My Fitness Journey
Let’s start at the beginning. I was never into fitness or exercise as a child and this continued into my early adult years. I was the one picked last in PE and was always hopeless at sports. I would feel humiliated when I tried and failed; I lacked the confidence to try to do anything about it. I toyed a little with leg warmers and leotards in my late teens in an attempt to shift some stubborn “puppy fat” but I was never slim or toned and I was always too fond of cake and chocolate!
I lost weight for my wedding, from food restrictions rather than exercise, but from then on my weight kept creeping up. After having two children, I never really got to grips with eating properly, exercising or looking after myself!
Fast forward to 40 and I was at my heaviest.
I went through various phases of crash dieting, shedding weight fast and putting it all back on in the space of a month. In my mind, to loose weight I only needed to look at my eating; exercise wasn’t necessary. To me, it wasn’t fun, was too much like hard work and reminded me of my school days. I always felt like a “fairy elephant” if I tried to do anything physical at all.
There was a brief time when I agreed to take on the Great North Run with my husband, although he didn’t expect me to run at his pace, and I soon discovered I was more competitive than I thought! I trained hard and left him behind, finishing nearly 10 minutes ahead of him! However after, without the motivation of a goal, I reverted back to my old ways of no exercise and poor eating. It was more enticing to open a packet of biscuits on the sofa!
In 2012, I bought my husband a day at the outdoor Velodrome in Halesowen and, somehow, he convinced me to go along with him. I had never ridden a road bike let alone one with fixed gears, my feet strapped in and no brakes! It was nerve wracking to say the least! But I did it, and I loved it and it turns out my legs had some power in them that I didn’t know about!
This time, that was it – that was the start of my love for cycling. I had found something I enjoyed and I was good at it and that was something I never expected to say about any form of exercise. I got a road bike, put my helmet on and gradually built up my cycling endurance and have been loving getting out on the road ever since!
In February 2015, after many years of nervously skiing, scared of my lack of agility and muscles aching, my worst fears were realised. I fell, tearing a ligament in the inside of my left knee. I had a brief spell of physio, and was deemed “mended” so off I went, continuing as I was: cycling, eating whatever I wanted, however unhealthy it may be for me and, much to my annoyance, still piling on the pounds! My knee still felt wobbly, so, I stopped worrying about what I looked like and started worrying my knee wouldn’t hold me up. After being assessed by a knee specialist, he told me the best thing I could do for myself was get a personal trainer to strengthen my legs. He was right.
This is where I met my personal trainer, James Stride. We had 5 weeks, 2 sessions a week, and we worked on my leg strength and stability. I had never done weights or strength work at the gym and most certainly didn’t think I would enjoy it but I did! By week 3, I felt myself improving and, unsurprisingly, our next ski holiday was a roaring success! I knew I couldn’t give this life-changing new hobby of mine up, so I carried on with PT just one day a week. Here I am 5 1/2 years later, still loving my PT and now loving myself a little more too!
So, what difference did a personal trainer make that cycling alone didn’t?
I always felt uncomfortable in my body and, even when I lost weight before, couldn’t fall in love with myself like all those magazines told me I would! I never felt healthy when I lost weight because I thought I had to starve myself and I could never keep it off.
But having a PT changed everything. I started to feel strong. I started to see a change in my body shape. I started to realise I could do “sporty” things and my body was more formidable than I gave it credit for. Having that extra person motivating me made all of the difference! I started to look at my diet and think about what I was eating, not cutting out all of my favourite things, but knowing what sort of moderation worked for my body.
Through PT I have developed a confidence and an appreciation for my body that I never would have believed possible. I am proud of what I can do. I am proud of the improvements I continue to make.
And… more importantly I enjoy it! I love the time I spend on my bike but I also love the many other varied exercises I do.
I now wish I had discovered this side of me when I was younger and I am glad I have now! I feel fitter, healthier and stronger than I have ever felt in my entire life.
I am currently 51 years old and loving my continued discovery of what my body can do and, knowing how much it’s changed my life, want to help others discover their love for living healthily, whatever form that takes, too!