Weight loss! Everyone wants to improve themselves. We all find flaws with ourselves too.

As many times as family and friends are polite and say things like “you look great”, or “you look fine as you are”, “your beautiful inside and out”! Stop doing this! It doesn’t help.

People need to start been honest. Yes it may seem harsh but trust me, I would rather a friend or family member say “Sarah you’ve put a few pound on”, then it’s your choice if your happy the way you are or if that’s exactly what you needed to get back to it! Personally I’d rather someone be brutally honest….I get that that isn’t for everyone. It also takes someone a lot of balls to say something like that to anyone let alone me! Haha

Trust me it’s physiological! There is NO excuse! We are all time poor and busy I get it, but they are still excuses! There may be weeks when you can get 3-4 sessions in at the gym, then there may be weeks you can’t go….so be it!

I have always been a gym lover, and used to obsess and go at midnight sometimes just to make sure I made it at least every other day, even to squeeze half an hour in. I’m an all or nothing kind of girl.

After starting a new job and travelling on the road all week, some days spending upto 6 hours a day driving in the car on top of the working day! Believe me the weight creeps on…..and very quickly! Especially when the nearest thing to eat is a service station (not literally the building but the fast food places inside)!

Realisation moment

April 2017 someone posted a picture of me on social media, just a general photo tagging me in thinking nothing of it. Immediately after seeing this picture I thought WOW Sarah you really have gained a hellish amount of weight! Sort yourself out girl!…and why did no one tell me!

Junk food thrown out of the cupboards, the old slimming world book comes out and I am already thinking to myself I am dreading the gym! Knowing I hadn’t been for around a year and a half,I knew it was going to be a struggle…..but nothing is impossible right?! Think positive!

My first instinct was to weigh myself….but if I’m totally honest I didn’t dare! That’s pretty embarrassing. Instead I chose to see the inches drop (hopefully) and just had the intention of feeling better in my clothes. So as Joe Wicks would say “don’t use the sad step”! It literally is that!

Feelings

• Bloated
• Tired
• No motivation
• Excuses
• I’m too busy
• It’ll take over my social life
• Blah blah blah

You get it! The list could go on for days.

April-August 2017 I just ate healthy, and tried going to the gym at least two to three times a week, or as and when possible. I used the “eat less and move more” moto.

August 2017 was a family holiday to Greece. When your with family I don’t think you always have as much motivation as if you were going on holiday with friends. I’d already been to Spain with friends and really felt uncomfortable in a bikini, in fact you’ll only find two yes two pics of me in a bikini, all be it high waisted hiding the belly!

I felt much better about myself in Greece, but still nowhere near where I would ideally like to be! But progress is progress, so I won’t be beating myself up about it….but I do know I can do better!

When you used to be able to run 10k no problem, and struggle to now run 3k without looking like a beef tomato you know you’ve just got lazy!

2017 was also a very stressful year for reasons we don’t need to go into, however stress also leads to weight gain!

But instead of reaching for the comfort food like I usually would, I chose health and getting myself fit!

Goals

1. To be able to run 3k in 24 minutes (this I should be able to get to as I used to run 5k in 28)!
2. To loose half a stone and reassess then set a new goal
3. To feel better in clothes
4. Banning myself from buying new clothes until I feel comfortable in the ones I already own

It only took me 3 weeks to achieve target 1! Yes I looked like a beef tomato, and it took me consistency, and some serious motivation to get out of bed sometimes, but I made myself do it.

It’s time for the weigh in “the sad step”!

So the end of August approaches and I decide to go against Joe Wickes advice and stand on the “sad step”. Bare in mind I haven’t weighed myself upto now but I have a good idea of what I have lost….(around half a stone) still after weighing myself, I was honestly so disappointed in myself for letting myself get so lazy and unhealthy.

Okay so now I know what I weigh and have set myself two goals….interim goal of 1 stone and final target of 1st 6lb in total. The target wasn’t given by anyone but myself, I just remember been that weight on a holiday a few years ago and feeling good.

