Hello - welcome to my lifestyle change challenge!

Hi everyone! 

My name is Gerard, I’m 33 and from the Steel City, Full Monty country, Sean Bean's back garden - Sheffield! By day I'm a legal adviser for a national charity, volunteer for a local one, amateur photographer and a lover of the great outdoors.

Welcome to my journey as I train in preparation for some serious weight loss, long term lifestyle changes a mammoth 106km ultra walking challenge around the Isle of Wight in April, and my first ever 10km run this summer.

Let's get one thing straight here. I'm no ultra-fit athlete or fitness fanatic that regularly enters these competitions, so this is a big thing for me. Although I have attempted one 100km walk in 2013 (I had to stop due to exhaustion) and I have completed one in 2015 from London to Brighton. I have not entered anything more than a 3km fun run, and I was destroyed after those.

I have had my struggles and battles with weight loss and my fitness and their related side effects over the years. However I do like to set myself targets and goals to achieve. I have recently found a good rhythm in my life (apart from work which is driving me to the brink of despair) and I have lost 3 stone in 6 months and made some serious inroads to achieving some long term fitness goals. I am still about 3 stone overweight, but I know I can make it now, I have the confidence to do so and I am fitter than ever so that will help.

I was fed up of not being able to do anything without feeling out of breath, hot, sweaty, tired and being massively embarrassed because of it. I have has relationships end because of my attitude towards my weight, lifestyle, eating habits and activeness. I am now in a new relationship. I do not want the same thing to happen again.

Trust me, going to spin classes at 7.15am and running to work were never my idea of fun. I'd much rather be sat in the evening in a cosy real ale pub by the fire with a pint, pie, Henderson's relish and some mildly offensive folk band in the corner of the room. That doesn't get me over the finish line in the time I want though, and it doesn't help me with my long term lifestyle changes. 

I didn't do the couch to 5k challenge, but I have done a few park runs near me, so I know I can do at least 5. I do run to work which is a 7.24k, although I do walk a section of it as it's a massive valley to go up. Soon though I hope to start tackling it in stages. I hope to find some useful tips here to get me through those last few km's as I enter the Sheffield 10k in the summer and a few others in the autumn.

There are some links below to my challenges and blogs, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this, wishing you all the best with your endeavours!

Happy reading!

gezasaurus.wordpress.com/

facebook.com/gezzyschal...

justgiving.com/walk-Gez...

[misswobble Graduate10]

Hello there. There are a few here from Sheff ☺ I am down the road from you but must confess to not straying over the border very often 😊

You are well caterered for running wise with plenty of clubs, park run venues and places to run. Pity about all the hills but they're good for your legs ☺

Good luck with the healthy eating and getting fit. You are not on your own. Just keep your goals in focus and stick to your resolve

[AncientMum Graduate10]

Welcome Gerard. As MissW says, there are several people on here from the Sheffield area. Congratulations on your weight loss and good luck with your challenge

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

Brilliant, sounds like you've had some mega life changes? Good luck on your training and keep us posted on your progress - we are all here for support etc and I hope you find the forum useful too...