Yes I'm sore, following a personal training session only 12 or so hours ago, but the increased motivation and energy, the fact I'm sleeping better and a healthy eating plan I don't think I've attempted for near on a decade has made me feel much better about myself.

The tentativeness I felt during the first weeks has turned into a new-found confidence as each week during my personal training sessions I'm managing to lift more weights and successfully reach individual targets.

I joined the challenge feeling pretty down about myself - uncomfortable seems a fairly apt description.

As a mother of a three-year-old and a 22-month-old, I had pretty much abandoned any focus on myself for the past three years. As a result my health, and my shape, was also suffering.

Latest research suggests that a waist measurement for a woman in excess of 80 centimetres is dangerous - I was well in this danger category.

The War On Waistlines challenge is about changing your shape, reducing the centimetres, particularly around the waist, and building a healthy eating and exercise plan into your life.

The program is heavily supported by regular weight training, personal training sessions, group classes and nutritional information provided by experienced consultants.

It's the weight training and support from consultants that is an integral part of the success of the challenge.

Head personal trainer Nicolle explains: "We are aiming to build lean muscle mass and turn you all into fat-burning machines."

She says the key to success is to look at things from a long-term perspective because many people take part in a timed challenge, such as the WOW program, but aren't able to maintain it past the end of the designated period of time.

"You need to look at the big picture and decide if the current training workload is something that can be maintained long term."