An Etobicoke woman pledged to turn her life around on television.

Bonnie Staring, freelance writer, has teamed up with six other women from around the GTA on the W Networks' new docu-soap, Stuck, airing now. Staring said she answered a casting call last year looking for women who wanted to get fit or lose weight.

"For me, my main concern was that I've been inactive my entire life," she said. "I just turned 40 and I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without feeliing like I was going to die."

Staring said she liked the idea of being in the documentary.

"It wasn't a reality TV show." she said. "I didn't want to be on a show where you had to lose ten pounds in a week or they throw you off the island."

Staring said it took some time to get used to the camera crew, who followed the women around to see how they fit fitness into their lives.

"It was freaky at the beginning when all you see is cameras," she said. "My neighbours wanted to know what was going on."

She said the cameras were with her two or three times a week for five months. Once she was comfortable having them there, she said, she began to have a lot of fun.

"I loved it, even the embarrassing parts."

Staring said she didn't know any of the other women prior to making the show.

"It wasn't until halfway through the show that we started bonding with each other," she said. She said now that the cameras are gone the women still get together.

"We did a belly-dancing class together, which was hilarious."

Staring's personal trainer at Goodlife Fitness, Olga Segovia, said the TV crew was fun to work with.

"I think they came here three times," she said. "We just worked on the fly when they were here."

Segovia said Starings' sedentary lifestyle made her training a slow process.

"She was completely deconditioned," she said. "So it's like taking stepping stones."

Prior to her new workout regimen, Staring's said her fitness routine consisted of "opening the fridge door or walking by the gym". But she was soon amazed by how quickly she started to see results - transforming herself from someone who would gasp on the floor from exhaustion to someone who could keep up with the other women in a matter of weeks.

"I'm just really impressed with how quickly I could get into shape after being a couch potato." she said. "I didn't know how great being fit would feel."

Being diagnosed with diabetes at age five was a big influence on her lifestyle and she used the diagnosis as an excuse not to get fit, though she said having to deal with diabetes as a child did have an upside.

"It's easier to come home and find out Captain Crunch doesn't live there anymore, then to have to make the decision [to have a healthy diet] yourself as a teenager." she said.

Staring's husband of 17 years, Aden Staring, said he used to be a fitness nut but fell off the bandwagon some time ago. Also a freelance writer and technology support technician, he said the show appealed to his journalistic side and he approached the project as if it were another assignment.

He said his wife's new enthusiasm pushed him to get in shape. He said it's not a huge difference but it's enough to give the couple more energy and determination to get things done. "The Earth won't stop spinning, but hey this is great."

Staring said she learned a lot from her experience.

"We all come from such different backgrounds, and different experiences," she said. "For me, it was interesting to see what moms go through, What people working full-time jobs and have houses full of responsibility have to deal with."

Staring said she'd jump at the chance to do TV again.

"I think it would be fun to have my own talk show," she said. "Call it 'Get fit with Bonnie', or 'Have a fit with Bonnie'."

Stuck, airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on the W Network.