, and she was wakingup early too so i had to run to get her, change her nappy, and then i took photos today just....for our before shots, and i got to see how horrible i look, which was quiet upsetting,and i was doubting whether i could do it or not but i'm just feeling a bit emotional. like i'm putting a lot of pressure on myself,and i don't know if i'm crazy, what am i thinking? and you know, i look at myself and i feellike i look horrible.

with her self-esteem heavily depleted, thesecond week of elle's journey begins with a reluctant first attempt at exercise. so it’s the start of week 2 that can kamikahas been born, and i'm gonna try and do some light weights on a bench. as you can see my gym facilities aren’tgreat but they work, and these are the weights that i have, which is just like a power blockand you can snap them. so i just want to get back into the swingof things, not looking at doing any heavy hard core training, just take it very easyand light for the next couple of weeks. consistency is the key, not intensity.

elle's training program has been designedto stay at a consistently low intensity throughout the entire journey, but after nine monthsof inactivity, what little result she has summoned is soon hampered by doubt. i feel horrible. i look at myself in the mirror, and i wonderwhere has my body gone? it’s been stolen, and been replaced withthis, and i seriously just want to quit now and just eat a whole block of cheese becausei don't even know if i'm wasting my time. what am i thinking, i'm going to compete inthat sports modeling competition, the only thing i want to complete in is a cheese eatingcompetition.

i don’t even remember how to do this. her initial attempts at resistance traininghave proved to be premature, for now any further attempts will be put on hold i want to give up now. instead elle will concentrate on maintainingher structured food plan which requires her to eat eight nutritionally balanced mealsevery day, except on fridays when she'll be given a day off. i am breastfeeding that just means that ihave to be a little bit more careful with the sorts of food that i eat because i wantto make sure that my newborn baby is getting

the correct nutrients and vitamins, so i'mnot doing anything drastic like cutting out carbohydrates. i want to stick to eating lots of healthynatural foods as best as i possibly can. from week to week elle will be taking measurementsof her stomach hips legs arms and chest. her weight will also be monitored, but theoverall focus will be on centimeters lost,

and the reduction of body fat. so i am really concentrating on losing centimetersbecause i know then i'm sort of coming in to the shape that i am most happy with. i'm so scared to get on these scales, i reallydon't like to weigh myself because weight can be lots of things. it can be fluid, it can be muscle, it can be fat. by recording the results weekly, she hopesto accurately monitor her progress. so i was 112 last week, and i am 111 thisweek, so i lost 1 cm, which is exciting. i was hoping for more, but i am happy thati lost something.

so one centimeter so no changes there. so i'm happy that i got a centimeter, buti wanted more. but um... considering the week that i had,i should be grateful that anything has happened. it’s been a really crap week. this week i am really gonna try to focus ongetting some more sleep. so let’s see how we go with that, and justbe a little bit more structured with my times, so hopefully i can juggle it a bit better. but each new day brings its own stresses andcomplications.

i am so tired of being up for 24 hours. the baby won’t stop crying. look at her, wide awake. oh my gosh. i just feel like just a disgrace. i don’t even want to go out. i don't even want to see my friends, i don'twant them to see me like this, i look so ugly. and as her emotional state suffers, so toodoes her physical progress. so i've actually put on kilos,

but it couldbe anything, so i am not gonna stress about it too much, it’s a bit depressing. what's more concerning is that i've put onbody fat one percent. so i don't know where that's come from. so i've put on one percent body fat and kiloswhich i don't really care so much about the kilos, it’s the one percent body fat, whathappened there? what the hell happened there? oh, i don’t know. seems pretty depressing.

despite weeks of structured and carefullyplanned eating, elle's body is yet to respond. feels like i have done all that hard workfor not much result. so it’s the 19th of september, 2010 andi have had a pretty stressful week this week, so i am really scared to measure. i am very stressful just with appointments,doctor's appointments, and different things, and i just have a lot to do with the girlsas well. just pretty busy. they seem to be more demanding this week,and i started doing a bit of walking this week, which took a lot out of me, i was absolutelyexhausted and nearly passed out and fell on

the ground, so won’t be doing that again. with her early attempts at exercise and controllednutrition bearing little result, elle's spirit is beginning to wane. i am so tired. my breasts are killing me, from breastfeeding, i just wanna give up. the painful realities of living out her dreamcombined with increasingly demanding pressures of motherhood have not been without consequence. pushed to her breaking point, elle is leftanxious, and in doubt. i feel like i have to be strong for everybody,

