Look what has been achieved in 10 months! This truly is a remarkable journey and we are delighted to feature. Go grab a redbush tea and take a read. “Spedders – This Is Your Life” January 1st 2014 was a momentous day for me. It was the day I officially started my transformation back to health and fitness after a couple of years of being caught on the merry-go-round of work, family and relationship pressures. The weight had piled on and I felt stressed, tired and lethargic. I had received another chasing letter from my GP asking me to come in for my “Over 40 Healthcheck”. I knew that I would fail my MOT and I didn’t want to end up being classed as unroadworthy! Life seemed to revolve around a cycle of work, home and family chores, which didn’t seem to leave me any time for myself. I didn’t like the way I looked or felt and I knew that I had to change my lifestyle in order to change my physical appearance and mental outlook. I took a long, hard look at my life and identified where I could make some time for myself and then I enlisted the help of family to provide childcare whilst I went to fitness classes. A good friend of mine had introduced me to Fitquest Bootcamp classes in 2013. I had found these hard work but the well-planned exercises, supportive, enthusiastic and encouraging regime convinced me that I could lose weight and get fit if I stuck to a regular plan of exercise and healthy eating. I had always been fit and enjoyed sport. I also enjoyed healthy food, so I knew that it was easily achievable with a positive mental attitude and plenty of hard work. And so it was that the transformation began with three sessions of Bootcamp per week and a healthy eating plan of moderate portions of home-cooked, unprocessed wholefoods and no sugar. No faddy diets but instead, an exciting, delicious and satisfying eating plan which is easy to stick to. When I started at the beginning of January, I was too embarrassed to weigh myself and so I don’t know my starting weight, although I was a dress size 18. The exercise and eating programme took immediate effect and by the end of January, I felt that I had lost a lot of weight and was now a size 16. This is when I dared to weigh myself and came in at 93 kilograms. I was feeling so much fitter and positive about the results I had achieved and what I was able to achieve if I stuck to the plan. At the beginning of March, I weighed 84 kilograms and was now a size 14. I now felt confident enough to submit myself for my MOT and passed with flying colours! I wasn’t just roadworthy, I was now a “good little runner”! In fact, I had started running and joined Frampton Cotterell Harriers, adding a running session to my Bootcamp regime. I could see and feel the benefits of the weight loss and improvement in fitness. I slept better, was able to deal with stress better, felt more confident in myself and was up for new challenges. The only downside to all of this was the expense of new smaller clothes every few months! I took my son on holiday to Turkey in May and was interested to note that putting things into perspective, my 20 kilogram luggage was the same weight as the weight I had lost since January!! The “Longest Day of the Year” was approaching and I now weighed 74 kilograms and was a size 12. I was excited to enter “The Fitquest Games” on 21st June. Amongst all the other endurance events that day, I completed my first ever 5K race in a respectable 29 minutes 47 seconds. The encouragement from the Fitquest Instructors and my fellow teammates, friends and family was an amazing feeling. I was encouraged by my improved fitness to put myself forward for new challenges and have regularly taken part in Parkrun 5K races at Little Stoke on a Saturday. By September, I weighed 64 kilograms and was a size 10. I was now fit enough to have sliced over 5 minutes off my 5K time, achieving my PB of 24 minutes 36 seconds. I also completed my first 10K race, the Watermore 10K on 28th September in 52 minutes 20 seconds. I now hardly recognise the person I was last year and I have also found the other people who I knew well and haven’t seen me for a while are shocked and pleasantly surprised at the transformation! The benefits of weight loss and improved fitness have had positive effects upon all areas of my life. I have built exercise into my daily routine and enjoy the fun of exercising with my son and my dog. I now park my car further from work and walk 30 minutes per day. I often take my running kit to work and run in my lunch hour around the Waterfront. Every day involves some kind of exercise and I now wouldn’t be without it. I have enjoyed learning more about the nutritional effects of food and how to eat well in a way that is enjoyable, healthy and satisfying and gives my body the best fuel to keep me alert, fit and active. Along this journey, I have formed amazing friendships with some lovely like-minded people with whom I have shared some of the most enjoyable and challenging events of my life. I would like to thank all of those people who have played a part in my transformation. My family and friends who have all been loving and supportive throughout the process, those at Fitquest – Lou, Mark, Lindz, Nic, Lucy and Fitquest Running Club Clive who have all provided the inspiration, motivation, incentive, support, encouragement and an amazing training programme, Frampton Cotterell Harriers Jason, David and Bruce for fantastic training and for re-igniting a love of running, all those volunteers at Parkrun at Little Stoke who provide a great event at which to train . Also, all those at Bootcamp and Fitquest and Frampton Harriers running clubs who I have become friends with over the course of this year for their support and encouragement. Apologies go to local public houses for a reduction in takings over the past year, but I think they will probably agree that the results are worth it! There is only positivity and forward thinking now. The challenges I have set myself and conquered prove that it is possible to deal with all the stresses, strains and problems of life by breaking them down into manageable chunks and chipping away at them one-by-one! (Why do I hear, “It’s just a 20 second Tabata” in my head at this point?!) If I am ever tempted to doubt myself in future, I give permission for someone to remind me to stay positive by reposting one of the “before” photos of me. Despite my wish to dispose of the evidence, it is a reminder of what can be achieved with hard work and mental determination – I am now one-third of my bodyweight lighter, but so much richer in core body strength and that is not just physical, it is mental core strength too! The first picture was last yr Superwoman - April 2014 Running pic - Sep 2014
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 15:30:50 +0000
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