December 2011 V May 2012
The goal was to loose weight for my sisters wedding in Cuba, after being measured for a Size 18 Bridesmaid dress!!! I knew there and then after leaving the Bridal Store that I had to loose weight and it was at this point I hit rock bottom! Instead of hitting the cakes in self pity, I actually drove myself to a hotel just outside of Aberdeen that had a private Gym and Spa.I knew joining a mainstream gym was not an option for me, I already felt insecure about my appearance and the thought of working out next to 'fit', 'slim' people was far too daunting, it had come to the point I didn't even want anyone to see me in my gym clothes.
With advice from my sister and information from various fitness magazines (which looking back on now was extremely conflicting!), I embarked on my own training programme. The first 8 weeks involved a lot of Treadmill HIIT Sessions starting at 10 minutes and progressively working to 30 minute sessions, on the back of this I would swim for 30 minutes solid. I cut out all take aways, and started cooking food in batches.
If I knew what i do now, back then, I would have approached my weight loss in a whole different way - avoiding the calorie controlled diet!, however it did make me understand my body, even if I was over exercising and under eating! Either way I achieved the results what I was after, and my Bridesmaid Dress had to be taken in 7inches across the back!
May 2012 - December 2012
Although I was happy with my weight loss, the lifestyle was starting to become addictive. I loved going to the gym and training and how confident I was becoming. After a tough few years I was actually starting to feel a lot happier. I decided that the HIIT workouts was really working for me, but that I needed to introduce some resistance training. I started doing a lot of Kettle bell and Vipr training and also a lot more outdoor steady state running. My weight then reached a plateau and I didn't notice much progress due to the excessive amounts of Cardio based training I was doing.
January 2013 - May 2013
I always knew I wanted to raise money for Aberdeen Fertility Centre. The Nurses at the clinic were extremely supportive throughout my treatment, and then clinic is always at the centre of cut backs, relying on fund raising done by the patients.
Due to my new passion for running I decided to run a 10k to raise funds, my expectation was to raise around £1000 enough for some soft furnishings for the Day Ward, however my fantastic family, friends and work colleagues were all extremely generous and I raised just over £3,000! This went towards a new incubator for the ward.
May 2013 - September 2013
Running the 10k was my downfall, I no longer found running a pleasurable and relaxing experience. I loathed it! I had bored myself of excessive training for the race. I knew my nutrition and understanding of eating clean was good, but I was still following a calorie controlled diet, and I wanted to get back into resistance training and macro tracking.
After a few weeks of becoming more 'Macro' aware and lifting weights, I was noticing a change in my body, however decided to contact Harry Ranson after afew recommendations from others who had used him. Initially I asked to go on an 8 week cut for my holiday to look lean, which he wasn't keen on supporting but gave me a nutrition plan based on this and the training I was already doing. I also contacted Bruce Bain and received an Upper / Lower Body Split Resistance Training Programme. By the time my holiday came I was defiantly leaner!
When my holiday came, the scales reflected what I wanted, however for doing the amount of resistance training I was doing I didn't have the muscle definition I would have expected to have. Looking back now I know that I didn't split my Daily Macro's up accordingly or time my meals correctly which would have impacted my results, I also don't feel I pushed myself enough in the gym.
December 2013 - May 2014
A lot of my friends thought I was mad for embarking on a training programme on the 27th of December! However I started my journey 2 years earlier on the 23rd of December! A day, date or year has no impact in training!
This time I took a completely different approach to training and nutrition. Andy at work for months had been giving me afew workouts here and there and some nutritional advice. I decided to let him dictate my training and nutrition something that I hadn't let anyone do for me before. I knew I wanted to look more cut, ripped and muscular and I always think you should take advice from people who look how you want to look / knowledgeable in that field.
Andy had me on a Strength Training Programme for 8 weeks and a lot less protein and higher carbs than what I was use to! Within 6 weeks the change in my body was extremely noticeable. Not only was I getting stronger, I was also becoming leaner with very minimal cardio activity.
Twelve weeks into the programme we started speaking about competing, and decided that would be the next goal. My Training programme and macro's were changed on a weekly / fortnightly basis based on how my body was responding. By April I decided I would defiantly compete in the UKBFF Scottish Championship on May 11th.
May 11th 2014 - UKBFF Scottish Championship
The last few weeks of my programme prior to the competition was extremely exhausting! I was on very little carbs, lots of fasted cardio and a walking zombie! constantly being reminded by Andy if it was easy everyone would be doing it! Along with his constant praise and re assurance I managed to some how get myself through the last 2 weeks.
The week leading up to the competition I was a bag of nerves, self doubt had kicked in too. I was repeatedly looking and criticising myself in the mirror. A few days before the competition Gemma another competitor from Aberdeen asked if she could travel to the Competition with me and also booked herself into the same hotel, I am so grateful for having Gemma there because she certainly did calm my nerves having someone beside me.
I don't know what happened to me on the afternoon of the competition... well actually I do know... afew glasses of pinot calmed my nerves and gave me the confidence to get onto the stage and I loved every minute of it!
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