Back in 2015, after years of yo-yo dieting and very little exercise, I launched a get fit for 40 campaign to hit a target weight of 8 stone 7lbs. My starting weight was 10 stone 11lbs, so it was no easy task. I got myself a personal trainer and continued to attend Weight Watchers, my fat club of choice at the time!! To be honest, the money I have spent on diet clubs, detoxes, juice diets and god knows what else, I could probably have paid for liposuction ten times over!!
Anyway, over the course of that year I did three training sessions a week and three Zumba classes which I loved. I cut my alcohol right down and sort of dieted with a combination of Clean 9 detoxes, where you drink something resembling dirty pond water, intermittent fasting, Weight Watchers points system, sort of, and other stuff which to be fair worked, but isn’t exactly sustainable. I was probably only consuming 800-1000 calories a day which is too low to be sustainable or healthy in the long run!
The outcome was, that by my 40th birthday I hit my target weight of 8 and a half stone, I was significantly fitter and healthier and sporting a 28inch waist. All in all, I worked hard and got the results. I kept the weight off for about 2-years before it very slowly started to creep back on again. I continued with my PT training and went through stages of experimenting with running and HIT but I couldn’t seem to keep any consistency in what I was doing.
During that time, I needed to change to a different personal trainer closer to home. He focused more on resistance training i.e. training with weights for those of you who are new to all this, and I discovered a real passion for weights based training. However, because I got a job in London and started commuting, that meant I was only really doing my one PT session a week and eating badly. Not to mention the alcohol consumption at weekends. So, whilst it helped me stay fairly fit, I was undermining the exercise with the lifestyle.
Don’t get me wrong, I have never been a weekday drinker. I am not the person who comes home every day and opens a wine or beer, but we have a busy social life (well we did before lockdown!!!). So there was always a reason or excuse to have drinks and nice food at weekends. Plus, I was drinking pints of cider, which are absolutely laden with calories, so I wasn’t even making smart choices about what I was drinking.
I did loads of different diets and if I didn’t see immediate results I would give up or try the next new thing. There was absolutely no consistency in my approach to losing weight or doing exercise. What that all meant is that over the last 4-years, since my get fit for 40 campaign, I had slowly regained about three quarters of the weight I had lost.
In January this year things changed. I went skiing with our neighbours and friends Katie and Stuart, who were due to get married on the 6th June 2020. Whilst we were on holiday, Katie asked me to be her bridesmaid, which was a very welcome surprise. She was happy for me to choose my own style of dress as long as it was in baby pink. Now this gave me the kick up the arse I needed, as the thought of walking down the aisle behind Katie resembling George the pink hippo from Rainbow was not a look I wanted to be owning!!!
When we got back from skiing, I decided to sign up to the Premium membership of the James Smith Academy. I have been following James on social media for a few years and even went to see him live to hear him speak about his no nonsense approach to health and fitness. He is funny, controversial and says it how it is which I could relate to. But until I was asked to be bridesmaid, I didn’t really put his coaching and ethos into practice.
The premium membership is £40 a month which is cheaper than a gym membership and as I was no longer training with a PT, it seemed like a good investment. I am lucky enough to have my own gym at home but needed a programme I could work to. The membership with JSA gives me access to an online PT who sends me my personalised workout programme of three sessions a week. I tell them what equipment I have at home; they design my programme around that equipment based on how many sessions I want to do a week, plus any specific areas I want to target. I then start each workout session on the JSA app where I also record all my weights and progress. At the end of the four weeks I then request a new programme. It is absolutely fantastic and worth every penny.
Regarding diet, JSA just asks you to focus on hitting your calorie target and protein target, which you work out on their very easy to use online macro calculator, which is free for anyone to use. There are no points or syns or food plans to follow, you simply eat within your calorie range and try and hit your protein target each day. I track everything on my fitness pal so it’s dead easy. I have an allowance of 1460 calories a day, but James recommends multiplying this by 7 and then using a flexible approach. So, over a week I can have 10,220 calories in total, if I only use say 1300 some days, I can use the balance at weekends if I want to have a few drinks or a treat. It makes it so much easier to keep within the limit and not feel totally deprived. I even allow myself a mini Cadbury’s chocolate bar most days to stop me craving a huge sharing bag full!!
