Duchess of Fitness an inspiration for all

FIONA Kruger is a beautiful fitness idol from Brackenhurst with an inspiring story. The RECORD invited her to share it with the community. She also gives women advice according to what she has learned throughout her fitness journey.

RECORD:

How old are you? Tell us a bit more about your family life and growing up.

FIONA:

I am 32 years old, the youngest of two daughters. I was born and raised in Brackenhurst. I come from a loving family who also owns a game farm in Limpopo – this sparked my love for animals that I’ve had since I was very young.

As a child, I was a really skinny little girl. I remember wearing two pairs of pants to school and three “dry mac” jackets just to look a little bit bigger, even during summer. The word “anorexia” always came up but I was really just genetically a skinny little girl – my father has those genes.

As a child, I hated it when people commented on my body size. I think it’s a lot easier for someone to comment on your size if you are skinny and I use to hear the words of “you are just skin and bone” and “eat a burger or two” quite often. People will say it much more freely than telling an overweight person that they need to stop eating burgers. Either way, those comments, be it to a skinny person or not, still has the same harmful effect. It’s body shaming.

Because of these comments I was quite shy and never did sports at school. However, I really only wanted to work with horses and be at the stables – animals don’t judge.

As I became older, becoming a women had its downfalls and one of them was weight gain. I was also in the food industry, so I was surrounded by food the entire day. I never worried about picking up weight, because I never had a weight problem before.

I started going to gym out of boredom. I would do one hour’s cardio(vascular) exercise in the mornings and another hour in the evenings doing weight training. This sent my appetite into the sky and I ate even more, with the mindset “I gym hard – I can eat what I want when I want”.

So, I did my second warrior race in the “commando” category quite easily and afterwards jumped into a pool. A photo was taken of me as I climbed out of the pool, and that was the turnaround-point for me. Honestly, I was not obese, but it looked as if I never exercised at all. Knowing that I spent so much time in the gym, looking like that, was really shocking to me. I decided right there and then that I needed to change immediately. I was going to gym twice a day… What else could it be? Only nutrition.

So then, I phoned around and found a place that organised an eating and training plan for me. I was doing a 12-week transformation. Seeing the results each week through a body fat assessment was so motivating as I could really see change, even just in millimetres. It really kept me motivated.

I started feeling much better, more healthier, more driven and more secure with everything in my life. It improved my self-confidence and made me realise that I am in control of my life. All of this positivity spilled over into everything aspect of my life.

I started setting goals to do competitions and placed second last year in the IFBB Central Gauteng Novice competition, which I was so pleased about!

RECORD:

What’s your personality and what makes you unique?

FIONA:

I am described as a “bubbly introvert”, a free spirit and I am adventurous. I am passionate about helping others in any way that I can. I am idealistic and an acute observer of people’s feelings and actions. I really enjoy empathising with others and finding out the reasons for being who they are. I am also passionate about facilitating self-confidence in others, no matter who they are, what they look like or where they come from.

RECORD:

Name some things that you love and things that you hate.

FIONA:

I love seeing people overcome their fears, take up opportunities to better themselves and becoming confident in the process. My mind rebels at stagnation. I abhor a dull routine of existence and I hate coffee (giggles).

RECORD:

What do you do during the week and weekends?

FIONA:

I work in the corporate side of the food industry. I wake up at 04:00 and get back home at around 19:00. At 15:00 I go to gym for an hour, only focusing on weight training. Afterwards, I spend an hour at the gym with friends, keeping them motivated and just making sure that they are exercising correctly (it’s not personal training).

Saturday mornings at 07:30 I see my coach, who does a body assessment on me to monitor my progress for the week. Then we have a quick training session. Then I spend the rest of my time outdoors, taking my dogs for walks, working on my blog, taking photos and eating junk food (because I am not a freak or an alien – I do love junk food just like most people).

RECORD:

What is your passion?

FIONA:

My passion in life is fitness, animals and blogging. I would like to provide information to people who have questions about healthy eating and fitness and how to improve their bodies overall. Since I have started my fitness journey, my eyes have been opened to so many things. I truly feel that we should educate the youth in healthy lifestyles. It just eliminates so many other problems and can also prevent a lot of mental and physical problems that they will have to deal with later in life.

RECORD:

What are your dreams and plans for the future?

FIONA:

My short-term goals are to climb the ranks as a fitness athlete with in the IFBB federation. Also, to blog about topics that interest, motivate and educate people. My long-term goals are to be able to educate young ladies about healthy nutrition and fitness and hopefully establish a brand where I can combine the healing characteristics of horses with fitness, nutrition and beauty.

RECORD:

How do you want to inspire women and what would you like them to know?

FIONA:

I would like everyone to be body positive, no matter what age, size or gender they are. I would like to share my experiences lessons I have learnt with them and guide them in the right direction in terms of health and fitness. I want women to know that they CAN. Everyone can do this. They can reach their goals if they truly want to and I would like to motivate them to start with themselves. Whatever your title may be – mom, daughter, business woman, ect. – look after yourself and your health.

RECORD:

Any special thoughts or advice?

FIONA:

To the readers: Remember, you are an individual and no-one has your exact DNA or lifestyle. You cannot eat the same or train the same as the person next to you and think you are going to get the same results as them. I would like to encourage you today; if you want to change your health, get a personalised eating and training plan, set goals and get someone that will be monitoring your progress for you.

Also, spending hours on cardio machines in the gym will not do much for your physique. You have to combine it with some sort of weight training. And don’t be intimidated to go up to the weight section – those big, buff people who may look so intimidating are probably so focused on what they are doing that they don’t often notice others. Ladies – you won’t become bulky and look like a man if you do weight training (laughs). A female body is simply not capable of building that much muscle on its own. Last but not least: Don’t judge a woman if she decides to expose her body or cover it – it’s her business and not an indication of her self-respect. Be body –positive! Feel free to follow me on Instagram and subscribe to www.duchessoffitness.com .

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