NO fad diets

NO personal trainer

Just pure self motivation and a little help from the following;

• Slimming world
• Lean in 15 book 1 and Joe Wicks workout dvd
• JD Gym facility

For those who haven’t ever done slimming world, this isn’t a fad diet, it is simply healthy eating (because you can still eat EVERYTHING)! This is a healthy eating, and portion control plan, with syns allowed. Syns are countable to ensure you stay on plan.

Planning

Meal planning is an absolute must. For me especially as I work away, I get up early, and I get in late. So planning is paramount, otherwise the detour off the motorway to the McDonald’s at the service station is way too easy!

Speaking of time also, it’s always easy for those professionals to say make time but if your getting up at 5am to drive 3-4 hours to work then do 6-8 hours work to drive 3-4 hours home or to a hotel….mentally and physically it can become impossible to be motivated. Personal trainers don’t and never will understand everyone’s jobs! It’s easy for them to say squeeze it in! Believe me I always try but when your sometimes clocking up 12-16 hour working days it’s not always doable! Be realistic! So in my case it’s planning. If I plan I win if I don’t I’m basically screwed!

Back to planning Sarah!…

Shoutout to “Princess Planning”! This lady is an absolute genius and has supported to what I can see as thousands of people both women and men on their weight loss journeys.

She makes meal planners/journals etc check her out on Instagram @princessplanning or website http://www.princessplanning.co.uk you won’t regret it!

So now I use my weekly meal planner, every Sunday I will plan for the following week, breakfast, dinner, and tea (yes that’s a northern thing), and snacks or syns. I will also plan when I can go to the gym that week and stick to it!

The plan is the plan, let’s tackle this one week at a time!

Tip

• Do your weekly meal plan
• Have something to eat whilst looking through your shopping list to see what you don’t need to buy
• Then and only then go shopping (going shopping when your hungry will lead to buying naughty food)

Here are some of the things I eat.

Be under no misconception the food is not boring! It can be as plain, fancy or as spicy as you like.

I eat a lot of;

• Fresh fish
• Peppers
• Cous cous
• Beef
• Turkey
• Porridge
• Weetabix
• Eggs
• Tomatoes
• Veg
• Bananas
• Tinned tomatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Grapes
• Baked beans
• Spaghetti hoops
• All of the meat is under 5% fat and as lean as possible
• All of my food is cooked in low calorie cooking spray, or fish for example is poached or steamed

I still once a week will eat out, and once a week I will have a take away, and I don’t go to the gym everyday.

Moderation is key, and don’t let one bad meal or day roll into the next! Every day is a fresh clean slate!

Eat the Krispy Kreme as long as you know you’re going to be sensible the next day or two and stay on plan!

Be clever when you eat out! Swap your fries for veg or salad, or syn them within your daily allowance.

One thing I can’t swap is the ice blast as cinema, I’ve done this twice and instantly regretted it! So just make sure you accommodate it into your syns. NEWS FLASH!…Can you believe they are taking the sugar out of these too! Bonus!

Have a treat! Get yourself a syn box, write on the box how many syns each treat is….. for example a fudge bar or curly whirly are staple chocolate bars and are only between 5-6 syns out of your 15 syn daily allowance.

Wine is the devil! The one I like is 14 syns a glass! Your killing me!

Your allowed a holiday so if your going on holiday, have what you like, then get back on plan when you return! You’ve still got to have a life! FOOD IS LIFE!

Your probably thinking “no wonder she hasn’t hit target yet with all those treats” but I’m sorry for living NOT! It’s all about moderation. Your allowed to have a social life/food life just balance the good with the bad.

Easter is coming too….be on chocolate watch!

Okay I’m ready…. I think…..oh god……I’m probably gonna regret posting this pic……but here it is! The left photo is the dreaded photo that was posted on social media in April 2017! The right photo is March 2018. Not even a year apart and I am feeling good! With only 4lb to my final target I am super motivated, and now need to up my game!

