Well I better introduce myself first…….
So I’m Jemma, a 32 year old hairdresser, who since September 2014, I have lost 140lb/9 stones in weight and from being on this journey I have discovered a passion for health and fitness.
So I’ve decided to start a blog to share my journey and if I can help and inspire others along the way then that’s awesome.
As I’ve got so much to share, I will do individual blog posts in the coming weeks referring to talked about subjects in today’s post, so I can go into more detail. Today I’ll just be touching on things to give you more of an idea about me. I apologise in advance if this one is long, I just have so much I want to say………
How did I change my lifestyle from being an extremely overweight, cigarette smoking, alcohol abusing party animal to a healthy, strong, flawsome version of my previous self? One word, Consistency!
How was I consistent? Well I learnt to manage my time better, just by getting up just a bit earlier and I discovered I could fit in a workout before the rest of my day began and left me feeling more energised for doing so. I had been taking a bit of break from working out-probably a year or so before I began this journey. So finding something I enjoyed, that worked and didn’t take long was ideal. Also planning and preparing my meals, not only saves me time but also money. I decide what I’m going to eat, prep what I can or have rest in fridge or freezer for the week and then I’m all organised. I’ve always been pretty good at drinking water but I invested in a fruit infuser water bottle last summer and I definitely drink more by adding different fruit and herb flavours. Having a daily routine also helps with sleeping, I aim to get between 7/8 hours, doesn’t always work but that’s the plan.
As regards food, I guess you want to know what I eat, how and when? Well I eat 5 times a days, I have a protein based breakfast, post workout or when I get up if it’s a rest day, normally a loaded green smoothie. Then mid-morning I’ll have a snack- this will be something like some nuts and a piece of fruit. For lunch I’ll have something like a chicken salad, and in the afternoon I’ll have a chocolate protein muffin. Then for my last meal, dinner, I’ll have something like Sesame Turkey Bites with sweet potato disks and loads of veg. When I started my journey I did low/no carbs and no snacks but as time has gone on you get to learn about your body and I learnt needed to be eating more. Everyone is different. I avoid sugary, processed, diet, low fat foods/drinks, including alcohol. I eat real, whole, nourishing foods. I do have treats and takeaways too, so I don’t feel deprived, this is a lifestyle change not a diet.
If I was to look back to before I began, I would never have thought I would be working out 4/5 times a week. I plan to do so for as long as my body will allow, years to come, hopefully. From doing the workouts, I got results and it’s these results that kept me motivated to keep going. Anyone who says they don’t have 10 mins, 4/5 times a week for themselves to do a quick workout, needs to have a serious think, there is no excuse. You can do it!! Team up with a buddy to keep each other accountable and motivated. Find a style of workout you enjoy, I really like HIIT as it quick, effective and over before you know it. Look up workouts on line, on youtube, ask friends what they do, join an online community-make like minded friends from all over the world.
‘The world is your oyster’
‘You are in control of your life’
‘If I can do it, so can you’
My journey began September 2014 and I followed a 21 day ‘detox’ plan, where I ate ’clean’, avoided carbs, fizzy drinks, processed foods, sugar, caffeine. This involved 3 healthy meals a day, no snacking. Lots of water, also exercise every day for 10 mins, doing 10 min HIIT workouts.
After the initial 3 weeks I went onto a ‘maintenance’ plan where it was a bit more relaxed than the first 3 weeks as you can have good carbs, still no snacking/processed foods or sugar. But you have treat days/meals. Still 3 meals a day and followed the ‘clean’ part on a 80:20 basis and had a treat meal once or twice a week, I continued to work-out daily for 10 mins. By this point I had lost about 8 ½ stone but not very toned.
I continued this religiously until January 2016 when I discovered on Facebook, the amazing Betty Rocker. Her principles were similar but I love her passion and approach to life so I started to follow her ways, where I do slightly longer workouts but less often so 20-25 mins 4-5 times a week instead of every day and I learnt a lot more about nutrition and myself so changed my eating, still ‘clean’ but incorporating a lot more protein and complex carbs and snacks into my day. Since finding Bree (The Betty Rocker) I have lost another half stone but I have lost lots more inches and toned up loads. I don’t weigh myself anymore, I have no need, I take progress pictures and measure myself instead. Bree has a holistic approach to health and fitness and it helps me find balance with my life by looking at everything in life this way. A favourite word she teaches us to be flawsome. It’s become my favourite word.
There’s so much to learn about this thing called life and I’m still learning. Every day is an adventure; I am always learning something new. It makes every day different and keeps life interesting. Keeping us on our toes!
Unfortunately a downside of such a large weight loss is the excess skin, particularly on my tummy, upper legs and breasts. I will have a tummy tuck (to remove excess tummy skin) and breast uplift (as lots of excess skin and they are very deflated) and need putting back where they should be, lol. One day, currently saving for the surgery, but it isn’t cheap and life seems to keep getting in the way, but it will happen!! It might sound vain and like I’ve contradicted what I’ve said above about being flawsome but its not nice, trying to work, the excess skin on my boobs, (under my arm) slapping on my arm, when I’m working or when I’m working out it jumps up and down. And when it’s hot, it sweats in the skin folds its horrible, just a few not pleasant things I have to put up with and when I’ve worked this hard to be healthy I shouldn’t have to suffer it. Link to help me in menu, thank you in advance:)
So this is just a little insight into me and where I am. Over the next few blog posts I will go into more detail about various subjects bought up in this post……thank you for taking the time to read and hope you enjoyed it.
Have a wonderful day and remember you are flawsome.
Lots of love
Jemma 💚💪🏽xx
follow my journey on Instagram @flawsomejem
Being Flawsome