My Journey to get healthy started in October 2020, the first national lockdown had really affected my health. I like many millions of other people was stuck at home all day every day, I was not going to work, the temptations of food and alcohol were all around me 24/7 and I had never been more sedentary. As a result, my weight ballooned to an all-time high and I had difficulty with the simplest of
tasks which would leave me gasping for breath and my mental health was at an all-time low, I was unhappy and depressed. By the time my children returned to school in September I knew that something needed to be done, I was about to turn 39 and feared that if I didn't make a change to my life that I might not make it through my 40's. I made a decision to use this fear to make changes to my life, but where should I start? I had tried faddy diets before and any weight that I lost always returned and sometimes more. I knew that any weight I lost I wanted to couple with physical activity to get fitter too. I was introduced in October to Slimming World, yes I was self-conscious at first, and yes I thought I would be the only guy there. I was wrong and very quickly the friendly group atmosphere made me realise that at no time would I be judged either for my weight or the fact that I was a man. Even though shortly after joining we were back in a second lockdown, Slimming World provided groups virtually which kept me accountable and helped me to be supported and help support others. I began making changes to the food that I eat, Slimming World's eating plan is not only generous but makes slimming easier than you ever thought possible. Instead of telling you what you can and can't eat, Food Optimising puts you in control and gives you advice and ideas on the foods you can eat that are less calorie dense and will naturally lead to weight loss without weighing all your food, counting points or monitoring every calorie. I was encouraged to start getting more active, using their Body Magic system, I made just small activity changes at first using the school run as an excuse. which I then progressively built up to home workout programs and longer runs. The beauty of this is that all activity can be included from gardening, dancing, walking to running and going to the gym. It encourages us to simply be on our feet more and get moving, rewarding us when we make our breakthroughs. When you come to my Slimming World group, it will be to a warm welcome from myself and our fellow members, all at different stages in their journey. We'll invoke that competitive team spirit with fun weekly games share new recipes and ideas. But most of all an understanding that we're all human, there will NEVER be any judgement. If you've got this far then your wait is already over, contact me to book yourself into the best group around and welcome to Slimming World at Pensnestt Community Centre.
