And so it begun..

It was around 2 years ago. I sat on the floor of my bedroom, crying uncontrollably. I knew something had to change. I'd been insanely sick with glandular fever, and feeling depressed and anxious I knew I had to reach out to someone and ask for help. I couldn't convince myself that I was happy being a 'big' girl anymore. I weighed over 100kgs, had no idea of healthy balanced eating habits and did little or no exercise. I couldn't hide my sadness any more.

I decided to send a message to my brother and his ex-wife. They're both keen exercisers with personal training experience. I remember writing the message and being so anxious about sending it I deliberately left my phone at home so I didn't keep checking my phone to see if they'd replied. I wrote something to the tune of "Paul and Cind, I need your help. I'm so unhappy with my body and lifestyle. I'm incredibly depressed. Please help!" and that they did.

I received replies of whole-hearted support. They both committed to train with me and support me to help me gain health and fitness while losing weight. I knew that if I was going to do this, I'd have to listen to all the advice they had to offer, be open and honest with them and do my very best to make them proud.

It started with exercising with either of them 3-4 times a week. During this time we'd talk about goals, healthy food habits, keeping food diaries, bad habits that I had..it was an opportunity to explore and understand my relationship with food, my relationship with my body and my relationship with my self esteem.

I would talk to one of them about different things. I would talk about being teased for being over weight, about finding exercise difficult, about achievements, about failures. I would sweat, cry, yell and complain and they stood by me through the whole process. I enjoyed varied workouts with Cind while Paul taught me all he knew (which was a lot) about boxing (which I gained a huge passion for).

Now 28 kg lighter, I am eternally grateful. I have a new lease on life. Exercise is my hobby (I never thought I would say that) and I enjoy a sport so much that I would do it everyday if I could. Paul and I have now stopped training together (a sad conclusion for me as we have become so close through this experience) and I have applied to a training course (certainly never thought I'd do that!) in the hope that I can offer people the same experience that Paul and Cind gave me.

 

So I now recognise that I've moved into the next phase of my fitness journey and although I haven't satisfied my fitness/weight loss goals (I'd quite like to fight, I'd quite like to lose another 10kgs), I know what can be achieved and I know what is out there and I endeavour to share the next part of this journey with you all.