When I started my fitness journey I didn’t intend to go down the path of being a professional trainer. I did it because like most women I was unhappy with my body. At the time I was very overweight, I saw exercise as a chore and I was eating and drinking all the wrong things. Then like some women, I decided I was changing and joined a slimming group, I did really well with it and started going to the gym, I did this with a friend who was in a similar situation as myself. It was great I was enjoying it, I lost loads of weight and became slightly fitter. However I was not what I would consider now as eating healthily, I was just eating what was allowed within the diet and I suppose the group gave me the accountability I needed to be mindful about what I was eating, so in all I ate less (I was in calorific deficit) and was moving more by going to the gym. I reached my goal and then was able to maintainer for about 18 months before I lost my mojo. Both me and my friend stopped going to the slimming group and she started to go less to the gym, due to commitments. For a while I stuck at it but then that too started to fall by the wayside as I let my life get in the way and other things took priority. Slowly but surely I slipped back into the bad habits I used to have, so inevitably the weight crept back on.

At this point I thought I would be able to loose weight like last time, so I started eating less and being more mindful about how much I ate, but without that accountability I found from the slimming group I struggled, as my partner was not interested in eating healthier. I felt I had little or no support so about 3 years after I left the slimming group I joined back up and went for about 6 month, lost weight, but this time I found it harder, but I managed it. After that I was happy with the weight I was, so life crept back in and I allowed others things to pull me away from the slimming group. I still exercised but I did this at home when I had time.

Obviously I gained weight, but this time it was slowly and not as noticeable, I didn’t gain as much as I had lost, so I thought I was happy with it as long as I could maintain that and not put more on. I was able to do this for a few years, but I just wasn’t happy, I felt uncomfortable in my body and my fitness level was still relatively low. So I decided I needed to change the way I was doing things, this yo-yo diet and exercise wasn’t good or sustainable in the long term. I needed a new mindset (harder than you might think!).

I used to view food as a reward or a comfort, ie I’d had a good exercise day so I could have a Chinese take out, or I’d had a rubbish day at work so I’d eat cake to cheer myself up (and while I ate it I felt good, but then after I ate it I felt guilt or that the good feeling wasn’t worth it).

I started changing things slowly by limiting buying things that I’d just stuff my face with like cake or biscuits , I reduced my sugar in my cup of tea, cut out fizzy pop and replaced it with water or cordial. These small changes helped but not massively. Then I decided I would prep my breakfast and measured out a small portion of zero added sugar granola, I added some spices like ginger and cinnamon to give flavour and help digestion, and added blueberries (a great antioxidant). This propelled me into learning more about nutrition. I found some online courses that I completed that helped me have a better understanding of what I should eat and I’ve been gradually improving my diet to include more vegetables, great for fibre and micronutrients. I have been limiting my processed foods and cooking more meals from scratch. As I increased my weight training I added more protein to my meals to help with muscle growth. I try to drink 1-2 lots of water a day and now I find with these small changes I have cut out nearly all snacks.

In my personal opinion diets don’t work, (yes you get results but most people who loose weight through a slimming club eventually put weight back on) it’s about changing your mindset and relationship to food, it’s not till this happens that you can make any sustainable changes to your weight.

Tell me about your experience, or views