i have to be strong for my husband, i have to be strong for my daughters, i have to be strong for myself. but her resignation will not come today. 38.5 percent and 42.4 percent, so i just put on about a kilo, but i didn’t lose any body fat, and i didn’t lose any muscle, but anyway,hopefully this week will be better. it’s times like these when you know i justfeel like it’s all too hard and now it’s time to give up, just gotta breakthrough thewall

i'd rather breakthrough a kitkat. finished nine weeks into the journey, elle's focushas now switched to maintaining proper rest, so that she can keep up both her energy andher spirit. i'm feeling a lot better about this week becausemy stress levels were down, and i had a lot more sleep which was good. it's been almost three months since i havehad baby, and now i am really starting to think about walking consistently. so i'm doing my first cardio session todayand i'm going to be doing it for half an hour

at a low intensity. today is a particularly hard day because i'mreally craving junk food badly. i want cookies and lots of them. i also have these waiting for me, mmm... yummycookie. i'm not going to have them because today isthursday, and only on fridays do i allow myself to have a treat. so i'm just trying to hold out to tomorrow, then i can have a cookie. isn’t it pretty?

what the hell am i gonna wear? i don’t fit in to anything, i hate this. my feet look like baked bread in my shoe. kiana is laughing at me; i'd be laughing atme too. didn't get much sleep this week, and probably was pretty stressed as well. so i have lost, no i am exactly the same exactly.

what was i? 73 or 74? this is where, i'm sought of neither leannor overweight. i am kind of just somewhere in the middle,so i have to just kind of breakthrough that, so here we go cardio session, 30-minute walk, that’s all i am gonna do. one centimeter yay, down to 57, happy days. so quite a big loss in centimeters, whichis exciting.

you are cute, you are very chubby, it’syour four-month birthday today, happy four months, and mommy is happy because i can fitinto a size 12 jeans again, yay! i want to inspire women who are just likeme, and flip through glossy magazines and see these hollywood a-listers have babies,and transform back into these beautiful women, and you think gosh, how am i supposed to do that? i don't have a nanny, or a trainer or a dietitianto prepare all my meals. obviously they're putting a lot of hard workas well, but having the extra help would definitely be a bonus.

so how does someone like us… me… achieveit? and i want to show you that it is possible,because if you are like me, and you've been blessed with two arms, and two legs, and you can move, then anything's possible that can achieve your dreams. and the reality is i'm no one special. i don't have magic powers, i don’t have this huge determination and will,

but what i do have is two beautiful daughters that inspire me to better. with little to no help from her family, anda complete absence of child-minding assistance, elle's journey is secondary to her role instimulating and educating her daughters. but while this commitment can be a challenge, it is the children themselves that motivate her to keep going. i want to inspire my daughters to show themthat anything they put their mind to, they can achieve.

what does this one say? colors. colors…. yeah!!! eyes. eyes!!! yes, you're so smart. i don't just want to tell them that, i wannashow them that, i wanna show them that mommy set an impossible dream, and she achievedit.

hello darling. i feel really pissed at my husband, and it'snot his fault. broke his ankle, and as a result of that couldn'tsort of exercise, and then because of that everything sort of escalated with his health,and then he got meniere's disease, and lost his hearing in his right ear, and is beingdiagnosed with a brain tumor, so he is really not well, and he is asleep quite a bit andit's just exhausting because i want him to do more to help me, but i know that he physicallycan't so i feel like i'm looking after three children sometimes. the symptoms meniere's disease plague jonwith daily attacks of vertigo, nausea, and

vomiting and with the resulting sicknessleaving him incapacitated and bedridden for most of the day, elle's dreams of competingon an international sports modeling stage seems all the more impossible. there are some days where it can be a littlebit overwhelming. my husband just had an operation, and he'sneeding obviously me to care for him a little bit more than he has previously, so i feellike the pressure on me is really amped up a little bit so, yeah it was challenging to say the least. sometimes i wonder you know; if jon is goingto be here for the future.

