By the age of 8 I started to put on about a stone a year. I dreaded the medicals we had at school and the worried looks the nurse used to give me and of course avoided all types of sports or PE. I remember being bullied a bit but managed to hide behind a sense of humour. At 13 I was 13 stone and so it went on
As an adult I joined many slimming clubs and did many diets but the best diets always started tomorrow. I yo-yo dieted my way through more than 30 years.
Exercise was never on the cards because I felt too embarrassed to go swimming and it hurt to run and walk. Getting upstairs was a challenge. People used to shout at me in the street and make all sorts of nasty comments, I wore a walkman with loud music so I couldn't hear. I gradually climbed to my worst weight of nearly 27 stone
I became more desperate and got into the vicious circle of comfort eating and trying to blot out my weight problem. My family and friends were very concerned for me and tried to help but often I would eat very healthy meals with them and then retreat to my room and the drawer full of biscuits, cakes and chocolates.
I joined another slimming club and managed to lose some weight but I was still yo-yoing.
In 2006 I heard BBC Radio Solent setting up The Daisy Appeal to raise money for the Wessex Cancer Trust. Julian Clegg on the Breakfast Show was asking if anyone wanted to join in a sponsored diet in aid of the appeal. I thought I could do with a challenge so I phoned the BBC and volunteered.
I didn't hear anything for a few weeks and then I had a phone call from Vicky Bartlett the producer of the show. She said that they were interested in my story and would like to follow me on my sponsored diet and feature me on their show. She also said 'we know how difficult it is to lose weight so we have arranged for you to have a Personal Trainer and a course at a health spa'
I was excited and terrified at the same time. My image of a Personal Trainer was a big 'Marine' type!!
I was so nervous on the first show but the crew were great and I met 2 other ladies who were going to do the dieting too.
A young lad walked in and introduced himself as Will, the Personal Trainer, he was so friendly not scary at all. We later found out on the show that he was also a world class Triathlete.
In the studio with Team Will
After the show we arranged our appointments with Will and discussed the best diet to follow, which in the end wasn't a 'diet' at all but a really healthy way of eating.
My friend took me to the spa in the New Forest for the first time and practically had to push me out of the car. We met Will in reception and he showed us around. It was a great place Swimming Pool, Massage Rooms, Beauty Treatments etc and then he showed us the gym. To me it looked like a torture chamber. He explained that I would do a 12 week course with him which included looking at Nutrition, Lifestyle, Weight Loss and Exercise. In the end it completely changed my life and probably saved it.
As I was so big I used to wear leggings to stop my legs rubbing together and then 2 long black skirts over the top to hide (or I thought it did) what lay beneath. In the gym I was too embarrassed to wear just leggings, and I can't believe that I did my first few sessions in the gym wearing skirts.
It didn't phase Will at all, he was very patient, I didn't even feel awkward when he weighed and measured me despite the recorded horrors.
He introduced me to the gym equipment, the exercise bike which I had great trouble getting on and the Cross Trainer which to start with I could only do 1 minute on on a very low setting and thought I was going to collapse!!
Soon I started to look forward to going to the gym. We had great fun as Will went through exercise programmes with me and set me challenges. He is passionate about health and fitness and it is contagious. I loved every minute and became an enthusiast. I broke through all sorts of barriers, the skirts came off, no need to be embarrassed anymore. I went swimming at the spa for the first time in 18 years and got my confidence back.
When the weather was good we often went outside to train. I loved those sessions too, the New Forest is a beautiful place to train.
I had regular public weigh-ins at the Radio Solent studios and got loads of encouragement as the weight came off. I manage to lose 7 stone for the Daisy Appeal and raised quite a bit of money for them.
it.
After the Daisy Appeal had finished I carried on being trained by Will. I became so interested in the anatomy, techniques of exercise and nutrition that he gave me homework to help me study. I came back each week and fired questions at him (still do!).
The interest grew and I decided that I wanted to do a course in Personal Training myself. After a lot of deliberation I got a place on a diploma course in Bournemouth. Premier Global - Personal Training and Sports Massage Diploma. I signed up for the course with nervous anticipation, it seemed I had many hurdles to jump to do the course, not least giving up my job.
It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I learnt such a lot, the tutors were brilliant. I loved the everyday challenges, practical and academic. One of the greatest things I learnt was that there is a way of facing challenges which makes them possible to achieve on a personal level.
My life has changed comletely from being dangerously overweight, (I have lost over 12 stone), being embarrassed about myself, scared about life to feeling the best I have ever felt. I feel healthy, I have so much more confidence. I am now a qualified Personal Trainer and a Sports Massage Therapist. I am involved with Triathlon Events around the country doing sports massage. I have just got a job in a sports shop as sales advisor and I am building up clients for Personal Training. I now have a bike and am addicted to cycling. I am still training with Will and I have the best times getting a buzz from off road cycling in the Bournemouth area.
For once in my life I have ambitions. To help other people who may have a similiar story to mine to turn their lives around. To get involved with sports and health projects and to achieve my goals.
