I Reshaped My Life!

Eight Years Ago Nerida Bint Was Turned Away From A Gym Because She Was Overweight. Undeterred, She Is Now The Owner Of One Of Australia’S Largest Women-Only Gyms

Nerida Bint is no stranger to the anxiety that comes with signing up to a new gym. In fact, she had good reason to be apprehensive, after one gym turned her away for being overweight. But rather than be defeated, she turned the experience into a success that changed her life.

Speaking to Good Health & Wellbeing from Newcastle, Nerida explains the journey that led her to become the founder of Lissome, a women’s-only cross-training gym. While she had always been active growing up, after living overseas for five years, Nerida came home 20kg heavier than when she left. “I joined a gym and tried to do what I thought was the right thing – eating better, exercising, stuff like that – just to get a bit of weight loss.”

At the same time, she bought a house across the road from a CrossFit gym just as the fitness movement was taking off. Nerida was fascinated by the style of training she saw. “I could see them lifting weights, running, doing pull-ups and all sorts of things that I’d never seen anybody do before. It really sparked my interest,” she recalls. So she crossed the road to find out more.

Unforgettable moment

“Oddly for me, I didn’t have any hesitation or anxiety about going over there. I wasn’t nervous, I just wanted to see how I could go about signing up.

“It was like something out of a Rocky scene,” she says of being inside the gym. “I was just blown away and amazed. I went and talked to the owner, but I soon realised he wasn’t matching my enthusiasm. He looked me up and down and said, ‘Darling, this is not for you.’”

It was a moment Nerida says she’ll never forget. “I was mortified. I was so embarrassed that I’d ever thought I could do something like that.”