Changing my life #fitness #beforeandafter #transformations #weightloss

Over the last two years i have changed my lifestyle, like many others i was a slowly gaining weight due to life.  I work in an office where i sit for pretty much 8 hours straight and the last thing i wanted to do when i got home from work was exercise it was a vicious circle.  I felt tired because i didn't do anything physically at work which meant most nights were spent sat in front of the TV or with my head in a book.  I was happy with my life, i have a wonderful husband who loves me regardless and two great kids.  I can honestly say i didn't see my weight as a problem. 

In  2014 my family took a holiday to New York & Texas.  like most families we took dozens of pictures, indulged and enjoyed ourselves, after all that is what holidays are for right?  

It wasn't until i came home and was looking back at the pictures that i noticed i was seriously big, to the point where it was possibly affecting my health!  Talk about a wake up call!  

My AMAZING Husband had been diagnosed with skin cancer a year before and went through an intense schedule of radiation.  We are very lucky because his cancer is treatable and he can manage it and live a long and happy life.  This was another reason to reevaluate our lives, Having such a shock we decided that we needed to live our lives right and be as healthy as we can.  

We all as a family signed up to the gym and started going.  My Husband had recently joined the local dragon boat team and when he had his induction they asked what his motivation was and he said "to be in the Great British Dragon Boat Team" i smiled at his enthusiasm because i really wasn't sure what he was capable off after his treatment.  

So over the next year we changed our eating habits not a great deal because we still wanted to live our lives and enjoy ourselves we just made better choices.  It soon came apparent to me that i couldn't motivate myself in the gym, i would stop as soon as it started to hurt or i felt tired, i just had no love for it.  My husband on the other hand had made great progress but i was still not getting it, i just couldn't find the motivation.  I stopped going to the gym and joined a running club which was fun for a while until it wasn't!   I was a similar weight to when i started and i wanted to give up! As a last resort I decided to try classes (group exercise) Zumba which i found i loved, i worked up a little sweat and felt like i had achieved something afterwards.  I continued to go to Zumba twice a week and i did enjoy it but it wasn't until i made some gym friends that i really started looking forward to going.  We all encouraged each other to try different classes and as a group we tried them all and soon we were doing 8 classes a week.   This is when the weight first started to shift.  I was eating normal and by normal i mean i was still eating cake and chocolate because lets face it i didn't get fat eating veggies now! 

Soon 8 classes turned into 16 classes a week and for me to manage that many classes somethings at to give at home and my wonderful family who saw that i was gaining confidence and  really enjoying getting fitter supported me and didn't moan too much about me not having dinner on the table each night and me being out of the house most nights 6pm-8pm. 

All it takes is dedication, i saw the results in weight loss but it soon became much more than that, i love the endorphin high i get from exercise and the thrill of achieving something new.   Trust me when you physically feel sick at the thought of a burpee because you are too big to get your ass back up of the floor to then be able to do multiple burpee tuck jumps it's an achievement!   

Now i am happy with my weight and my shape, i'm not tiny and i don't think i ever will be, i love cocktails and cake too much but i'm happy now focusing on toning, and muscle gain. Strong is sexy and all that!  You need to keep having goals in mind and once you achieve it make another and so on because small manageable goals are much easier to achieve and keep you motivated longer and if you had a terrible diet day write it off and start again tomorrow.  Life is for living! 

Also because my husband is freaking amazing he smashed his goal and in 2015 he was successful in making the Great British dragon boating team and competed in Canada at the International competition and in 2016 Rome, Italy European competition.