I must admit that the first few weeks I would track religiously Monday to Friday and then not really track over the weekend! But now I track 7-days a week. If I know I want a drink or we are having a zoom party, I work out my saved calories from the week, plus my daily allowance and set myself a limit for the night. I have found that by using the flexible approach, I can have a good drink at the weekends and stay under my weekly target. I am also trying to limit cider to maybe one or two a weekend and opt for JD in the evenings if I want a few drinks. I can have four JDs to one cider for the same calories!!
The second thing that really helped me this time around is that as I signed up for the JSA, they launched one of their 12-week challenges. They do these a few times a year for premium members and basically you have to set a goal for the 12-weeks of the challenge and every week upload your progress towards your goal and photos of you in your underwear on the app (they don’t actually specify it has to be in your underwear but you get the idea!!!) Might sound a bit dodgy but it is a secure app and it’s all about having a visual record of your progress so you don’t focus on what the scales say. The JSA really encourages you to focus on measurements and photos to monitor progress and not your weight.
I was really sceptical about this as I have been brainwashed into being obsessed with what the scales say for so long, it is a really hard habit to break. The scales have always been my sole focus for successes and failures and often completely undermined any progress I might have been making by making me feel so down hearted if the numbers didn’t say what I wanted them to. This has been the most important change for me to make and has led to such a positive shift in my behaviours and approach to health and fitness. My emotions are no longer highjacked by the scales, driving self-destructive behaviours with food and drink.
The 12-week challenge started the week before we went into lockdown, so not the ideal time but it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It gave me something to focus on and work towards. The first few weeks were really tough as we all had to adjust to this new way of life, and I think a lot of people turned to comfort eating and drinking to get through. I certainly did, but at the same time I stuck to the workout plan and restarted my long-standing love affair with Zumba once again via online classes three times a week. Plus, my sister Gill and I made sure we walked 2-4 miles a day with the dogs or on our own when they are at day-care.
After the first few weeks of being a bit crap with food and drink I buckled down and made sure I stayed on track with my calorie and protein target. I have completed three workout sessions every week for the last 12 weeks, plus the three online Zumba classes a week. I have not missed one session.
My target for the challenge was to lose 2 inches off my waist. Friday 5 June was the final day of the challenge and my waist is now 4.5inches smaller than it was at the start. The difference in my weekly ‘underwear’ photos is really obvious, but on the scales I have only lost 4lbs. Now in the bad old days I would have got upset at the fact I wasn’t losing loads of weight, I would have convinced myself it wasn’t working and given up. But because I had the weekly photos and measurements, I had the concrete evidence it was working despite the scales not moving much. I have compared the photos with some I took during my get fit for 40 campaign when I weighed about 8lbs less than I do now and I have a better shape and toning now than I did when I weighed less. Relying just on the scales is not accurate and won’t help your mindset. Finally, I have been set free!!!!
I am not going to share my ‘underwear’ photos on here yet, although I may after another three months or so. Instead, I will share a photo of me in a dress I wanted to fit back into. This dress was purchased back in 2015 during the get fit for 40 campaign for someone’s retirement party. I remember trying it on in the shop, Karen Millen no less, and being absolutely astounded at my reflection. Before that moment, I couldn’t remember ever wearing a dress that didn’t hang off me like a shapeless sack. This was a designer, figure-hugging dress that actually looked good on me and flattered my curves…it was such a huge moment for me. So, at the start of the 12-week challenge I took some photos of me wearing that same dress and as you can see, there was a Grand Canyon sized chasm that the zip simply couldn’t cross!! I tried it on again this week, and to my absolute surprise up went the zip!!! It might be a bit snugger then when I first purchased it, but this is a marathon and not a sprint!!
I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be, but for the first time ever I am focussed on very different goals and evidence of my progress and not on what the sad step says when I get on it. I still monitor my weight, but I don’t much care what the scales say as long as the measurements and photos still show progress in the right direction!
Sadly, my motivation not to look like a hippo in a bridesmaid dress has been scuppered, as poor Katie and Stuart had to move their wedding to 2021 due to COVID-19. But that does give me a lot more time to get to my ultimate goals before I need to choose the dress.
Loving Life and Food 