This is by no means my “after picture”! I intend on hitting the target and improving on tone and muscle.

I don’t want to be SKINNY. Curves are a must, I have hips, boobs, and cellulite still, but I now have my waist back, but best of all I feel healthy, and can run 10k again!

It can be done, and it can be done without a personal trainer, and without those fad diets!

Believe me I’ve tried some seriously bad diets! Living off two “protein shakes” a day with one meal just isn’t healthy or normal, yes it will give you a quick fix, yes you will drop pounds, but it’s not sustainable or realistic. For any foodie out there like me, I need actual food, texture and flavour. Yes some shakes are good for recovery etc etc I get that but they shouldn’t be used as a crash diet (I don’t believe anyway). When I tried this I was always hungry, it gave me constant headaches, and once my crash diet was over and I started eating, even healthy food again the weight creeps back!

Everyone will have their own opinion on food/diet/exercise etc but it just comes down to what works for you as an individual. I have used personal trainers in the past and have been good for results, but it can be a costly investment, which can’t always be sustained. So if you want to spend the pounds on a trainer go for it they’re great! PT’s also do food plans, and online plans which can work great for people on the go, but again these come with a price tag…..But it can be done without them.

I no longer go to a slimming world group as I have now got myself into a routine, into good habits, and can go it alone.

Feeling positive

My skin is clearer, I sleep better, I am more motivated, I feel good in myself! What’s better motivation than that!

Once I hit my target I will just maintain the current plan at the time to maintain the weight. Yes there will probably still be work to do, but then you ask yourself the question when do you stop? Can you be happy at a certain weight? Is that weight you’re perfect? Are you just trying to impress others, or are you doing this for yourself? You’ve got to ask yourself these questions and set yourself the right goals for you.

So if your feeling like I did, but find yourself sitting on the sofa, get up and jog on the spot, star jump, pick up your baby and squat with them, get the workout dvd that’s currently covered in dust in the DVD player instead of watching tv. If your stood cooking tea, squat when you open the oven, get some donkey kicks in there when your stood stirring the ingredients in the pan! It’s the small changes that make a difference.

Or if your me download the PowerPoints your teaching that week onto your phone and read them whilst your running on the treadmill, or cycling on the spin bike! I’m all for multitasking, especially if I know I need to get the job done.

Did I mention bootcamps are life! A lot of personal trainers now do this, and it’s definitely a winner for me, it’s fun, it’s competitive and doesn’t feel pressured! Did I mention it’s more cost effective too! Each bootcamp costs around £5 for a 45min-1hour session, in a one to one PT session it can cost between £25-£35 for the same amount of time. After all working out with others is so much more fun.

There you go! I have bared my soul, I have shown you the dreaded picture, you’ve seen progress can be made….YOU’VE GOT THIS! I’m still not at target, I don’t intend on being perfect, after all what is perfect! There will always be room for improvement, we will always learn new things about our mind and bodies, we will all have bad days. Let’s be imperfectly perfect as Stacey Solomon would say!

THAT photo will haunt me forever! But I then look at how far I have come in 11 months!

The journey will continue, in 3 weeks I will be in Lanzarote for a few days working, I will then be doing a 23.8 mile hike across the Lake District in aid of cancer research “sisters hiking together” (this will be a huge physical challenge), I then have a holiday to Cyprus in July for a friends wedding. I have plenty to motivate me so until then it’s over and out!

Things to remember

• Set a goal
• Go at your own pace, but challenge yourself…Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it certainly didn’t take only 4 weeks to gain the weight, so it isn’t going to fall off in 4 weeks either!
• Have a treat then get back on plan
• PLANNING is key
• Once you hit your goals have a treat…new pair of jeans, make up etc it doesn’t have to be a foodie treat! Make it something worthwhile to make you strive for it!

If you are starting a transformation journey, I wish you the best of luck.

Thankyou for reading, please leave any comments and feedback, and if you liked it or it motivated you give it a share. Also if you have any questions, please leave these in the comments section and I will answer as best as I can.

Sarah xXx