Weight Loss/Fitness Journey - 1 Year On

I realised this morning when I got up, that yesterday marked exactly one year since I started my weight loss and fitness journey, so I thought I'd make a post in honour of that.

It's been an interesting year, with lots of positive benefits to myself and those around me as I feel so much better in myself and that is bound to have a knock on effect on those closest to me.

When I started my journey, I didn't have a very positive image towards myself and my body. I felt old, overweight, lethargic. My facial features were puffy and bloated and I felt like I looked 10 years older than my actual age.

Fast forward to today and I almost feel like a different person.  The bloated face is gone, I've gone down from a UK size 18/20 to a UK size 12/14 (more a 14) and my body composition is slowly changing to one that is much more toned with better muscle definition. I feel stronger and more energetic and have added running to my exercise regime, which although secretly wishing I could, never thought I actually would. I'm even eating porridge some days, which I never imagined I would ever do. (I was always a tea and crumpets girl at heart - for breakfast)

It's been a long slow process of losing a pound a week, which over a year has added up to nearly 3 stone in weight. In recent months, I've not really lost any weight and seem to have hit a bit of a plateau. I know this is probably due to my nutrition and not feeding my body enough protein.  There is still work to do in this regard, but I'm slowly trying to improve my diet to fuel my body more efficiently.

My big takeaway from all of this is that consistency is key. I've consistently eaten in a small calorie deficit, probably only 200-300 calories per day, as I don't like to feel hungry. I've consistently exercised, although I definitely don't go to the gym 5 or 6 times a week, more like 2 or 3. I've consistently used weights, i.e. dumbells and kettlebells, either at home or at the gym and in recent months I've done a 30 min run 2 or 3 times per week. This latter change has been effective in some ways in increasing my cardiovascular fitness, but it has also created new problems of making me feel hungrier and seemingly slowing down my weight loss. It's something I need to figure out in order to move beyond the plateau I'm currently on.

What I have done, is changed the way I exercise. Gone are the high intensity, highly choreographed dance fitness classes and in have come basic simple aerobic moves and the incorporation of dumbell weights and other weight machines in the gym, plus lots of walking on incline on the treadmill.

There's much more progress that I'd like to make. I'd like to reduce my weight a little more, maybe 7 - 10 lbs and I'd like to develop a bit more muscle definition. I'd like to learn to use a barbell with weights and some of the larger weight machines in the gym, but for the moment, I find them a bit intimidating. I'd also like to improve my diet and incorporate more protein with each meal, but I'm finding this quite a stumbling block at the moment.

If there's one point I want to get across in this post, it's that if you are not happy with your weight/body composition/fitness levels, it is never too late to do something about it and it doesn't have to be a slog. Just get started, no matter how small and keep going.  Things won't necessarily change immediately, but over time they will change and you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier.

There are so many fitness influencers out there now on Instagram that can help you in your journey. I'd suggest picking 2 or 3 that you can realistically relate to and listen to what they've got to say. Be discerning as there's probably a lot of not so good advice out there too.

If you are looking to start a fitness journey, here's a few instagrammers (there are lots more) that I follow that might be of help:

henleyfitness - No nonsence fitness advice, focussing on technique and simplifying using gym machinery

emmabonoli - Great kettlebell routines and technique

petragenco - Great low impact routines for pre and post menopause weight loss

trainwithjoan - A shining light for women over 50 wanting to change their body composition.

cassiatierney - A fitness coach who has a fantastic podcast called 9lives focussing on fitness and overcoming bad habits.

bethanydobson - Great low calorie recipes and no nonsense advice to those on a fitness journey.

As I enter year 2 of my journey, I'm hoping that I can continue to make progress, albeit slower.  Thank you for all your support over the past year. It's really been appreciated.