Deb Rossi was 90 kilograms and smoking heavily, but when given the news by her doctors that she had cancer, she still didn’t acknowledge the seriousness of her situation until it was clear that she could die.

Once that realisation was made, coffee and cigarettes were a thing of the past. A former self confessed mum with no forward focus, raising two teenage girls meant she had to re-evaluate who she was and what she was doing: love for her children forced her to take a stand and without them she may well have wallowed in self-pity until it consumed her.
“I was never into health and fitness, or sports oriented team games,” says Rossi. “My hobbies were shopping and movies.”
It took two years to lose an initial 20 kilos. Meanwhile, Deb sought an NLP therapist to help her stop smoking. “It gave me the idea that if I can take control of that (smoking), I could take control of everything.”
When Rossi slimmed down to 70kg she decided to enter the Body For Life Challenge. She wanted to start something new and see it through to its conclusion.
Before starting the challenge her weight was 71.8kg; she finished the 12-week challenge at 66kg. Her body fat percentage dropped from 25% to 18.2%. As a result she was awarded Grand Master status.
The challenge was the catalyst for a career change, and once again, focus. Soon after completing Body for Life, Deb was approached by a girlfriend who was so impressed by her weight loss that she asked Deb for help.
Having herself been inspired by a personal trainer, Deb was more than willing to help out. Becoming a personal trainer, was a natural progression from this point.
In 2003, at age 37, Deb went back to school, feeling it was a necessity to further her knowledge in this field. It wasn’t long before she became a master trainer and from there she opened up a one on one studio to help others change.
“When you are a trainer it can be scary at times and you doubt yourself, but I am passionate and want to excel and keep clients motivated and on track. To see their transformation is very rewarding.”
Deb defeated cancer by finding balance in her life. She now offers similar programs to the one she followed to her clients. She puts her success as a personal trainer down to motivating her clients to sacrifice and commit their time to a healthier life.
“I believe that we are all born great and we can do great things in our lives, but we have a self limiting mindset. Face your fears and become fearless. Break through the barriers and through your comfort zone and move forward.”
She believes anyone can take control of their life and make changes for the better. She will happily work out a way for her clients to lose weight and eat properly. Once they adopt this way of living into their lifestyles they will feel more energised. Being active equals energy.

Her five tips for being healthy are as follows:
1 Tip one. Use exercise as a stress reliever from work.
If there is someone that you work with, or even your boss who is really getting under your skin, don’t head to the candy machine head for the beach, go for a run, hit a boxing bag and work your frustrations out by getting physical.
2 Tip two. Turn social time into active time so you can catch up with friends and move more. How about tenpin bowling, or ice skating as a fun social activity.
3 Tip three. Exercise on the way to or from work, particularly if your schedule is tight.
4 Tip four. Consider group based activities that will get you fit and expand your social circle of friends. How about Netball, or Hockey as a fun team sport to sign up for.
5 Tip five. Only choose activities that you enjoy. That way you’ll stick to your commitments, have fun and gain fitness without too much thought on actually doing it.

By Dominique Bambino