I lost 2st at 49 after cancelling my gym membership
When it did, I was pretty shocked. I remember stepping on the scales and seeing 10st 5lb appear and being horrified because it was not like me at all. I was 48 and battling perimenopausal symptoms – that traditional weight gain around the middle, as well as feeling tired and achy with brain fog.
At the time, I was spending £100 a month on a gym membership but going just once a week. I'd fallen out of the habit of a few sessions each week because, honestly, I just found it really boring. I felt like I was forcing myself to go, then begrudgingly doing the same routine of a few weights and the running machine before heading home. I know loads of other people feel like that as well.
But the weight gain (and not being able to get into my size 10 jeans anymore) really spurred me on to take action, and I knew I had to do something different. So, within a couple of months of hitting 10st 5lb, I quit the gym.
I tried a few at-home workout videos on YouTube and social media, in the hopes that one of those would get me back into the swing of things but none of it was inspirational or helping me to lose any weight at all.
Then, in early January 2024, I got a marketing email from Joe Wicks, known as The Body Coach on social media. I've always liked and followed him and the email about his app popped up at the right time. I just thought, you know what, I'm going to try that.
I downloaded it, put in my body measurements and uploaded photos of myself. It then let me choose whether I was a beginner, intermediate or advanced and then I began my first month-long 'cycle' that provides tailored workouts (I did four a week, on average) that ramp up in difficulty as you get fitter.
Each cycle has five workouts to choose from and they're around 25 to 35 minutes. Outside of the cycles, there are endless other exercises to choose from. On those manic days, I would squeeze in a 10-minute core workout. I always exercised first thing before work (I'm a communications and engagement leader for global markets) as I found it easier to just get up and go.
All I needed was an exercise mat and then two sets of dumbbells (I used 3kg for a light set and 5kg for a heavy set at the start, but now use 4kg for my light weights and 7kg for my heavy set). The app is £14.99 per month, so I saved so much money compared to my gym membership, and I could do it all from home – either in the garden or in my living room.
The workout videos – strength, abs, HIIT, cardio, Pilates – were more motivational than any gym trip I'd ever done. Joe is very inspiring, it's like he's in the room with you and telling you to 'keep going, you can do it, come on' – it was like having your own personal trainer. It really helped me fall in love with exercise again.
A lot of people rely on diet alone, but it doesn't tone you up, it doesn't give you a nicer body shape – your stomach can be a bit flabby.
My transformation
My body started heading in the right direction straight away. The changes were subtle – there was no losing half a stone in a week. I was seeing the pounds come off, week by week. My motto was consistency, consistency, consistency. I just focused one day at a time and kept my eye on the prize, focusing on my long-term health over quick fixes.
You do a monthly check-in on the app, which encourages you to input your body measurements again and upload more photos. It was after month three that I could really see a massive difference in my appearance. I'd lost fat from my tummy and thighs and those areas had become toned from the muscle I had built up.
By month four, I'd lost 1st 8lb (10kg) and by month five it was to 1st 12lb. Last June, six months in, I hit 8st 5lb, meaning I'd lost 2st.
The whole process felt quite quick, considering it is a sustainable, committed weight loss and not a crash diet. One year on, I'm still at that same weight, though of course it fluctuates a few pounds either way.
The mental benefits
It was one thing seeing the number on the scale come down, but seeing my inside leg measurement reduce by a few centimetres, it's incredibly motivational. I lost 12cm from hips, 8cm from top of each leg and my waist is now 27 inches. I feel like I'm 20 years younger.
It's still a bit of a 'pinch me' thing. I can't believe I'm in size six and eight clothes. I never thought I'd be this size. I've had to throw away loads of clothes – my old size 10 to 12 trousers are too big. I'm wearing things I'd never have considered before because I was too conscious of my stomach, like short skirts and pencil skirts.
So many people have been asking me how I did it and found it really inspirational.
As well as the physical benefits, I've noticed that mentally, I'm brighter, feel more resilient, stronger and better able to cope with stress. I'm also so much more confident. Not only in my body but in everything I do. When you're happier with how you look, you attack life in a different way.
