Don't Think: Do

The reasons we run.

Sorry I’ve been a little quiet. Sometimes life becomes too loud and the words disappear. Today, I found some of them out on the road.

We run for so many reasons.

For a medal. A personal best. The fresh air. The people beside us. The coffee or breakkie waiting at the end. The joy (running endorphins are second to none) the anger (running is therapy) and all the little moments in between.

We run towards finish lines and away from difficult weeks. We run to feel strong. To feel free. To clear our heads or make sense of the things we cannot put into words.

Sometimes we run simply because we can.

Today I finished the Brighton Beach 10km.

Coming back to running has been a long, slow slog for me. Last year, I managed 5km. Since then, it has been a gradual journey of small steps, patience, setbacks and trying again. Today, those small steps carried me for 10 kilometres.

I ran for the people quietly fighting battles we may know nothing about. I ran with gratitude for an imperfect body that could still carry me forward. But most of all I ran for a precious friend and for the unfairness of the hand she has been dealt.

Somewhere between the start and the finish, happiness and deep sadness found room to co-exist.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons we run. Our feet keep moving forward, even with a heavy heart.

I don’t often ask for sponsorship, but if you are minded to give, please consider supporting the Brain Foundation. It funds Australian research into brain disorders, diseases and injuries, helping to improve diagnoses, treatments and patient outcomes.

https://donate.brainfoundation.org.au

This golden memory popped up in my Facebook feed today - and it stopped me in my tracks.

In 2011, I was scared about returning to the gym after four years without “real” exercise. I genuinely hoped the treadmill wouldn’t kill me on our first reunion! 😧

Fifteen years later, I’m teaching other women how to become stronger, fitter and more confident in their bodies.

The biggest thing I’ve learnt?

You don’t need to be fit before you start. You don’t need to punish yourself on a treadmill, follow a miserable diet or throw yourself into an extreme program.

You simply need to begin, with the right support and exercise that suits your body, your ability and the life you have now.

These days, resistance training is at the heart of what I do. It helps us maintain muscle, protect our bones, support our joints and keep doing the things we love as we move through midlife and beyond.

I also know that good health is about far more than exercise. Sleep, nutrition, recovery, mental wellbeing and enjoyment all matter. There are no quick-fix shakes or dramatic promises, just realistic and sustainable habits that help you feel fabulous for the long term.

If you’re a woman in midlife who has been thinking:

“I’m too unfit to start.”

“I won’t know what to do.”

“I’m worried I’ll hurt myself.”

“Everyone else will be fitter than me.”

Please know that I once felt exactly the same way.

You don’t have to leap in at the deep end. You just have to take the first step.

If you’d like help returning to exercise safely and building strength and confidence, send me a message. I’ll help you find the right place to start and make exercise a fun, healthy and enjoyable part of your life.

Don’t Think, Do. 💪

Did you miss your early workout today because you couldn’t get out from under the doona 🛌 ? Ps: for our international audience the 🇦🇺 translation is duvet / comforter😴

Meet Monday-itis.

Symptoms include:
“I’m too tired and have [insert ailment ie: headache/cramp/ sore body part].”
“It’s too wet / cold [insert any sub optimal conditions here].”
“I’ll definitely go later [ends up being a lie that haunts you all day -despite good intentions].”
And the sudden discovery that your doona is actually the love of your life. 😂 Especially in winter ❄️

One of my clients had a fairly serious case of it this morning.

At 6.11am, she wasn’t coming.

At 6.24am, she was on her way.

So what happened in between?

A small dose of what I like to call loving accountability. She might call it being bullied out of bed. 😂

And this is exactly why community and accountability from a trainer who cares matters.

You don’t always need more motivation. Sometimes you just need someone who notices you’re missing, gives you the right nudge and reminds you how bloody good you’ll feel afterwards.

The screenshots tell the rest of the story. 👉

And next time Monday-itis strikes?

Either level up and join us for the last 5 weeks of this challenge - I’ll get you here ❤️🙌🏻 💪🏻

OR DO NOT negotiate with your mind.

DON’T THINK. DO. ✅

Ps: Client X - you know how proud I am you made it - go you !!!

POV: It’s one of those cold, wet, dark Australian winter mornings. 🌧️❄️

The kind of morning where even the trainer wanted to stay tucked up under the doona (that’s what us Aussies call a duvet for our new international followers!).

But that’s exactly why my business is called Don’t Think, Do.

Because if we’d stopped to negotiate with ourselves this morning, none of us would have shown up.

Instead, every single one of my incredible 6am clients walked through the door of the club. Granted the joys of spring were not always there on arrival but they got there.

No excuses. No “maybe next week.” Just people keeping the promises they’d made to themselves.…

Were they smiling when they left? Absolutely. 😊

That’s the funny thing about exercise. The hardest part is almost always deciding to start.

Motivation comes and goes.

The weather changes.

Life gets busy.

But every time you choose action over excuses, you’re building something far more powerful than motivation: the habit of showing up.

So if today feels hard wherever you are in the world, don’t overthink it.

Don’t Think. Do.

Your future self will thank you for it.

……. And if today wasn’t your day - whether you are sick or genuinely could not make it work. Be kind to yourself.

One missed workout doesn’t define you.

Tomorrow is a brand new opportunity to show up, take that step, and simply… Don’t Think. Do. 💙

Nearly 10 years ago, I posted this photo.