so i really want to enjoy having him withme because you know, you just don’t know, but at the same time i just feel like it’sall a bit much. so really really tired today, and just totallyover everything and want a holiday from my life and everything sucks. so i have lost weight, but my body fat isrelatively the same, so i probably just lost fluid. since the birth of baby kamika, elle has lostover 13 kilograms, an astonishing result compared

to the slow decline in her percentage of bodyfat. just need to get the body fat down. i have stayed for a while, so hopefully iwill get a good move next week. staying the same for 1, 2, 3 this will bethe fourth week, that’s really upsetting. elle had previously hoped to lose over 25percent of her body fat throughout the course of the journey, but with less than a 6 percentdrop in the last 18 weeks, this result would seem unlikely.

oh gosh, i am so sick of playing this up anddown game with my body fat and weight, it’s really irritating. with the loss of body fat becoming a causefor concern, elle has expanded her fitness routine to include a variety of light weightexercises in the hope that this will help breakthrough her body's natural resistancepoint, but the changes have not made the journey any easier. so i am in a really bad mood today. i woke up with hot spots on my breasts, which means i'm getting my mastitis.

i'm really hoping i get a good result becausei am in a really bad mood, and you know it’ll just top it off. so let's see how we go, i am really anxious. oh, wow i lost a lot of body fat, and i gained muscle, very good result. so i had a really awesome result last week,and i found that in a result of that this week i have just been trying to self-sabotage,you would think that, hey i got a great result, i'll be motivated, and want to keep going,but for some reason you know in the back of

my mind i almost wanted myself to fail. i was kind of destroying myself. okay, so i have lost weight, but i lost abit of muscle, and gained a bit of body fat. pretty disappointed because it means thati have lost muscle and gained more fat. so today is boxing day, and christmas wasyesterday, and i'm feeling pretty upset really cause ahh people don't quite understand what i'm trying to achieve, and what i'm doing, and they think i'm a little bit crazy,

and it's quite a lonely place to be umm... when your friends, and family don't understand what you're doing. so there is roughly four months to go andcounting, and i'm really getting anxious now because my body is not where it should be,i think i could be a lot further along, but you know i have committed to this, and haveto see it through, so now what i'm going to do is really focus on tightening up with everything, and really just trying to take better care of myself because i just have not been, ihaven't been getting much sleep.

it's new year’s eve, 2010 and for elle theconclusion of another year isn't the only reason to celebrate. happy new year. on new year's we have a nice quiet meals at home. we were able to watch the fireworks on thebalcony, and i was really excited because it landed on a friday and fridays are theday that i can have whatever i like to eat so that was pretty fun to be able to havesome pizza and some wine. i am hoping for a good result this week becausei feel that i put all the effort in the right places.

so let's see how we go. oh i lost body fat, and gained muscle! yay! cool! very happy with that, i lost two percent bodyfat, and gained one percent body muscle mass, so that’s awesome. so that’s good. despite the intake of junk food on new year's eve, elle results are the most encouraging

in weeks. so it’s slowly creeping down. family: hurray! hurray! the massive two percent loss in body fat wouldindicate that elle's weekly day off has actually been beneficial. so it’s friday morning, and i'm going tohave some cookies for breakfast, and it’s my cheat day, and i eat whatever i want. it's lunch time now so i am having some burgers and fries.

once a week, elle spends an entire day ofavoiding strenuous activity, and indulging in fatty foods, a practice that most would consider detrimental to weight loss. some people are not going to believe thati am able to get amazing results, and still have a day where i have whatever i like toeat. but contrary to popular belief, the respite from diet and exercise seems to be having a positive effect on her measurements. it’s the 16th of the 1st. 2011 and i'm reallynervous and anxious.

i'm not sure if my body is gonna make it,i've definitely changed, i can see that but, i hope it’s good enough. so one centimeter off the leg also one centimeter off the hips, 75 and 1cm lost. i lost a kilo, two percent body fat, and gainedone percent of muscle, that’s awesome result. everyone goes through a hard stage where they feel like they are doing all the right things and nothing's happening. they want instant...

