Here We Go! (Diary of a Boost Your Body Client)
Episode 1 - Getting (Re) Started!
This is me: I’m a long-standing Boost Your Body client, with a hiatus or two under my belt! Along the way, I’ve had some great success, reached some ambitious goals, and had a fall or two off the wagon. I’ve learnt a bit about exercise and nutrition and even actually put some of it into practice!
Today, I’m back with Boost Your Body, and I’m here to share my journey with you, warts and all, no holds barred, hoping that it helps us all to keep going.
In this monthly blog, you will be able to see my progress, my slip-ups, my falls off the wagon and my climbs back on, my nutritious food inspiration and my cake-cidents! I’ll share what happens when I’m tired and fed up or full of motivation and drive, what I do to overcome the slumps, where things don’t go according to plan and how, with a bit of luck, I will keep going anyway.
This blog won’t absolutely reflect everyone’s experience - we all have different goals and challenges - but I’m fairly sure it will ring some pretty loud bells for some of you. Even if it doesn’t fully resonate, I hope you’ll still find some common ground whether your focus is wellness, mental health, fitness, strength, fat loss, or a combination.
I promise I will tell you the truth all the time - no fake positivity, but hopefully a general sense of optimism and the right overall trajectory! As you can see, I’m sharing everything including current photos and measurements. Don’t think for a minute I am feeling chirpy about this - I do not love this part - I have had to put some effort into resisting a self-deprecating running commentary (dressed up as humour!) alongside the measurements, but body shame is unhelpful and misplaced, so let’s get it all out there!
Measurements: Right arm: 29cm; Chest: 97cm; Waist: 89cm; Navel: 101cm; Hips: 107cm; Thigh: 52cm
Here’s a brief version of my history with Boost Your Body:
I struggled with body image and dieting pretty much all of my adult life. Actually, a fair bit of life before I was an adult, and consequently started dieting when I was really young. In my opinion, this was a) a terrible thing, and b) very much the start of the problem. More on that in a later blog.
I’ve had periods of being on the slimmer side along the way, but mainly not in a very healthy or sustained way.
So, after trying pretty much every fad out there, I joined Boost Your Body in the run-up to my 50th birthday. I dropped almost three dress sizes, lost almost 3 stone and got fitter and stronger than I had ever been.
Then my work circumstances changed, I moved further away, and I stopped my membership. Work was hard and stressful, money was tight, and I was often tired, so it wasn’t long before I stopped any kind of exercise. Wine and chocolate felt like a pretty good way to round off the day.
Gradually, gradually, like it does, the fat crept back on and here I am, not quite back at square one, just turned 56, and ready to put the work in! I’ve caught myself at a time when I feel excited about making some changes, and I know that past slip-ups are not a predictor of future success, so here we go!
Join me here, once a month for some thoughts, suggestions, flops and fortitude.
In the meantime, here are my top three things from getting back to it in January:
- I have had one virally thing after another! I was so looking forward to a new year reset, but the viruses found me! Here’s what I’ve done:
Rested when possible; continued to focus on nutrition; avoided those inflammatory foods that I know would just make me feel worse in the long run; stayed off the booze; stayed hydrated; attended classes whenever I could; tried to avoid berating myself because it doesn’t help! - All I have to do is get myself there! I had a realisation that when I’m not really feeling like it, I don’t have to work up the motivation to get all the way through a class, I only have to get myself to the studio, and the coaches take care of the rest!
- We can do more than we think. I’ve got a bit of a dodgy knee. Apparently, that’s not a technical term. But it’s a bit uncomfortable sometimes and occasionally sort of buckles by itself. So I’ve ended up feeling a bit nervous about a full squat. Max helped me to have a go at safe ways to test it out. I was literally saying out loud, ‘I won’t be able to do that’. And it turned out I could do it with relative ease! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we should ignore pain, but what we tell ourselves is definitely important!
See you soon
x Rebecca
