\u201cI\u2019d hit a block in my life. I had two grown up daughters, I\u2019d been working full time and bringing them up and always put myself on the back burner. It was a mixture of being too busy and exercise<\/a> not being on my mind; I didn\u2019t focus on my health. I was at my heaviest weight of 21st, and I was struggling to get up the stairs,\u201d the 57-year-old says.<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n Bickley, who works in IT, remembers the exact moment that she knew something had to change. \u201cI saw somebody in an Asda car park. They were struggling to push their trolley and when I looked at them, they were not old. It was their physical condition [that was making it so hard]. I stood there and thought: if I don\u2019t sort myself out, that\u2019s going to be me.\u201d<\/p>\n She had always known that being obese<\/a> could increase her risk of chronic conditions, like diabetes or cancer. But she says, she had secretly thought \u201cit would never happen to me\u201d but as she got older, she knew it was increasing the risk.<\/p>\n That bootcamp, which was 13 years ago, turned out to be a brutal turning point for Bickley\u2019s fitness journey<\/a>. It included six hours of exercise a day and if she attempted to skip a class, the staff would come and retrieve her. That week alone, she lost 10 pounds. \u201cIt switched something on in me,\u201d she tells The i Paper.<\/p>\n In the decade since, Bickley has dabbled in different areas of fitness, from using the cardio machines at the gym and partaking in \u201cbody pump\u201d classes to becoming the leader of a running club in her home county of Derbyshire.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided I wanted to start running and I came across a nearby club. It started with a handful of five or six people but it ended with 70 turning up each week to run with me. I was a middle-aged overweight woman and people related to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Bickley\u2019s fitness journey<\/a> had started, and she\u2019d lost almost five stone, she didn\u2019t lift a weight until seven years later \u2013 aged 52. She was inspired by her ex-partner, who was preparing for a bodybuilding show \u2013 he introduced her to a coach. After seeing (and loving) the process he was going through, she decided she\u2019d try herself, so while on holiday in Egypt she booked herself a session.<\/p>\n By way of motivation \u2013 and holding herself accountable \u2013 Bickley announced her weightlifting plan to her 300 Instagram followers. Within nine months, she gained more than 50,000 followers online. Most comments on her social media are positive, and hundreds of women tell Bickley that they feel inspired by her journey<\/a> and have joined the gym.<\/p>\n In the last year, nine months of it spent on bodybuilding prep, she\u2019s lost another five stone by eating non-processed food. Her daily meals were switched to four small portions every few hours, including yoghurt, chicken, rice and vegetables. \u201cI have always generally liked healthy food, and always been on some sort of diet but not in the same way as a prep,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Five times a week she strength trained, everyday she spent an hour on the stairmaster and walked 17,000 steps. She gave up snacking, sugar (aside from occasional fat like almond butter to support her hormones) and gave up drinking.<\/p>\n Her life isn\u2019t so extreme now but her diet and training regime remains strict at five times a week weightlifting and four healthy meals per day. <\/p>\n Friends have struggled to understand her discipline, and why she wasn\u2019t drinking alcohol or too busy to meet up. Her mother was also worried about the rapid weight loss.<\/p>\n Online, she has been trolled. \u201cPeople think bodybuilding should only be for the elite,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s given me confidence. I no longer feel like a wallflower, I can walk into a room and hold my head up high and I feel like a different person. I\u2019ve always gravitated to black trousers and big tops to hide myself, but now I choose bold colours and nice clothes. I feel younger.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_281002598-e1768564445346.jpg\")
Gaynor Bickley says the gym has given her confidence and made her feel younger (Photo: Phil Lynam\/ The Boardroom Studio)<\/p>\n![\"Gaynor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_280152478.jpg\")
Bickley competed in November, aged 57 (Photo: Photo Arts By Jay\/PCA)<\/p>\n