results i mean i wanted instant results, but it does take time. so i am really happy now that i'm startingto see a little bit more results with my body, i am starting to see my dã©colletage sometone in my arms, my stomach is getting flatter, my hips are getting narrower, i am still along way off from my goal, but i'm feeling a little bit more confident that i'm halfthe size that i was before. it was a good one. i am so happy. the physical results of elle's long monthsof low intensity exercise and nutritious eating

are finally starting to appear. i am in a good mood now. and as her body starts to develop, so toodoes her mind. elle's mental stamina toward her responsibilitiesas a mother has vastly improved. the belief that she can actually succeed hadstarted to take hold, and as the certainty of this conviction becomes stronger her physical progress responds in kind. so today is the 6th of february, 2011and there is fourteen weeks until competition which is pretty daunting, and this week hasbeen pretty normal sort of week,

not too stressed, but umm... let's see what today says. cool, so i have lost a little bit of bodyfat, not very much but some. after 30 of weeks training, ellehas only lost ten percent of her body fat. so today is the 6th of the 3rd, 2011and there is ten weeks to go into competition. i am pretty nervous, scared, all those things. so now with only 10 more weeks remaininguntil competition day, elle needs to lose at least another 14 percent if she is to reach her goal. found that i have to dig really reallydeep to wanna continue on to keep going.

this journey has made me see things in myselfthat i probably haven't seen before. it helped me to understand you know that ican be tested pretty severely, and i can come through. oh, yes, yes! that is awesome, i've been working so hardto be under thirty percent body fat, and i'm 28.4. but you know it’s really scary stuff. i didn't anticipate how hard it would actuallybe emotionally to go through,

and i find that the more sort of size that i lose and thesmaller that i get, the harder it is, because it’s you know quite scary to think that i will be on that stage in two months’ time. i've just gotta trust that it will work, andi'll get there and you know, i'll bring a body that i'll be proud of. professional sports models are judged on theirmuscle definition and physique. so with just a few weeks remaining, elle hasprecious little time to refine her newly slimmed figure.

so today is the 3rd of april, 2011 and i amreally anxious about my results in six weeks out i feel like a stupid fat mother, tryingto pretend to be something i am not. oh my gosh. with the competition now only one week away, the nerves have started creep in. so today is the 8th of may, 2011 and thereis one week out from competition, so i am pretty excited, pretty nervous, pretty anxious,can’t believe i am going to actually be stepping on the stage in a weeks’ time,this time next week i'll know what the outcome is. (baby crying) it's ok.

it’s all getting a bit too much now. tomorrow i'll be stepping on the stage, soi'm really scared and really anxious, i don't want to muck it, you know all my months andmonths and months of hard work and i can just totally ruin it all. so this is the, i guess almost finished package. so 84cm roughly say eighty-four-and-a-half. the pressure is on, it’s really testing . my determination and courage to go on i suppose

it's time like this… that i sort of thinkthat my dreams are pretty stupid. legs, forty-three-and-a-half and waist 60 centimeters, it’s gonna be really tough comp, really really tough lineup. so i have lost half a centimeter off everywhere which is just pretty good, which is only in a day a day, so my metabolism is obviously verystrong at the moment. the girls that will be competing, that i amaware of are very good, sensational great

bodies, haven't had any children, are significantly younger than i am, some you know almost ten years. my results are pretty good i think, from allthis stuff that i had to through, so yeah. but um i'm just me, and i'll just have to go out there be me i can be. i hope that i'll be good enough. elle's long and painful journey is nearingits conclusion. today she'll be stepping onto a national sportsmodeling stage, to learn just how much she's achieved over the last nine months.

i would never have thought that i'd be almost30 and have 2 kids and be the smallest i ever been in my whole life. i never thought that was even possible, notin the realm of possibility. so i'm feeling pretty good, i am feeling likeyou know no matter what happens, i am a winner, from what i have achieved. like i just can’t believe it, i've shockedmyself. i never really thought i could get that sortof result. now i just want to get up on that stage, andmake my husband and my girls proud because i'm pretty nervous and anxious about beingin front of all those people, but i just want

to make them proud now. after carefully packing their costumes, props,and supplies , jon elle and jon's sister natalie load up the family car for the journey. the competition is a two-hour drive from jonand elle's sydney apartment. so elle is forced to save her last-minutepreparations until they have safely arrived. i can’t believe elle's come this far,she is about to get on stage, and it’s just a

real emotional time for us both, but umm... youknow we set a goal and we are here and we are coming to finish the job no matter what so. it doesn’t matter about the result todayreally, that’s just the cherry on the top. if she does well, places well, that will beawesome. but the fact that she is here is just unbelievable. so i can't believe it, nine months after havingmy second baby. with the competition just minutes away ellecan feel the anxiety mounting, but she isn't the only one that is feeling the pressure. the combination of nausea and persistent sicknesshas taken its toll jon.

