Elly
Elly was ready to change, motivated to change her thinking from quick fixes to create new long term habits.
Four 150g bars of chocolate eaten in one sitting, bags of triple chocolate cookies, packets of kit-kat's - "the healthy option," pizzas and garlic bread all washed down with litres of Lucozade. I feel embarrassed to think that person used to be me only 12 weeks ago. This was what the worst of my postnatal diet looked like.
As my daughter became interested in watching me eat. I suddenly found myself looking at what I ate and thinking would I want Poppy to eat like this? The first step for me was actually deciding to do something about it. Although it took me a few weeks to work up the confidence to email Kate and get started.
When I met Kate one of the questions I asked her was "If I do this how are you going to keep me motivated?" Kate answered matter of factly "I'm not. You are going to motivate yourself, I'll just support you." This changed my thinking from - this is a quick fix thing and if I can't do it it's not my fault - to deciding to focus on being healthy, take responsibility for my health and to choose to make a new way of life for our family.
I decided, on Kate's advice that rather than say I'm on a diet which for me seems like deprivation and something to do to achieve a fast result. I would call it having a healthy focus, this felt unrestrictive and positive. Kate put me on the my fitness pal app to get my portion size under control - I'd used this app before and always found a way to cheat it, either by eating lots of chocolate but skimping on real food to keep under my calorie goal or by guessing amounts. This time I made a decision that if I was doing it, I was doing it properly. So I got some digital scales, recorded every single thing I ate and drank and got really into balancing my macros.
After being on the app for a while I started to think that maybe I'd become a little obsessive. That didn't fit in with our "healthy focus" idea, so I spoke to Kate about it and she suggested I try a week without inputting and see what happened. Coming off the app was really daunting as I thought I'd balloon up again because I didn't know what I was eating. However I found that using the app had just taught me what I should be eating and how much of it was a good amount to have.
Another thing Kate tackled was my lack of exercise. I came to Kate naively thinking that, the one day a week training with her would transform my body and I wouldn't need to do anything in between! Ha not true! I was quite shocked when Kate suggested doing the couch to 5k app, "what running, err no." Was my first thought? However I got the app and started running. On my first run I tried to go really fast and got stitch in the first 3 minutes, I rang Dave thinking he'd say "oh poor you, come home and rest". He didn't. He encouraged me to keep going even if I did it really slowly. I completed that run and didn't give up, (as was habitual for me) that was another turning point.
I promised myself that no matter what I would complete each run and that "I'm tired or achy or even have stitch" etc. were not valid excuses for not sticking to my runs. I've slowly become a person who doesn't just tolerate running; I'm actually starting to enjoy it! I also have started walking more with the pram.
When I suggested "healthy focus" to my husband he was keen to join in on the condition that we still had treats and that he was never left feeling hungry. So I bought a book and started learning how to make healthy treats for us. Banana pancakes really got him on board! My husband has been so supportive of me doing this that he has gone down two belt sizes himself!
I’ve had a couple of new revelations during these 12 weeks. The first was to realise that I don't need to binge eat a whole packet of anything; it will still be there tomorrow. The other is when I've had a treat and I start reaching for more I say to myself "you are not that person anymore".
Even though I was unhappy with my previous size and lifestyle, I was comfortable. I'm now learning to leave that comfort and to get comfortable with the new healthier me. I'm so grateful to Kate and my husband for all of their support and I never thought I could have achieved this!
Thank you x
Update from Elly 12 months after we began training.
“Kate I just wanted to tell you how I’m getting on.”
“I recently went to a party and saw friends I haven't seen in ages, I got so many compliments, apparently I look better now than before I was pregnant! Thank you so much for investing your time into helping me!
I feel incredible now I'm having a healthier lifestyle!
As Elly’s coach I couldn’t be more proud. A true inspiration to everyone. Elly has continued to keep regularly active finding a local class that includes strength and cardio. A class that fits perfectly in her busy lifestyle. JUST LOOK AT HER ABDOMINAL DEFINITION WOW!!!!!
Elly changed her food habits and has found healthy eating enjoyable. Investing the time to plan and cook healthier foods for the whole family had paid off - Just look at her abdominal definition Strong and Beautiful with tons of energy and vitality.
Well done Elly