I'm so much more comfortable getting my photo taken. I'm going away to Barbados with my family for my 50th birthday and to Provence, France, with some friends this summer. I had a big party for my 50th where I didn't shy away from the camera. I even donned some boxing gloves at one point to have a joke gym-off with a friend who dressed up as Joe Wicks.
My husband, Anthony, who is already quite healthy, couldn't believe how committed and disciplined I'd been. He was already working out but it definitely motivated him to squeeze in a few more weight sessions. It's inspiring for my two girls, nine and 10, as well, who join in with the workouts sometimes.
My diet
Of course, eating healthily was key to my results. The main changes I made was reducing my sugar and carb intake and cutting back on snacking – I stopped eating chocolate and sweets after dinner. Though I'd still snack on dark chocolate occasionally during the evening as a treat.
Before losing weight, fruit juice and a sugary cereal was my breakfast go-to but I discovered that this is the worst thing I could have been doing.
Just before I started losing weight, I listened to a podcast about how bad sugar was for our bodies and it had a real impact on me. I found out that my glass of fruit juice was causing a glucose spike and then a slump that was leaving me reaching around the cupboard for snacks to try and keep up with the sugar high that I was on. It meant I was on a glucose roller-coaster all day.
So I swapped my breakfast to a healthy granola – a homemade coconut one from the Body Coach app that you make a big batch of and it lasts a month. I have it with Greek yogurt. Straight away, I noticed that I was no longer craving a sugary morning snack.
People always say to cut out bread for weight-loss but I did my research and sourdough is one of the lower sugar breads, so I stuck with that – I love bread, so for lunch I'd have Jason's sourdough with sardines or a noodle soup.
For dinner, I'd have something like a breaded chicken breast with vegetables, so I wouldn't have carbs in the evening and I still don't very often.
I didn't cut out wine either, which some people are surprised about. I do enjoy a glass of wine in the evening to unwind and still enjoy it a few evenings a week. A lot of people don't think you can lose 2st and still drink wine but you can in moderation. I now tend to eat nuts instead of chocolate and sweets when I have wine, which also helps.
On the whole, I pretty much stopped snacking between meals but if I got peckish, I'd have carrot and cucumber batons, malt loaf or dark chocolate with ginger in it. I didn't find it difficult to change my diet because I could see that it was working and that I was losing weight gradually. Every pound was a win and I knew the exercise wouldn't be working as well if I wasn't eating the right food.
It was this combination of doing exercise four times a week religiously, reducing my snacking, sugar and carb intake and being informed about the changes in my body that was behind my body transformation.
The icing on the cake of my weight loss journey was going to an exercise session in the park with Joe last summer. I took my young girls and bumped into him on the way there and told him my story. He was so supportive, hugged me and was saying to my kids 'doesn't mum look amazing!' It was a brilliant part of the journey meeting my guru who has helped me get here.
So many women are using weight-loss drugs and other quick fixes to lose quite a lot of weight these days but it can easily go back on. I'm really proud that I didn't go down that route when loads of people do, particularly as they edge towards 50.
I'm really passionate about sustainable, long-term health – not crazy diets. If someone asks if I've been dieting (I hate that word), the answer is no, this is just me now.
This is a brilliant time of year to start working towards weight loss so you can get really trim for the summer. It's the best thing I've done. If you told me in January last year that I'd lose 2st, feel like I did in my 20s and fit into size eight jeans, from the comfort of my own home with a few dumbbells, I would never have believed you.
What I ate before
Breakfast
Sugary cereal and fruit juice
Lunch
Unhealthy sandwiches
Dinner
Often takeaways and pre-packed foods
Snacks
Lots of chocolate and sweets after each meal
Alcohol
A few glasses of wine per week
What I eat now
Breakfast
Coconut granola with Greek yogurt or Weetabix
Lunch
Jason's sourdough with sardines or a noodle soup
Dinner
Breaded chicken breast or fish with vegetables
Snacks
Dark chocolate, nuts and vegetable batons
Alcohol
A few glasses of wine per week - the same as before
As told to Emily Craig
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