One Step at a Time

SMALL CHANGES THE KEY TO REGAINING CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH AND FITNES

Fitness and living a healthy lifestyle are my passions. Over the years it has been very helpful and has given me the strength to tackle much in my life.  It has also provided me with many laughs and fun times with the people I have met and trained with on both a personal and professional level.

Each week I am lucky enough to get to write this article and it is always my mission to inspire and motivate you, the readers, to start getting active and take control of your health and fitness.  If I'm very lucky someone may discover their inner passion for this lifestyle as well.

If you are reading this article then I know you have been thinking about making a change and are interested in health and fitness.

There was a time in my life when I was extremely unwell and I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a thyroid condition which impacted on my health and fitness for years.

I had a young family at the time and to be experiencing ill health at a time when they needed a healthy strong mother was extremely difficult for me and my family.  During this time I decided once I had my condition under control I would do everything possible to regain my health and fitness so I could enjoy life and my family to the fullest.

I had gained weight during this period and my confidence was at an all-time low.  I knew if I was to make these changes permanent and realistic, they had to be done with small, manageable steps, which would eventually get bigger and motivate me to become a part of the fitness industry.


For me, the baby steps I took were:
.  To review my nutrition and make positive changes with my diet, I eliminated processed foods, started to eat fresh, controlled portion sizes, cut back on caffeine and increased my water intake.
.  Walking, I started walking three times a week for 30 minutes. As the weeks progressed and I started to gain some fitness back, I increased that to a daily walk and eventually that led to a walk/run, which then led to a daily run.
.  I bought a bike and started riding to school with my children.
.  I consciously increased my incidental exercise whenever I saw the opportunity - for example, I would walk to the corner shop and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
.  As my health and fitness increased I started to feel a little bored with my exercise routine and was ready to try something new, so I joined my local gym.  I found being a member of a gym gave me the opportunity to try many different types of exercise and the encouragement from the trainers was extremely motivating and kept me focused on  my goals.
Through this process over the years I have discovered so many strengths within myself, I've tackled things I never thought I could do, especially after many years of ill health and being so physically weak.


Now I am physically stronger than I ever could have imagined.  Every day I think about my nutrition and what I want to put into my body, my training, but most of all I get to pass this on to the people I meet each day, including you.
Never feel defeated by your health or your life - change is always possible and it can start by taking baby steps, just like me.

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