Marshmallows to Marathons

In 2011 I was my heaviest at almost 16 stone. I was wearing size 18 clothes and avoided leaving the house as I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. I was never really an active child. I hated P.E. I avoided any sports hobbies or classes and I just loved to eat (who doesn't?!) I guess I have turned my life around in the past few years. I exercise a minimum of 4 days a week and I really enjoy it. My diet is still not brilliant, but it is definitely much better than it used to be.

To give you a brief background of my diet in 2011; I loved chocolate and would eat at least 1 bar a day. Crisps and fizzy drinks were also a huge part of my diet and I probably had at least one meal from a fast food restaurant a week.

Photo of me then (left):

What changed all of this was one afternoon back when I was working for Debenhams as a Sales Assistant. I was chatting away to a customer who seemed really friendly. Then​ she asked me 'when is it due?' I still cringe thinking about this today. It was mortifying. I was not pregnant, but clearly I looked it. She was just as humiliated, probably even more so. After that I decided something needed to change. I cannot be mistaken for a pregnant lady again. I was 18 and I should have loved going out clubbing and wearing outrageously revealing clothing like all my friends were, but I was too uncomfortable to do so. 

So I decided to diet. To begin with it was a case of cutting out the obvious things. I gave up fizzy drinks, fast food takeaways, unnecessary snacks and the main thing was chocolate. I gave it up for good. Cut it out of my diet forever. It has now been 6 years and I have still not had any chocolate. I am a recovered chocoholic! 

By 2012 I was a comfortable size 14, weighing about 13.10 stone. This was a plateau that I couldn't get past though. I tried everything. I joined the gym, I carried on eating healthier but could not shift any more weight. It was annoying to say the least. Then I heard about Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. 30 minute hit workouts for 30 days. I then did Jillian's Ripped In 30. I shifted another two stone. 11 stone is the recommended weight for my height. I would recommend Jillian's DVDs to anyone.

Photo of me now (left):

I'm 24 and have just done something I never in my life thought I would do. I have signed up for the 2018 London Marathon. I may not get in, but this is a huge challenge and something I will be working towards for the next year. I have just over a year to train and practice and I am so determined. My diet is still not brilliant. (I have eat two bags of marshmallows in the past two days!!) so this is something I am really going to have to work on over the next year. I will be documenting my training weekly on my blog. So check back for updates on my progress and if you do have any questions I would be happy to answer them.

Thanks for reading!

Mel x

TIME TO GET THIN!

Good evening to you!

I've always been a curvy girl, since a young age. I have a really over-enthusiastic sweet-tooth and never used to be one for exercise either. I probably went to about 4 P.E classes in the whole time I was at school. Another issue is that I have an under-active thyroid so my weight tends to fluctuate each time my medication needs altering. It's a bit of a nuisance!

Last year I decided to join the gym. I have gone almost every week in the year and a half I've had a membership. About four months ago I decided to start working out 3 mornings a week and I've done really well at committing to it. I've had the odd break here and there but generally I've stuck to the plan. What's really frustrating however is that I've not lost any weight.

The reason why is because I'm only doing a short (but intense) workout in each session. So I'm only burning about 200 calories each time I go. To lose a pound you need to burn 3500 calories. So that's about a month worth of exercise to lose just one pound. I've definitely gained muscle in that time but I've not burnt any fat.

The other issue is that I've not done too well at the ol' dieting. So although I'm now having salads for lunch, I'm still partial to the odd Caramel Latte from Costa and I may go a bit overboard on the salad dressing. If I eat 300 less calories a day than I have been, I will lose that one pound in half the time. So I've decided to make some changes. Here's what I'm gonna do...

1. I am going to commit to the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. If I miss a day, I will go on the weekend. I am going to do a slightly longer workout and include more cardio.
2. I am going to eat less porridge (I do overfill my bowl a bit) and have only two spoonfuls of honey (rather than squeezing it out straight from the bottle - I'm so bad).
3. I am going to stick to a maximum of 3 coffees a day, still using sweetener but not sugar.
4. One full 750ml bottle of water during my work day.
5. I will continue to cycle to and from work.
6. I will continue to have salads for lunch but will have more salad content and less ceaser dressing.
7. Fizzy drinks are forbidden from my diet.
8. If I go out for lunch with my colleagues, I will have soup in the evening for dinner and if I can't do that, I will make up for it the following day.
9. I will weigh myself once a week at the gym. I have a really bad fear of the scales. It's been ages since I last weighed myself so I must face up to it and regularly check my progress.
10. Joe and I will need to have less fattening meals and more nutritious food. I will make meal plans every week for the week ahead.
11. I will aim to reach my goal weight before my birthday (December 3rd). I will probably pile it all on again over Christmas but hey ho.
12. If Joe makes me a 'joast dinner' (roast by Joe) I will have scrambled eggs for breakfast and will include an additional workout into my week.
13. I am going to keep a food diary of what I eat and when I exercise. I will also have a timetable of what I am going to eat and what time I am allowed to eat it.
14. I am allowed fast food however I must not eat anything bad during the day so it's well-balanced. I'm also going to make sure that I only have fast food on the weekends or if I am working late/going to an event.
15. I'm allowed a maximum of 3 coffee shop coffees a month. Any more = one extra workout.

So this is my plan. I will keep you in the loop with how I get on. Now I've spent the past half an hour writing a blog post I actually have to do this. I've said it now and there's no going back.

Wish me luck!

Mel x