I couldn’t give specifics for when my fitness journey started, it has been just over a year since I joined Pure Gym, and then a year in September when I really started to take fitness and nutrition seriously.

When I started my fitness journey, back in my old local gym, I honestly did not have a clue what I was doing. At my highest I was 261.1lbs (18st 6lbs) Myfitnesspal tells me I weighed in at that weight on the 3rd January 2014 – and I remember trying to stick to 1200 calories a day and just doing cardio for hours on end. I soon got bored and tired, binges would always happen and I lost all motivation. After a months off track, I then decided to join Pure Gym (which is 24/7) so I would have no excuse of having no time, and I have never looked back.

Although there is a few months of being off track in between of joining Pure gym and getting serious in September, I have learnt so so much and wanted to share with you what I have learnt on my journey!

1. The only person stopping you, is you. No matter what excuse we have, it’s always down to ourselves. The only thing stopping you is you! If you want to make a change in yourself, you are the only person to do it! Even personal trainers can’t get you results unless you want to help yourself! The times I have spent questioning why I never saw results, but then looking back I wasn’t working out or eating even remotely healthy made me realise I was sabotaging myself and trying to blame it on everything else. It starts with you!
   
2. It’s my journey – It’s so easy to get caught up in what everyone suggests or wants you to do, but you have to remember it’s your journey and you can do whatever you want! We all have those family members or friends that try to shove Herbalife on us, or pushing us to do running or cutting out all carbs. It took me a long time to workout what was a good fit, and what I actually wanted to achieve. Don’t feel like you need to look like Ariana Grande just because your boyfriend fancies her, and don’t be afraid to bulk up those muscles if you want to, even if your mother and grandmother say it’s too manly! You do You!
   

3. The Stairmaster is the devil – I knew from day one that the Stairmaster was the devil, and I definitely have a love-hate relationship with it. Out of all the cardio machines it burns the most calories per minute, but my god, I DONT KNOW HOW I MAKE IT OUT ALIVE

4. Everyone always wants to comment – This is a big pet peeve of mine and something I have learnt recently. No matter what, everyone wants to comment with their opinion. It’s great if it’s a positive one, but when you’re sat there eating your healthy lunch and all your coworkers are stuffing their faces and saying how bad you make them feel for being so good, or commenting on why you want to get so ‘bulky’ it drives me up the wall! I’ve had them all, from them trying to sabotage my lifestyle with cakes, to getting stressy when I don’t want to go out drinking all night, calling me crazy for weighing my food or prioritising the gym, or wearing makeup to the gym and taking a selfie, god forbid I feel good one day and want to take one of those! I’ve learnt to block most of it out now, but mostly just be prepared for everyone to suddenly have an input into your lifestyle.
   

5. Good nutrition is key! – This is so important! Learning about my body and food needs has been a huge learning curve in my journey! 1200 is way too little to eat, please remember that ladies!!! You need to fuel your body, not run it into the ground! You can easily check your BMR (how many calories your body would need to go into starvation mode) online with a free calculator and you must eat this! Also learning what foods to fuel my body with has been a huge learning curve for me, no takeaways every week for me now!
   

6. It’s okay to take time off – This is something I have only really recently put into action. I was so so dedicated that when I finally took a rest day, I felt like a failure. I am not a failure for having a rest day, or for going out for dinner and not tracking my food! Sometimes your body and minds need a break, and it’s perfectly fine to do so and you will come back so much stronger!

7. You can’t spot reduce – Sorry everyone! It’s just impossible!! You cannot spot reduce any area of your body. The only way you can is with overall fat loss! Yes you can work on certain muscle groups, but that will only help with the gains! You will not see the results of all those ab classes unless you shred the fat on top first, not even if we do a la Britney and do 10,000 sit ups a day!

8. The scale is not the most important thing – It’s hard to not get hung up on the number on the scale when trying to lose weight or even gain weight, but look at all the non scale victories as well! Doing 5, 10 or even 50 situps when you couldn’t do one, running for 10 minutes straight when you could barely run for 30 seconds, being able to deadlift with proper form and lift heavy shit off the ground!! All these things and more are such amazing achievements and make you so badass!!

9. Preparation is key – It is so much easier to hit the gym and stay on track when you’re prepared! Early gym session? Make sure the gym bag is packed the night before with all your food! Worried about stepping into the gym for the first time? Research a program (my personal favourite website for programs is www.bodybuilding.com) and youtube all the moves you do not know! Need some motivation? Make an amazing workout playlist that will make you bounce around and feel good!

10. Make it fun – Seriously, have some fun whilst your doing it! Grab your mates, or your mum! Find a program or exercise you love and that makes you want to get up and go in the morning! It could be running round the park with the pooches or lifting heavy shit up in the gym, find your thing and have fun!

11. Not every week will be perfect – Not every workout or week will be perfect! Even when we are perfect with our planning, food prep and program! Some days your body just goes ‘NOPE, I AM NOT DOING THIS SHIT TODAY’ and that is okay. I had a day recently where my deadlifts were just awful, form was terrible, I couldn’t lift anything off the ground and I left the gym so deflated and cried! My trainer made me realise after that, that is perfectly okay! Not every workout will be great, most will just be average and some may be just awful, but we got them done either way! Same as having a day off and eating a whole Dominos to yourself.. It’s perfectly fine to miss a few workouts or eat 10000000 calories if you want to, just don’t let it knock you back!

What have you learnt on your journey so far? Let me know in the comments below!

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