he was so so sick from meniere's, and he washaving attacks and vomiting. and he still stood beside me through the wholething. which is pretty special to have such a lovingfamily. so yeah, i am really happy with that. the moment is finally upon her. with the chance to realize her dream waiting in the crowded room beyond, elle makes an anxious departure for the stage. i just can’t believe it, i can’t believei am here, i am really scared because i am actually gonna do it now.

it was easy when we know it was all fun and games. i can’t believe it, i'm going to do it, i'm going to be stepping on the stage, i'm going to do it. now i just hope i do it well. please welcome elle ip. so i can't believe it, i fulfilled my dreamstoday. i am so happy with her because she just executedlike just perfectly the way i've imagined

it, and even better, just looked awesome out there. elle ip, number 84, comes in 3rd. i never ever expected a 3rd place, andi was just so proud to be able to actually do it. she's, you know what she has accomplishedis simply just unbelievable. so i am in total shock at the moment, i just,i can't believe what i have achieved, and i am so blown away, i just can't believe it. elle's accomplishment on stage representsthe culmination of an ordinary woman's struggle to remain courageous in her conviction even when the odds are stacked heavily against

her. today she's showing that it is indeed possible to overcome the limitations of circumstance. in the months following her stage debut, ellewent on to competing several other national tournaments. earning both acclaim and success with hernewly developed physique, elle's competing has also brought renewed strength and a freshenergy to her emotional fortitude. where's mika... peek a boo. through the power of certainty and the reaffirmationof herself worth, elle's seemingly unattainable

dream of competing in a national sports modelingcontest has now become a reality, but for elle the journey is far from over. nobody thought it could be possiblethat nine months after having a baby that i would be able to do this, especially fromwhere i come from, but umm... it's a testament to dreams you know, have your dreams and stick with them and i guess believe in yourself even when it gets tough. but for all of her successes, there's stillone more goal to be accomplished. so it's always been a dream of mine to compete in the world championships, so the world championships

are for fitness modeling that's what realmodels do and not me i'm like imitator, amateur, but my husbandsupports me and we're going. so pretty scared, pretty anxious, findingit hard to sleep. the girls have been unsettled, kiana is notfeeling so well. so everything sort of feels like it's fallingto pieces. it sort of makes me think that you know ishouldn’t go, i can’t go and. yeah,

but you know i want my girls to believethat what they hope and dream to become one day is a reality if they make it and i want to show them that. so just gotta keep moving forward, you know this is my dream, and i've gotta go get it no one is going to hand to me on a silverplatter, it's always hard to live your dreams, it’s never easy, but it can be done. despite her misgivings, elle and jon are leaving for newyork.

the city is home to the world championshipsof sports modeling, and so it is on this stage that elle hopes to conclude her epic journey. so the night before i hit the world championstage for fitness modeling in new york city, i can't believe i'm here. when i started this journey i seriously doubtedthat i'll be able to look good enough in a in a bikini, let alone stepping on a regional stage and only in my wildest wildest wildest dreams would i have been able to come to new york,and be on the world stage, so i really just

wanna enjoy it and sit back, and reflect and. just be so, yeah excited that i was able tofulfill my dreams. i am kind of scared now, don’t really knowwhat you do after you fulfill your dreams, i guess you can find another one so... i’m happy to be here, it’s been a longroad, enjoy the show. our next competitor, all the way from sydney, australia, please welcome mother of two, elle ip at nearly 30 years of age, and after givingbirth to two children, elle has brought real competition to an international stage of theworld's most defined physiques. 12 months ago many would have believed thistask to be impossible.

[okay ladies, thank you] but as she exits the stage, elle realizesthat not only has she achieved the impossible, but the inspiration as well. with her time in new york coming to an end,elle reflects on everything she has achieved. it has been a life changing experience, and one that has redefined her core identity. competing on the world stage in new york cityhas been an amazing experience, and one that i'll treasure forever. 1 year later elle has not only kept the weight off,

but has also improved her body to the extent that she's now in the best shape ofher life. i feel we're a lot closer as a family becausenow i have the strength, and energy to not only take care of my girls, but to have funwith them, and just really enjoy them and run around and be a big kid, and even thoughjon is still struggling with his health, i feel more certain that i can support him,and take care of him, and together as a family we can face whatever the future holds. for elle it has been a journey of hardshipand pain, a journey that has altered not just

woman's own lose a pound a day diet,

the body, but the mind and the soul. a journey to remind us all just what can beachieved through the power of dreams, a journey beyond expectations.