SWEETIESAL

I do apologise if you think I have gone overboard on the weightloss/nutrition/recipes posts over the last couple of weeks. The thing is that I want my blog to be about anything and everything, and what's going on with me at the moment and this is kind of what's on my mind!

A friend of mine put on Facebook this week, 'happy 6 month anniversary' to his new wife (aww) and it got me thinking that it has been 6 whole months since I decided to change my life and start a new and daunting fitness regime and diet. I remember this because I saw the wedding as 'last chance saloon' to eat drink and be merry before cutting out everything nice to eat (ok, drama queen!).

Fast forward 6 months of training with Chris, and I am no longer carrying 3 stones worth of fat around with me from day to day, I feel fitter, healthier, have done things I never would have done earlier this year and I would say am happier all round. Pretty big statements to make!

The whole point of me blogging about this journey was that I knew there would be times when I would think that it's too hard or not happening fast enough, but that's the point. To lose weight in a healthy way where everything shrinks in with you at a proportionate rate, it has to be fairly slow and paired with moving more.

I never opted for any diets that I deem 'quick fix' e.g. shakes/juices/fasting etc as; a) I like food too much, b) we've all heard the horror stories, c) I honestly didn't see the point of compromising life enjoyment for the sake of being thinner and then potentially putting it back on whenever I tried to eat normally again. So this experience, for me, has absolutely revolutionised my life. Whilst I have made alot of changes, I can see how they are for the better. I have looked through my facebook photos tonight and had to smile at some of the photos.

Now I will be honest, I have not really ever been large and unhappy, I was always the girl with the huge personality to match the ahem, slightly 'larger than average' body, and I certainly didn't shy away from going out or having fun. In fact, alot of people since seeing photos I have reposted on my facebook and twitter this week have said 'I don't remember you ever being that big' and the truth is, I knew how big I was and yes there were days that I would watch TV or read magazines and wish that I was remotely close in size to any of my favourite celebrities but I genuinely didn't know how to get there, but in the same breath, I was fairly happy in my own skin.

I tried weightwatchers when I got the first bridesmaid duty request back in January 2012 and it did work for me but very slowly. I lost just over a stone in a year and whilst I don't necessarily dislike the concept I just personally would recommend it as being a kick start to doing something a little more structured. 

I went along to Elite Performance Fitness earlier this year on a bit of a whim with my friend and met with Antony and Chris with a 'yeh I know what's coming' attitude and feeling defensive about what having a personal trainer entails. 

I still stand by the fact that I would not respond positively to being shouted at. I appreciate that some people are motivated by having someone drive them and taking a more assertive approach to directing the exercise, but that is simply not me and quite frankly I think I would end up in a heated argument with a trainer if that is how they spoke to me. But anyhow, what I have said time and time again about Elite, is that it genuinely is like one big family.

I was used to going to the gym, desperately trying to avoid talking to anyone, doing my 30-60 mins exercise and getting the hell out of there. That is a stark difference to the experience I have at the gym now to that I had 6 months ago. I enjoy going. That is itself a huge achievement as let's face it, working out isn't an easy feat! I have also met some genuinely incredible people along the way and made some friends for life out of the process.

This isn't intended to be like a 'groupie page' for my gym but I just really want to stress that no matter what preconceptions you might have about going to a good independent gym and/or getting a personal trainer, you should always go in with an open mind. I am also not intending to use this as a bragging platform for what I have done as I can also appreciate that some of you don't know me personally and really might not care. What I want to achieve by this, is to share my experiences from the perspective of someone who has been big and is continuing on a weightloss transformation. 

I am by no means where I want to be yet, I have 2 dress sizes I want to lose before Christmas and then I will reevaluate where I am at. The vain part of me is thrilled with all the new things I am now able to wear and the sensible part of me is thinking that I will have improved my health ten fold by becoming more active and changing my diet.

One of the main things for me in getting through this has been support. The people who can talk you off a crisps related ledge, or talk you into going to the gym when you can't be bothered. It is such an important part of engaging your brain with achieving that I really would urge people thinking about doing the same to reach out and ask for help. It is much more of a mental battle than I ever anticipated.

If you don't have friends or family in the same boat then twitter is the place for you. I have received SO many nice messages over the past week and I can't tell you how touched I have been to read them, and when people tell me I have inspired them in some way it makes the story and photo sharing all worth it!

The good choices are now becoming more of an actual choice rather than an I should choose this and it does get easier in time. I have found all the beauty and fashion blogging I do is perfect to keep me on the straight and narrow as it is a hobby that keeps me busy, gets me out and about at events and also shows me clothes that I now have a chance at fitting in to!

If you have any questions or just want to chat with me about any of the above then all you have to do is get in touch. The various contact methods you can reach me on are detailed in the contact me page above.

If you want to join me in losing a dress size over the next few months, then check out Chris' October offer, click here for more details.