00:00What set me on this journey? This journey was very unpredictable. So I was introduced to my coach in 2023.
00:09I used to call myself a walking sick bay. You name it, I think I had it, right? I was
00:14very unhealthy and I knew something had to be done.
00:17So getting into his three-month transformation program was really just about, you know, me being self-aware and acknowledging
00:27that I needed to take control of my health, right? So that's where it started.
00:31After getting down to £120 with guidance from Dexter Simon, a new opportunity came for a fear Giles Baines.
00:38Competition prep is a different board game, right? So yeah, it stretched me. It did. And also the training is
00:48more intense. So you're in that deficit and you're also putting out in terms of training as well.
00:55So your sleep and recovery and supplementation is really important. And of course, coach guides you in terms of that
01:03so that you don't break down. As you see, I didn't faint on stage, right?
01:07So you have to, you know, match the recovery with the level of intensity and training and diet that is
01:15required for the competition.
01:17Married with three children, Baines got encouragement from her close circle while facing criticism through her weight loss transformation.
01:25It's mixed. Sometimes I got a lot of unsolicited feedback with persons who say, oh, you're getting too hard, Giles.
01:33So, you know, a lot of persons say, whatever you're doing, stop it here. You're getting too small.
01:38But thankfully, this was not a vanity project, right? It was really help focus.
01:44So it wasn't really about if I liked how people thought I looked.
01:51Yeah. So that didn't, it didn't affect me negatively, but majority of the feedback I received was incredibly positive.
01:59All of the feedback from my circle was positive. And that helps, you know, when you're going through a transformation
02:06like this, it's not in a vacuum.
02:08And having persons that support you and encourage you along the way, that really assists in the way you not
02:15only frame what you're doing,
02:17but the way you execute as well, because you know that you have that support.
02:21While Afia has found her new body, Josette McLean, who is the highest ranking female officer in the Defense Force,
02:28has set focus on 2027.
02:31My season has come to a close. What that means is that I've gone back into prep.
02:36I've gone back into focusing on those specific areas that I would have gotten judges' feedback on.
02:44She is militant at heart and age is just a number.
02:47As a woman, and I can say that I turn 50 in a couple of weeks, being physically fit just,
02:58it makes ageing a lot easier.
03:02You know, as women, as we age as women, you tend to lose muscle mass, you tend to lose bone
03:09density.
03:10Reflecting on the face of the sport, for the good and the bad, she believes that women's bodybuilding is moving
03:16in the right direction.
03:17Over the last three years, I have seen an increase in women coming out and performing bodybuilding on stage.
03:28So that is encouraging.
03:30Quite interestingly, a number of them over the couple of years and over the couple of competitions,
03:38a lot of them come up to me and they say, you know,
03:41Josette, I just want to say that I saw you at the last show and you encouraged me.
03:46And because of that, they are now on stage alongside me.
03:50So that is really encouraging to see.
03:54Studio Dufour, TV6 Sport.
