I just wanted to share a little personal milestone with you.
In 2002 (27), I was the slimmest (but not healthiest!) I've been in my adult life, at around 11 stones. The date sticks in my mind because that's when I started a new job with a large employer - onsite restaurant, long hours, nights in hotels, nights out, lovely team who regularly bought in chocolate and cake. Fabulous place to work unless you're a bit prone to over-indulging (which I am).
Roll the clocks forward 3 years and I'm 15.5 stones and trying to diet. I try the Atkins diet - I lose a little bit but it leaves me with serious sweet cravings and I get a liking for cake! I go back to chips for lunch but now with cake afterwards. By the time I get my first iPhone in 2012 and join MyFitnessPal, I'm 17 stones. I join weight watchers and lose a stone and a half. It becomes too difficult to maintain and I start missing certain foods and then the weight creeps back up, but now to 17st3lbs. Then I discover the 5:2 diet and lost 2 stones. But it's just too hard and I lose motivation. The weight creeps back on.
By New Year 2018, I've peaked at 17st 5.5lbs. I feel like a barrage balloon. I've pretty much stopped going out socially because I feel uncomfortable and I've got hardly any clothes that fit me. I'm tired all the time... getting out of bed in the morning is a struggle... getting through the day is a struggle... the life I see ahead of me includes ongoing weight gain, diabetes, heart-attack and goodness knows what.
I decide something has to change in 2019, so agree with my team at work that we'll do some January challenges. Nothing too difficult - just make three minor changes and stick to them for the month. Mine were 1) no sausage butty breakfasts 2) no lifts or escalators 3) stick to 14 units of alcohol per week. Then RunaroundSue and her husband happen to mention parkrun and c25k. "Why don't you come along?" they say... "It's great... you'd be made to feel welcome". On the way home I bought running shoes and a huge running t-shirt and went along the following Saturday. You know the story from there....
The milestone... I'm officially 14st something - the lightest I've been since my early 30s. But it's different this time...
- I'm the fittest I've ever been... stairs don't hurt... I can bend down and pick stuff up without breaking into a sweat, when I go out walking I go the long way and purposefully go up the steeper paths so I can see the view from the top!
- I don't feel like giving up... in fact there's nothing to give up. I eat foods I like. I eat ALL the foods I like... chips, pizza, beer and wine (and, heaven help, the post-pub doner kebab). It's just that I run and walk some of the calories off and then I eat sensibly the rest of the time.
- The life ahead of me is exciting again! I'm going to need new clothes soon as I'm running out of smaller sizes in my wardrobe. I'm so looking forward to some "milestone" runs that mean something to me. I've entered a 10k run. 12 stones looks absolutely achievable... and not in some vague "one day I'll be 12 stones" sort of way, but in a "based on my journey so far I'll be 12 stones by the end of January 2020".
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I'm absolutely over the moon to be here with you lovely people, doing something I never thought I'd do and enjoying the hell out of it! And if people who follow me on the journey read this and start to hope, that's fantastic!
Happy Thursday everyone!
ps - still not achieved that under 14 units per week target!!
Running with a cough/cold
Week 2 smashed! 👟💪(but it's made me put on weight?!)
Doing this to help with diabetes 
