One post to start it all off...

So here we are the inaugural post of my shiny new blog. I have had many people over the years express a want for me to write down my story. I intend to do that with this blog, but also bring you on my journey to the future as I prepare for my biggest physical challenge to date.... Ironman Austria!! This entails a 2.4 mile open water swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon run (26.2 Miles for those not in the know)

Some of you will know that I used to have a very different lifestyle to what I have now. In 2003 I moved to England to join my then husband who had moved to England when I Was pregnant with our first child Julien nearly a year before. This was a very tumultuous time for me particularly as I did not have the best relationship with my family at the time, and after a period of sofa-surfing with friends while I was pregnant I lived with my Dad and his wife for a time. This is where Julien was born in November of 2002. In May 2003 Julien and I were finally able to join my husband in England when Julien was 5 months old, but my mental health had already been impacted by the situation. In addition to moving to a new country away from everything we knew, our finances were quite restricted and we didn't know anyone but to top it all off no one ever taught me a healthy way of eating or how to view food. My Step-mother at the time was a chronic yo-yo dieter who projected a lot her body insecurities onto me when I was in my teen years. All of these factors meant that my weight slowly crept up, by the time we had our second son Nicholas in 2005 I was the biggest I had ever been. I weighed 19.5 stone and was a UK dress size 24. It was shortly after Nicholas turned 1 when I reached my rock bottom and was so unhappy with how I had let myself get that I decided I needed to make some changes. I remember the day so clearly I just looked at myself after a shower in my full length mirror and felt absolute disgusted with what I saw I cried at the state I had let myself get into, it was a real turning point. I signed up for Tesco eDiets and began following a low GI diet, and I bought myself some Davina McColl workout videos, at this stage of my journey I was too embarrassed and ashamed to go to a gym or a public space to do any exercise, this was such the case that I actually used to barricade myself in the living room with the sofa in front of the door so no one could come in and see me all red faced and sweaty.

It total it took me 2 years to get down to my original goal weight of 10 stone 10 pounds. It was a journey that had its ups and downs but because it was gradual and done through healthy eating and being active I was able to maintain it, even after having my other two children George and Lauren with Brian.

This is only a little introduction into where I started in terms of weight loss and fitness, I hope to share with you a lot more over the course of this blog as there is so much more...

#weightlossmotivation #transformation