What inspired you to make your first change into leading a healthier, more active life?
After having my son and becoming more sedentary through Lockdown, I gained a lot of body fat and didn’t feel confident in myself anymore. I wanted my son to grow up active and healthy and knew the only way to do this was to be a role model and take action myself.
What did you do?
I saw a local PT was running a 4 week fat loss challenge, so signed up for some accountability. Following that I signed up to weekly PT sessions and online coaching. The journey was slow but I began to see results. A number of my PTs clients had done transformation photoshoots in the past, but this was not something I ever thought I could do. After talking to a few members of the community I decided to just go for it and signed up for a fitness photoshoot in November 2022. It was a scary goal, completely out of my comfort zone but has helped me to learn so much about myself and help to embed health and fitness even further into my everyday life.
How have the changes you made improved your mental and physical fitness?
As with most people who start going to the gym, particularly to lose body fat, I have found that I have gained so much more than I have lost. Physically I am the fittest I have ever been, I can lift weights I never thought I would be able to and can easily run 5k without stopping. The gym is a place where I can clear my head and reset from any life stressors in a positive way. Also, the awareness of the impact of improved physical fitness on my mental health helps to keep the
consistency going forward.
What is the hardest thing about maintaining your new, improved habits?
The hardest thing about maintaining improved habits is actually if your support system doesn’t understand your why. Talk to the people around you and let them know why you want to continue with the habits and the benefits it has for you. If they understand why they are so important to you, they are less likely to steer you off track
What’s next for you?
I have signed up for the Yorkshire 3 peaks challenge with my coaching group. Hiking and Hill walking has never been a strong point, so I want to train myself in the right way to support the challenge, building on the foundation I have put in place over the last few years.
How would you advise someone who is wanting to improve their physical and mental fitness?
Find something that you enjoy, then a group of like minded people to enjoy it with. It could be a team sport, a gym class or even something as simple as hiking, but if you have others to go on the journey with it makes everything so much easier. The benefit of community is they will cheer you on for your achievements and support you through your struggles. Having other peoples experiences and advice to draw on has been invaluable in my journey and inspires me to do things I never thought I could.
