Fitness First

The beautiful blonde German au pair smiled kindly at me and said, Hannah, you only ever talk about the past and how much fun you used to have. You are gorgeous, kind and so much fun. You can be a good Mum and have time for yourself again. Why don’t you get back to how you used to be? You have a wardrobe full of your Chelsea days that needs to be worn again. Hannah get back.

We had become very good friends, Alena was 19 years-old and had that lovely fresh German perspective, open and reassuringly straight forward. We all need an instigator in our lives who believes in us and I couldn’t have had a better one.

Arriving at the huge industrial estate on that freezing cold, gloomy November morning I felt slightly nervous. You see I had let myself go, three children later and a deep seated addiction to automatically eating granola out of the box while watching a series was the groove I had found myself in.

Let’s Get Physical

I tentatively made my way into the vast barn of a gym and found myself surrounded by large, tattooed, sweaty men lifting iron. It wasn’t glamorous and it wasn’t slick, it was basic and dirty. In the far corner I could make out a shape of a black clad PT sitting on an old tan Chesterfield by a gas fire, eyeing me distrustfully. Smiling broadly I introduced myself and started to chat, his steely gaze met mine and he said we need to get to work, we have a lot to do. This was to be the man that would change my life, although I didn’t know at the time.

“The session started immediately, the key to any good trainer is to get on with it.”

The session started immediately, the key to any good trainer is to get on with it. Don’t overly chat with a client, rest periods were timed, and weights were seriously heavy. He made sure I was never in my comfort zone but stretched to my limit, the last three reps should be challenging and if you wobble a little, that was good, you were trying.

Dead lifts and squats were my new love, the perfection of technique was something I grew to hold with respect. Compound was king. After a few months, I managed to do a few body weight pull ups unaided and I felt a million dollars. Never underestimate the power that weight training gives you, the endorphins it releases are bar non, like a super hero you feel invincible. The deep seated addiction of granola was slowly replaced by the addiction of training hard.

Weight Training

I did no fast cardio. I did not run or break into a jog. I only lifted heavy and by doing so my heart rate was raised, so there was a cardio burn to an extent. I focused on my diet and texted my PT all that I ate. Everything. I slowly understood about protein and the power it had over your body. You see, we need to eat enough protein a day to build muscle, it was key.

All I had to do was put the work in at home in my kitchen and eat clean with enough daily protein and drink two litres of water and show up at the gym daily to lift heavy.

I like rules as long as I respect the issuer and I stuck to my framework. The magic happened. Slowly my body transformed, lines began to appear down my tummy, muscle definition began to show, my weight dropped by 25 lbs and I found myself in the best condition of my life. Every morning I woke up like Bambi on rails, I literally bounced around the house, my body was undoubtedly enjoying the clean eating and training. It suited me.

“Slowly my body transformed, lines began to appear down my tummy, muscle definition began to show, my weight dropped by 25 lbs and I found myself in the best condition of my life.”

It all happened within five months as I focused on achieving my goal. You see, it’s a mental thing, you have to want to do it and you have to believe you can.

I had the incredible pincer effect of my clean eating German friend at home and my old school PT who cared about my technique and pushed me. Both believed in me. If you surround yourself with the right people in life it helps you go in the right direction. I will be eternally thankful to both of them.

My relationship with weight training was key, you see I genuinely love lifting. It is my happy place. A place where I feel at home. I can easily lose myself in the focus of perfecting my technique when I train. Every breath I took while training in those winter months brought me back to who I was.