For months now I have been watching this Joe Wicks character on Instagram, his #leanin15 recipes always make my mouth water, but can I be bothered to get off my lazy arse to make them? No!!!
I have even dabbled and watched/attempted some of his HIIT videos on YouTube.
Now don't get me wrong I am not a total novice, when I was younger (18/19) I was a member of a gym, but the only thing I enjoyed doing was looking at boys that worked there and being too embarrassed
to run on the treadmill as I didn't want to look sweaty (YUCK) then I
joined a female only gym where they gave you magazines to read while
sitting on the bikes, I would be enthralled in a story about a Z list
celebrity for half an hour then realise that I was pedaling at a snails
pace which helped be burn 0 calories. Dont even get me started on the chip shop I had to walk by to catch the bus home!
I then decided to do the Great North Run, but fell over drunk (!!) dislocated my jaw and tore the ligaments in my ankle so that put a stop to my training, and that was that. I have in more recent years entertained getting up at 5.30am to participate in bootcamp and then tried ZUMBA (I am so not as Beyonce-like as I thought I was!) I've followed clean eating plans, but I am such a fussy eater I would turn my nose up at most things and then end up starving and undo all of my good work by gorging on a mars bar, or three.
You may be wondering what kind of person writes a blog like this...? Well let me fill you in, when I was a teenager I was a size 8 and weighed around 8.5 stone, perfect you may say, for a child, which I was. Yet I have compared myself to photographs of that 18 year old ever since. I have been in a long term relationship since I was 21, thin, firm and perky, I worked two jobs at this time and always on the go. We moved in together just after my 22nd birthday and I was expected to cook for myself after the luxury of living at home and having my tea on the table when I got in, at the same time I got a job where I sat on my bum for 8 hours a day.
As I mentioned before I am a fussy eater and struggle to even fancy anything to eat a lot of the time, money was tight so we ate cheap, stodgy food and being in a happy little bubble of a new relationship in our first home, meant that weight starting creeping on over the years that followed. I have always ate to suit my hormones so at the time of the month I am never full and can eat all day, and I have always been a person who can eat sweets and chocolate and never feel sick, so carry on eating I will do.
I knew I was getting bigger but I often found excuses not to exercise or eat better, NO TIME, NO MONEY, etc. That's when I would start some like the aforementioned gyms, zumba and bootcamp, but then I would get bored and stop.
Finally in September 2014, both me and my partner joined a training centre which claimed if we paid £150 we would lose up to 20lb in 6 weeks and if we did we would get the money back, winner! We both had 20lb to lose so it was going to be simple, right?
Wrong!
We started together and I really enjoyed the training sessions, yes they were hard and I felt sick while I was doing them but I managed and could feel they were working. I did struggle with the eating plan after a while as I had to cut out a lot of things and eat very bland food which just didn't appeal to me, but I stuck it out. For a week and a half that is, until I couldn't even walk or stand up straight because I was in severe pain. To cut a long story short I ended up in hospital with problems with my kidney's for almost 2 weeks and then had to be off work for a month. My illness sapped all of my energy for around 3 months and I was on strict orders to avoid alcohol (like I wanted a drink anyway) I lost weight at this time due to not eating but obviously my appetite came back and so did the weight.
My partner kept up the plan and got his money back, incase you were wondering and he now looks hotter than ever!! :)
So, this brings us to now, I pay £34 a month to a gym I haven't been to in 6 months, too busy and too many people looking at themselves in the mirror. I eat healthy(ish) I fall off the wagon every weekend and binge drink and eat carbs, maybe twice a week I am too lazy to cook so eat either nothing or a takeaway. I have always been bloated around my stomach, probably have an intolerance to something but never had that confirmed, Google is always right anyway. I hide my tummy well and nobody has asked if I am pregnant yet, but I have spent the last 2 years ensuring that the tops of my arms are covered at all times, which is hard and you're in your twenties and want to wear nice dresses and vests, but can't because you think they resemble an elephants leg. My pert bum is still pretty good but I have noticed that its spreading and has potential to creep over the sides of my seat at any time.
I am lazy - there is no other excuse for it and if I don't take control now, its only going to get worse. Yes I am mentally drained after a day at work, but that doesn't mean I need to sit on the sofa for the rest of the night, eating a bowl of cereal or crackers for dinner. So today the 14th July 2015, exactly 3 months until I celebrate my 30th Birthday, I signed up to the body coach. I don't for one minute think it will be easy, but I can do it and I will do it and I hope that you enjoy reading about my journey and I may even post my before and after photos!!
To 30 and beyond!!!!!!!
