This month we interviewed local This Girl Can Ambassador Bon, who shares her story of determination and sheer resilience! Bon has a phenomenal story which now inspires so many and we are sure you will agree that she really is a fantastic role model for us all!

We know it has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for you Bon, but can you tell us a bit about your story?

It certainly has! I guess a very short version of my story is that I grew up in a very non-traditional household in conditions that were violent and controlling. I was kept away from a lot of things people experience in normal growing up and kicked out of home at 18 into the big wide world with no clue. I battled with my mental health and to find my place in the world for a very long time including suicide attempts in my early 20s.

During my 20s I went through infertility and then in my early 30s I became unwell. Although at the time we didn't really know what was going on, I ended up using a wheelchair and unable to do a lot of things. In 2013 I was told I may not walk again. It was a low point for sure, but I was determined not to have my future determined by whatever was going on and in late 2014 I took my first proper steps again and haven't looked back. In 2019 I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis and a bone disease. Thankfully I take medications which help me to keep going in spite of this.

In 2017 I was diagnosed with PTSD from my childhood experiences and had therapy to help me move forward. It was a big turning point. After I had dealt with the trauma it gave me strength to tackle other things.

I first started dieting at 19. I had been told for many years that I was fat and ugly. Looking back at photographs and knowing my weight from back then I was not - I weighed 10 stone and was a size 12-14, but I believed what I was told and felt I needed to sort it. I was diagnosed with PCOS in my early 20s and even thought it was explained to me that I might struggle with my weight it didn't make me feel any better. Over the years I tried every diet known to man in a bid to change it, but as time passed I ended up gaining more weight each time I gave up. In January 2019 I weighed in at 23 stone and I knew it had to change. We had just been denied the chance to adopt and my weight was given as a reason.

I haven't looked back since then. After chasing quick fixes for years I let go and decided to chip away at it bit by bit and 3 years later I have lost over 140lbs and become an athlete. I'd like to point out that all of this was after the age of 40 - so it goes to show it's never too late to start.

During the pandemic I had to shield and it gave me a lot of time on my hands. I decided to think about what I really wanted to do and qualified as a coach and set up my business. I now coach people online to help them achieve their goals. As well as this I also work for Jay Alderton (a big coach in the fitness industry) helping to support the coaches of the future to give their clients the best. My own training continues to evolve - getting into weightlifting was so much fun, but I now train as an endurance athlete and set myself challenges to work towards. Last year I won the Bulldog Gear Challenge - something I took on as it was so out of my comfort zone. Because of that I also get to work with the company on encouraging people to get into fitness which is such a great thing.

After years of feeling like I wasn't enough and wasn't a proper woman because of not being able to have children, it feels great to be able to celebrate what my body can do and all that comes with it.

How has physical activity supported you?

So much! Not just physically but mentally too. I don't just train for my physical wellbeing. I find that training allows me to feel better and maintain good mental health. The great thing about physical activity is you start out where you are and you can improve - and over time it gets easier and you do more and then one day you think "wow I can do that now". That for me has increased my confidence, I feel happier in myself and it's definitely made me make the most of life in a lot of areas. The great thing about being active is it brings people into your life. I was always worried how I would make new friends given I didn't have children so might not meet other mums etc, but actually in fitness you meet lots of people and despite what I had thought for a long time they are some of the nicest most supportive people you could meet. It has such a great sense of community no matter how you chose to be active and I think we all need a bit of that in our lives.

Has your motivations for being active changed over the years? If so, tell us a bit about that and what physical activity means to you now

100%. I always thought being active was something you did just to lose weight and that losing weight was something you did just so people could like you or you could look good for a certain event or whatever. I also thought that losing weight was what would make me happy. I was SO wrong. Our value as human beings isn't determined by what we look like. It's determined by the value that we put back out into the world. And happiness is not determined by a number on the scale. I learned to focus on what my body could do instead of what it looked like. I found happiness sooner than I thought possible and I enjoy every minute of working on my goals. Yes I have a way I would like my body to look, but I am not hung up on that as the only metric that determines my happiness. I can find joy in movement. Joy in the progress. It's kind of moved me away from thinking I could never do stuff to always adding the word yet - because with patience and practise who knows what we are capable of?! For me now physical activity is how I show my body love. It's how I show myself that I am worthy of having the best opportunity to live my years being able to make the most of the privilege of movement.

Through the difficulties and challenges you have had with your health; you have had to constantly adapt your levels of physical activity. If someone reading is going through something similar and finding it hard to be motivated, what would you say to them?

Forget motivation. Motivation is like an emotion - sometimes we feel it sometimes we don't. If we rely on feeling motivated we might never do anything. What you need is determination. Determination means you don't give up - that even on the days you don't feel like it you show up for yourself and those days are where the magic happens. Be prepared to adapt - understand that if you have fluctuations in how and when your body feels like co-operating that's really ok. I know I struggle more in the winter - I used to beat myself up for that, but now I appreciate the spring and summer when movement is easier and use the winter to focus on being kind to my body and supporting it in a way that fits. Learn what works for you. Don't base your expectations off what other people can do. It would be a boring world if we were all the same so proudly own what movement means to you.

What three top tips would you give to someone who is currently inactive and doesn't know where to start?

Last week we launched our first Walk, Talk and Connect event in Ipswich and we would love to see you all on our upcoming events over the next couple of months. Simply book your place and come along to meet some of our team and local This Girl Can Ambassadors for a short stroll. Bon and Rachel joined us with their furry friends Wilson and Bailey last week! and it was great to hear more about their experiences with physical activity as we strolled through Chantry Park in Ipswich.

Check out the future dates below and reserve your place today!

...and Jean and Julia are living proof.

Both ladies were referred to their local swimming pool after accessing the Active Wellbeing service delivered by our team at Active Suffolk. It was there where they met for the first time and as the saying goes, the rest is history! Check out their full story HERE