The 12 week challenge was a great success at Dale Alcock homes. The shining light trainers were friendly, professional & motivating. I was really impressed with how all staff got involved & participated in training sessions & games against other teams. The 12 week challenge program is a great way to get staff active and involved in fun activities with that competitive edge. With Shining light trainers help its easy to get started & doesnt involve too much of your own setup time.

Just a note to say "thank you" for the vouchers that you sent. I have spoken to some of our staff during the holidays and they were thrilled with the prize. We will all be back to school tomorrow Thursday and as everyone will have enjoyed their Christmas cheer I'm sure that we will be helping one another to get back on the good eating plan again. I know from my own experience, while I had the Christmas dinner with all the trimming I was mindful of what not to eat during the holidays. Thank you again we have all enjoyed the experience and we will be eating a lot better from now on.

Hi Jason,
I keep meaning to let you know, but having been following your eating program for approx 5 weeks now (started a week ahead of schedule). I have to say what a great job you have done! I have found it extremely practical and able to be easily incorporated into my daily life. Its been so easy to follow and to stick to and have had no compulsion to 'stray' outside of it. The variety you have offered makes the meals interesting and they are quite delicious to boot. Great work! Thank you a bundle as this is something that can be used beyond the 12 week fitness challenge program. I am looking forward to seeing the improvements I have made at the six week assessment. Have been working really hard but its been great fun as well.

I am so happy to have won this achievement. I found the initial fitness check beneficial at giving me an indication as to what I was able to achieve and then focussed on bettering it for the next 6 week fitness test and again improving for the final fitness test. I was doing it for me and I was always going to be the winner in the end. My fitness has improved considerable and the 5.5 kilometres that I was walking in my first week I can now jog. I feel healthier and am sleeping better. I also like the fact that I have dropped a dress size as a result. It was great that the company took the Shining Light program aboard and gave staff the opportunity to improve themselves.

I just wanted to let you know how much my staff appreciated the efforts of you and the team from Shining Light during our last PD Day. The presentation by Dr Peter Dingle was inspiring and the health checks provided a great opportunity for the staff to stop and take stock of where they are at. Staff health and wellbeing is a priority here, as it should be in every school, so we are looking forward to working with you again in the near future to continue our quest to promote healthy lifestyle choices.

I won 5 sessions with a personal trainer after completing the SJOG caregiver health questionnaire. I would like to convey my grateful thanks because I have learned a great deal over the past 4 weeks (including boxing techniques and kick-boxing techniques). My general stamina has improved and I am feeling great. Long may that last. I trust you will be able to pass my thanks on to whoever organised this great prize.

Hope all is well with you. I've been having really good results with the schools and their participation! They are excited and are spreading the word of the achievements they've been getting.

Just a quick email to thank you all for everything you did for me whilst we took part in the challenge. The inspiration that you gave me has lead to me really changing my lifestyle and becoming fitter and a different shape! – My wife is delighted. As a result of your efforts I have challenged myself to do the City to Surf run later this year and raise money for Breast Cancer. Thank you all very much.

Many thanks for all the updates and for making this process a very enlightening one! I know that I have certainly learned a few things along the way and being involved with such a program has set me in the right direction in regards to my health and fitness. A big thanks as well to your crew and I’m sure that we will all enjoy a drink with you tomorrow night to wish you well for Christmas and the New Year! Cheers and well done!

Thanks for another great recipe! You have certainly made our (Op co's) day and inspired us to work even harder!

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed our first training session this morning. Whilst I appeared to be pretty ragged around the edges by half way through, I really liked the circuit, the variety of exercises and that it catered for different levels of ability (me being lower down the scale). I had a bit of an energy ebb afterwards between 9 and 10am, but 5 or 6 bottles of water later (plus plenty of fruit, snacks and lunch) I am pleasantly surprised to find I am still wide awake and not fatigued at all, even this late in the afternoon. I started the Nutrition Plan on Saturday and have found it really easy so far. I like the way it is fairly prescriptive, but at the same time has enough flexibility to not be considered a rigid "Diet". I have checked my goals and I will be doing everything I can to exceed them by week 6. Thanks for the support.

I would like to thank Belinda and other members of the team for all the good advice and support that has been provided over the past twelve weeks. This has been an excellent program to get involved in and to motivate me to get fit. I am really really pleased with my fitness, weightloss and muscle tone. It makes me realise how unfit I actually was and I know I have to keep exercising for life so that I can stay healthy. I had no idea how bad some of my food choices were and how unfit I actually was but I am so amazed at what I can now do and how my body has changed! Thanks again. It has been a really great experience. The support provided has been wonderful and I would certainly encourage others to join! Thanks again.

We have had our final fitness test and I would like to thank you all for the online support throughout the 12 week program. I have enjoyed the challenge and this was the kick start I needed to get back on track to better fitness. Thank you.

Nothing brang our staff closer in 2007 than competing in the Fitness challenge! Each week we got together (sometimes with extra encouragement needed) to have a group training session which helped keep us all motivated and on the right track. It was amazing to watch the difference in us all, not only physically, but in our attitude as well. Chocolate snacks gave way to healthy options (also with extra encouragement also needed) and the staffroom became a place of chats about how we were going and healthy food choices. The challenge was definately the kick that I needed to start to get in shape. Healthy food choices have become a way of life and exercise part of my daily routine. In fact, now i feel bad if I dont get of the couch and do something each day! The encouragement from the people at Shining Light was fantastic, and they had nothing but great things to say at each of our check ins. We worked hard as a team, and the results were there, not only with us winning the challenge, but also the individual benefits as well, which will be with a lot of us for a long time!

Shining Light were engaged recently by Salmat to provide a fitness program designed to improve employees attitude and approach to their personal health and fitness.

This was managed over a 12 week period and incorporated assessments, monitoring of progress and encouragement to set and achieve goals.

Shining Light were also able to offer personal trainers as part of the program, which myself and some other colleagues undertook.

We have been using a personal trainer from Shining Light now for almost 3 years. I would say without hesitation that the reason I have continued to keep focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle a fitness routine is in no small part due to the involvement and approach by Shining Light. Marika and Michelle are great trainers who have kept us motivated to reach our goals, whilst understanding everyone's lifestyles, goals and abilities are different and so require a varied approach.

I would recommend Shining Light to any organisation wishing to undertake similar staff wellness programs, and/or individuals looking to improve general fitness.

Many thanks for your email. I too had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. I went waterskiing with my kids and for the first time in I don't know how long, I did a full lap around the dam on the skis…normally I would be struggling to stay up that long. My boys had a ball and are of talk as to when we are going again! I have made sure to keep up my work at the gym and put in a couple of sessions over the break while my trainer was away. I had my first session back with my trainer this morning and I actually feel stronger than before…I can now do 60kg on the bar when doing squats! Who would have thought that was possible, certainly not me!

I would sincerely like to congratulate yourself and your team’s efforts over the past 10 weeks while we have been "challenging" ourselves. At first I thought "you can’t be serious!" when I was told that we would have a fitness assessment and many thoughts were running around in my head as to what exercises we were to be put through. I honestly thought that I was fit and healthy! After completing the assessment (which wasn’t that bad), I soon realised that I needed to have a good look at my fitness as a whole and I took the approach that I had to run with the program and challenge myself along with my fellow workmates.

Your encouragement and advice along the way with your emails has been invaluable and informative… I absolutely love the recipe for the California rolls, as do my family. I believe that by having the "half-way" assessment only pushed me further and I was astonished at my results at the end by achieving an overall fitness improvement of 51.27%. Not only am I impressed, but so is my family. I have