Selwyn_Times: September 21, 2022
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<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>21</strong> <strong>2022</strong><br />
16<br />
OUR PEOPLE – LISA CHEMALY<br />
Lifestyle change down to body<br />
HEALTHY: Prior to turning 40, Lisa Chemaly<br />
embarked on a fitness journey.<br />
Leeston early childhood<br />
teacher Lisa Chemaly<br />
has transformed her life<br />
after training for a body<br />
building competition.<br />
The 43-year-old mother<br />
of two spoke to Susan<br />
Sandys<br />
Can you tell me a little about<br />
your background?<br />
I’m originally from South Africa.<br />
We (my former husband, young<br />
son and I) moved here to New<br />
Zealand 14 years ago. About 12<br />
years ago I started studying early<br />
childhood, I’ve been an early<br />
childhood teacher ever since. I had<br />
always wanted to do it, but having<br />
study opportunity and being able<br />
to pay off a loan was something I<br />
couldn’t do back in South Africa.<br />
Why did you move to New<br />
Zealand?<br />
My kids’ dad’s parents came here<br />
for a holiday from South Africa.<br />
They liked it so much that they<br />
immigrated and encouraged us<br />
to follow. We had actually already<br />
planned to go to Australia, but<br />
then kind of changed our minds.<br />
I thought at the last second that it<br />
would be silly to have no family,<br />
because my family stayed behind. I<br />
was pregnant at the time, I had my<br />
daughter here. We were at Lincoln<br />
first, then Rolleston. About five<br />
years ago we found a house that we<br />
could afford to buy in Leeston.<br />
Tell me about your fitness<br />
journey.<br />
When I was growing up I was<br />
never one to enjoy exercise. I did<br />
enjoy riding my bike, and I did play<br />
sport at school, but as I got older,<br />
that just went right out the window.<br />
And, I guess for me, I’ve always<br />
kind of grown up just average,<br />
weight wise or body-type wise. I<br />
always used to compare myself to<br />
my friends. I think back in the day,<br />
people were quite judgy about your<br />
size. When I had my son, I think<br />
that’s when I started putting on<br />
weight, and didn’t feel very good<br />
about myself. I’m quite short (five<br />
foot two), so I don’t have much<br />
space to put on weight. Then I kind<br />
of lost the weight, and fell pregnant<br />
with my daughter, then moved to<br />
New Zealand. I was trying to study<br />
with a baby, I think it was just a lot.<br />
After that, I put on, like, 20 kilos.<br />
I ended up losing that, but in such<br />
an unhealthy way. I lost all muscle.<br />
As time went on, the weight<br />
slowly returned. I thought: ‘This<br />
is ridiculous, I know I can lose<br />
the weight.’ So I was like: ‘I know<br />
I can do it, so how can I do it in a<br />
more healthy way?’ I wanted to do<br />
it before my 40th. In 2018, in about<br />
<strong>September</strong>, I started getting up<br />
every morning and I would walk<br />
on the treadmill for an hour before<br />
breakfast, and just started thinking<br />
about what I was eating. So sort<br />
of calorie counting a little bit, to<br />
make sure I wasn’t eating things I<br />
shouldn’t. By the November, I had<br />
lost quite a lot quite quickly in a<br />
healthy way. That’s when I thought:<br />
‘Okay, now I need to build muscle,’<br />
because I never got back that<br />
muscle that I lost. So I joined the<br />
gym. By my 40th I had reached my<br />
goal, I was down to what I wanted<br />
to be. It was a lifestyle change<br />
instead of just a phase.<br />
How did you get into<br />
bodybuilding?<br />
At the Lincoln gym, I<br />
met (personal trainer) John<br />
McCormick. He said to me one<br />
day: ‘Why don’t you do this<br />
(bodybuilding) competition?’ It<br />
was a show he was holding for the<br />
first time in Lincoln. I’m like: ‘No,<br />
that’s silly.’ He’s like: ‘Come on, just<br />
join the team, I’ve got lots of people<br />
that are going to do it! Just do it.’ I<br />
said jokingly at the time: ‘Okay, yep<br />
sure,’ and continued on with it.<br />
Did you enjoy it?<br />
Doing the show this year (June)<br />
was such a great focus for me.<br />
There’s no way I would have even<br />
thought about it if he hadn’t of said:<br />
‘You can do this,’ because I never<br />
would have believed that I could.<br />
There’s so many people going to<br />
gym, but when there is no goal they<br />
give up. I must say having that goal<br />
and a date kept me focused. Now<br />
the show is done, I’m struggling to<br />
get that focus and vibe again.<br />
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