How boxing completely transformed April Franks’ life

Just last weekend, amateur boxer April Franks, 25, won three successive fights to take home the gold medal in her category at the Arafura Games, her first state title.

Her Instagram page is filled with workout videos and incredible selfies of her toned physique, but just four years ago the young Victorian woman was 22kg heavier and battled for years to get where she is today.

April grew up sporty, playing basketball through most of her teenage years, but when she and her high school sweetheart broke up she found herself suddenly adrift.

"I gave everything up and basically sat on the couch," she told 9Honey of her darkest days.

"I sat and slept all day, ate food and was just really miserable."

A combination of quitting sport and depression led to April steadily gaining weight, with the medication she was prescribed to improve her mental health only making the situation worse.

She had lost all motivation to train or play sport and had started developing a negative relationship with food. Each time she caught her reflection in the mirror she felt less and less like herself, something the numbers on her scales began to reflect.

"I never thought I was that big until one day I got on the scales and I thought 'I can't let this number get any bigger' – it was just taking over," she said.

Just 21 at the time, April decided to take a 'before' photo that she never planned to share with anyone, using it as a motivator to kick her life back into gear. Her family were supportive, encouraging her to get out of the house and get active, while her Personal Training course only motivated her more.

But the physique borne of years of athleticism wasn't something she could get back overnight, and when she began working in a local gym April struggled with being the "fat PT".

"I wasn't working to my best ability as a PT, so I felt a bit embarrassed," she confessed.

Her first year was a struggle, so she moved to a new gym where she found more encouragement and started to really push herself. She started running with her mum, tackling a half and then full marathon together as April began to see her hard work pay off.

But it wasn't just about getting active. There's no way to out-train a bad diet, and April had to tackle the poor relationship she had developed with food, slowly working to swap out unhealthy food choices for smarter ones that would fuel her body.

"What's the point of doing all this running and exercising if I'm just putting all the bad food straight back in?" she said.

"The food changed, I changed, and everything just started coming together."

It wasn't long after that she discovered boxing and fell in love with the sport almost immediately. Though she had felt intimidated walking into the boxing studio for a 6am class, then 22-year-old April was determined to give it a go – and it's lucky she did, having just won her first championship.

"I needed a change, I needed to find something that made me motivated every day to get up and do it," she said.

What started as a casual class quickly turned into a passion, and three years later she's got more than 20 fights under her belt, including three back-to-back wins just last weekend. Appearing at the Arafura Games, April took down three competitors over three days and took out the state title, heading home with a gold model she never could've expected just four years ago.

"It's such a surreal feeling to stand up there representing Australia and having the national anthem play, knowing that I'm winning gold," she said.

"Boxing has changed everything, it has honestly changed my whole life and outlook on life."

It also changed April's body, her rigorous daily training combined with a strict diet helping her to drop 22kg and build the incredible physique she has today. She's quick to remind people her body didn't change overnight, sharing her before and after photos to Instagram and pointing out the four year gap between them.

"I used to hate my body, I used to look into the mirror and it made me feel s—t about myself," she said of the 'before' pictures.

Now she's stronger than she's ever been and insists it's all about patience and consistency, adding that what works for her won't work for everyone – it's all about finding the thing that motivates you to get and stay fit.

"You have to find what works for you and stick with that," she said.

"When I started eating better and exercising those endorphins made me feel good, then when I saw myself in the mirror and saw the difference it just made me more motivated."

These days, April only steps onto the scales to make sure she can weigh in perfectly at fights, and confesses that if she weren't a boxer she wouldn't get on them at all.

How she feels in her own skin is more important than any number, and loving her body is worth every step it took her to get here.