“I sat down to write bit about myself and my story so far and my first thought was that I didn’t really have one. You hear so many inspriational stories of weight loss and huge transformations and I haven’t got anything like that to tell you but then I realised everyone has their own personal story with their owns barriers, struggles and successes, so here’s mine.
I was an active child and teenager, never really sitting still and eating what I wanted without giving it a second thought and not needing to. I have always had a healthy appetite and it was only after finishig uni when I started working full time time that I became aware of what I was eating and how little I was moving.
I worked in an office environment and deciding what to have for lunch was quite often the highlight of the day. On top of that it was always someones birthday and there seemed to be an endless supply of cakes and biscuits floating around.
I have never been overweight but I certainly started to notice that I couldn’t eat the way I used to.
I then did just as many people do in the quest to get in better shape, I cut my food down considerably and increased my exercise in the hope of getting leaner. I would go through phases of eating Special K, cuppa soups, slim fast, I think Ive tried it all.
I would then reward myself at the weekend for being ‘good’ all week with all the things I had cut out my diet during the week, wine, pizza, sweets. On top of that I would then run for hours on end to get as sweaty as possible as I thought that if i was working really hard I would see results. I remained ‘slim’ but I had no shape whatsoever and I was never really happy or felt confident with my body.
I worked so hard but wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I then met my now husband who encouraged me away from the treadmill and into the ‘mens area’ of the gym AKA the weights area. Although initially daunting I did start seeing results almost straight away.
My body started to change shape, I was becoming more confident both in and out of the gym and I felt strong. I have been consistently weight training for about 2 1/2 years now.
My biggest challenge, my relationship with food has taken slightly longer to change. It took me a long time to realise that I was consistently undereating and so no matter how hard I tried in the gym I wasn’t making the progress I really wanted.
It has only really been in the last 12 months that this has changed. I have in the past survived on roughly 1000 calories a day. It was a daunting process increasing my calories and at times it has been mentally tough gaining weight.
The result however is that I am now leaner that I have ever been with the shape and muscle I always wanted whilst eating almost three times as much food as I was. No food is now off limits and along with eating a consistently high amount of calories it means I no longer feel the need to ‘treat’ myself every weekend.
I can honestly say I have never been happier and this has in turn has had a knock on effect to all aspects of my life including having the confidence to get on a stage in a bikini. I can’t wait for the next chapter of journey now!”