Brown - Fat Fighting Fortnight: Diet and Fitness Plan for Weight Loss

I have always been on the curvy side, and over the years I have tried pretty much all the diets going, the cabbage soup diet, Atkins, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers , all with varying degrees of success. Im sad to say that in my quest for weight loss I developed an unhealthy relationship with food and suffered from bulimia on and off from my mid teens to early 20s, only really stopping the cycle of binging and purging when I fell pregnant with my son as I was worried about the effect the laxatives would have on him. After the devastating loss of my second son at 23 weeks pregnant in 2011 I shut myself indoors and became obsessed with baking. I brought magazines and books and spent over 200 on ingredients in one shopping trip.

Baking was one of the few things that didnt have any connection to babies. Everywhere I looked I was surrounded by babies: on the TV, gossip magazines, even sewing magazines had baby patterns mocking me. I barely left the house for 6 weeks; I just stayed inside and baked, ate and slept. I put on 4 stone and was the heaviest I have ever been. Later that year we began trying to get pregnant again and when nothing happened after a few months I spoke to my Dr who sent me for tests, the weight gain had activated Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and my periods had stopped, in March 2012 my Dr referred me to Why Weight and it was here I found my calling. I met with Lucy, a Personal Trainer, at my first circuit class and I loved it.

I asked her how I could do what she did and shortly after I was signed up at my local college on the next Personal Training course. Towards the end of my Why Weight classes and midway through my PT course I fell pregnant with my daughter, sadly she was born at 21 weeks and I was diagnosed with incompetent cervix. My fourth pregnancy followed very quickly and I was delighted to find I was carrying twins. I had surgery to prevent early loss and felt like things were finally beginning to look up. Sadly my twins were born at 20 weeks and never one to go the easy route I developed a severe infection and woke up two weeks later in the ICU. Three weeks after being discharged from hospital, I returned to my PT training.

I also had my upcoming wedding to prepare for. I wanted to be a blushing bride but the infection had left me with short term physical side effects and meant intense training at the gym was out of the question. I was also suffering from memory loss, but I do remember my wedding was the best wedding I have ever been to. We got married on Halloween, and 40 people in full costume outside the registry office isnt something that I, or my guests, will forget in a hurry. I couldnt wait to see the back of 2013; it was certainly very unlucky for me. By mid 2014 I had pretty much returned to my old self, I finished my PT course and started my own fitness and weight loss company.

Having been overweight I found it easier to talk to my clients as I know how hard it is to lose weight. But now, thanks to my training, I felt I finally had the tools I needed to lose weight and help other people to do it to. I had spent most of my teens and 20s yo-yoing between 168 and 200lbs desperately trying to get down to 140lbs which was my magic number: at 140lbs I would be skinny and fabulous. Being 5ft 8in I didnt look particularly overweight, but when the scales tipped 250lbs, and after 5 children, there was no hiding a slight pot belly, jiggly arms and butt heading south. I thought that at mid 30s it was too late for me to get my dream body, but something clicked in my head (thankfully) that my life wouldnt suddenly be fabulous when I got down to 140lbs. Instead I wanted to be strong and healthy not skinny.

People assume its easy for me to talk about eating healthier foods and exercising more because I have to stay fit for my job. But the truth is I still have the same urges to order takeout when I cant be bothered to cook or to not exercise because Im tired as everybody else does. The difference is I feel better at 35 than I did at 25, I feel stronger bother physically and mentally, and thats because I now make the choice everyday to try and live the best life I can. It didnt happen overnight, there wasnt a magic button I pushed, I had to work for it. I had to refocus my mindset, changing one habit at a time. Marathon runners dont wake up one morning and think Ill just nip out for a quick 26 mile jog, they have a target and they build up to it.

They have bad days and good days; they pick themselves up after each trip and fall and gradually increase their running distance with each training session. I know the excuses, the diet traps, the quick fixes and the fast falls. As a fitness professional I find it hard enough digesting all the conflicting and confusing information that was is there. For every diet saying eat carbs, there is another saying avoid them. Eat every 3 hours, no wait only eat once a day. Argh what hope does the average person have? Some diet books use lots of science-y words in the hope that if you dont understand what you are reading you will think they are smart and know what they are talking about.

Weight loss boils down to energy in verses energy out. If you eat more calories than you burn you will gain wait, and if you eat less calories than you burn you will lose weight. Simple. I have written a simple, straightforward diet plan. Im not going to bore you with all the behind the scenes information, if you want that I suggest a course in nutrition and personal training. I have designed a plan that is achievable , effective and affordable .

I write from personal and professional experience, if its important youll find it in here. There are no snake oil promises; quite simply you get out what you put in. I am not asking for 100% perfection, we all have off days or days that we need a little extra love and support. Weight loss is like parenting, everyone has an opinion or a set of rules that they swear by. One of the many things I have learnt through my pregnancies is to take all the information you are given, use the bits that work for you and forget the rest. Everyone is different, some people like set meal plans and rigid exercise programmes, others want a more flexible approach.

Do what feels right for you. And dont forget that life is for living, I want to help you achieve the best health and fitness you can so that you can live life to its fullest. There is no point being slim if you have to kill yourself trying to get there. Right on with the show.