I had just turned 40. I’d had two children, run a marathon and completed a 70.3. My photographer friend and client encouraged me to take the picture…..

What you can’t see is how long it had taken me to stop criticising my body and seeing everything I was conditioned to think was “wrong” with it.

Too big here.
Not flat enough there.
Could definitely do with less of that.

You know the drill.

Then I started asking a different question: What can this body DO?

Fast forward nearly 10 years and a post I wrote about a woman in a dress has unexpectedly reached thousands of you.

Why did it strike such a nerve?

Maybe because we’re STILL talking about women’s bodies as though how they look is the most interesting thing about them.

Too big?
Too old?
Is it flattering?
Should she really be wearing that?

As a society we are still asking the wrong questions.

These days, when I train women, I’m far more interested in different ones.

Can she lift something heavy?
Can she get herself off the floor?
Carry her own suitcase?
Walk or run as far as she wants?
Play with the kids or grandkids?
Keep doing the things she loves?

Can she stand up without making that involuntary middle-aged noise? 😂

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change how we look, if it makes us feel more confident. I just don’t think how our bodies look should be the most interesting thing about them.

What matters is what they can do, and the lives they allow us to lead.
And that’s what I want for the women I train too.

So if that dress brought you to this little corner of Facebook, welcome. 👋

I’m Chantal. Former lawyer, now strategy consultant, personal trainer and menopause coach (Apparently I don’t believe in straightforward career paths either. 😂).

As I navigate midlife myself I’d love some like minded sisters to join me in raising each other up 🙌🏻

Let’s normalise the bodies we actually have, celebrate what they can do and use movement to help them keep doing the things that matter to us- hopefully having a bloody good laugh along the way.

Nearly a decade later, I think the woman holding that board was finally starting to understand something. It should not have been a celebration about what my body looked like but a life lived.

Chantal x

📷 Susan Bradfield Photography

The commentary about Marie-France van Heel and her choice to wear a Victoria Beckham dress this week sadly says far more about our society than it does about her.

What struck me most? Much of the criticism came from other women.

Before commenting on whether the dress was “flattering” (because, heaven forbid, a woman has a soft stomach) did anyone actually stop to consider the woman wearing it?

A Cambridge graduate.

A successful senior executive.

Trilingual.

A mother of three.

A woman who chose to undergo a preventative double mastectomy after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation that had already devastated her family.

Instead, we’re debating whether her dress was “right” for her body.

We’ve all seen The Devil Wears Prada. My takeaway was never that women need the “perfect” body. It was that style is intentional.

- Critique the tailoring.

- Critique the colour.

- Critique the design.

But don’t critique the body inside the dress.There’s a difference between fashion commentary and body commentary.

One is style : The other is judgement.

I genuinely thought we’d reached a point where we valued strength over size, health over appearance, and substance over superficiality.

Clearly, we still have some way to go.

Marie-France, if this ever reaches you: ignore the haters. I think you’re pretty freaking awesome, cool girls always provoke claws. 🤍

📷 Photo: Jack Taylor / Reuters

👀 Pssst… your spot is still waiting.

It even laid out your mat. 😏

So… did you kiss the gym today? 💋🏋️‍♀️

Winter has a funny way of convincing us that the couch needs us more than our muscles do. Nice try, winter. ❄️😂

The secret isn’t more willpower… it’s having people who notice when you’re missing and cheer louder than your excuses.

Why small group training wins in winter:
💚 You actually show up.
💚 Someone saves your spot.
💚 You train with people who become friends.
💚 You laugh (sometimes at me… mostly with me! 😂).
💚 You leave feeling stronger than when you walked in.

No mirrors. No intimidation. No hiding in the back pretending to “warm up” for half the session. 😉 Just good people, great coaching and real results.

🎉 Bring-a-Buddy Week is on now!
Your friend trains FREE… and fair warning, they may never leave. 😅

📩 DM me to claim your spot before someone else does!

You don’t suddenly become “old.” 👵
You become less able- one skipped workout + year at a time. ⏳

A little less muscle. 💪
A little less balance. ⚖️
A little more hesitation getting off the floor. 🧎‍♀️

Until one day, the things you never thought twice about start feeling difficult. We cannot stop the clock. ⏰ But we can give ourselves a stronger body to travel through time in. 🚀

✅ Get up from the floor
✅ Carry their shopping
✅ Travel confidently
✅ Protect their bones
✅ Keep doing the activities they love
✅ Stay independent for as long as possible

Here is the good news: ✨

Your body is not a museum piece.
It is still responding to what you ask it to do. 🔥 In fact it thrives when you move it.

🏋️ Lift something heavy
🦵 Practise getting up and down
🦴 Load your bones
⚖️ Challenge your balance
💪 Keep showing your muscles that they are still needed

Strength training isn’t about trying to look 40 when you’re 70. It’s about being 70 and still feeling capable, confident and in charge of your own body. 🙌

The goal isn’t to stop ageing. ⏰ The goal is to train for it. 🏋️‍♀️

Because your 60-, 70- and 80+-year-old self is being built by what you do today. 💜

👇 Be honest: are you actively training for the lifestyle you want in ten years—or just hoping for the best? Don't keep sitting on the “I really should” list? 👀

DON’T THINK: DO. ⚡

📍 Small-group strength, core and mobility training in Beaumaris
📩 Message me STRONG to find out about joining us.

This graphic is illustrative. Ageing is individual, and exercise is only one of many factors - but strength can be trained at every stage of life.