Was I always into health and fitness? Negative captain. My 20's looked a little something like this: And this: I met my husband when I was 22. My husband is a musician so it was common for me to go out in the valley on both Friday and Saturday night. I would drink pints of VB (it was cheap…..don’t judge), dance the night away, and grab McDonalds before passing out in the band van while waiting for the guys to pack up their equipment. We’d get home just before dawn and sleep all day. At 24 we moved to London. More debauchery. We worked hard. We played harder. We lived on a street in Hammersmith where there were 2 terraced houses next door to each other full to the brim with young Aussie’s on working holidays. We were all away from home. We were all each other’s family. It was common to get off the train on the way home from work, and poke your nose into one of the many pubs along the walk home. There was always someone you knew in there. Always a pint to be drunk and with drinking came smoking. It seemed like everyone smoked back then. I made one of my best friends sharing cigarettes on the front doorsteps of our houses every night. On Friday and Saturday night we went to gigs. (If you saw a band at the Redback Tavern or Shepherds Bush Walkabout circa 2006-2009 chances are I was there and that was my boyfriend *now husband* in the band). We lay in bed all day on the weekends to get over our hangovers. My husband is one of those annoying people who doesn’t get hangovers. He comes in handy. He was sent out on many missions for coffee and greasy food. I had enough hangovers for the both of us. And did we exercise? Phht. What’s that? I left to get on the train to go to work at 6am and didn’t get home until 6pm, at which time there was beer to be drunk. My mum suggested that she buy me a gym membership one year for Christmas (probably because I was overweight). That was a foreign concept to me. No one I knew went to the gym. We had one or two friends who would go for a run every now and again but I used to think they were crazy. England is very cold most of the year. You wear winter clothes that you can hide a lot under. Hell you don’t even have to shave your legs for 9 months of the year! Both my husband and I got hit with the dreaded Heathrow injection. For those of you who have never lived in the UK, the Heathrow injection is that extra 10-20kg on your gut/arse that many seem to get after touchdown at Heathrow airport. A consequence of the excess. The pints. The cigarettes. The food. Do I regret it? Hell no. I made the best friends of my life over there. So why am I writing about this time in my life? What is my point? My point is that I turned it all around when I was 29. I changed. Our muscle mass starts a gradual decline from our mid 20’s. MID 20’s!!! Our metabolisms slow down due to our lack of muscle mass and therefore we put on more fat. So if we are inactive, we are in gradual metabolic decline. As a Physiotherapist I know this. I just didn’t practice what I preached. I started exercising regularly when I was 29 (the year I was married). Nothing makes you want to lose weight more than a wedding. This was my initial motivation. I started with walking and gradually added running, then the gym. However nothing makes you change your lifestyle more than a baby. I knew when I fell pregnant with my first son at 29 that I had smoked my last cigarette. I want to be a strong role model to my kids. I need to lead by example. I still love a good boozy night out but they are less common these days. Anyone who has had to parent a 4 and 3 year old whilst seedy will be able to sympathize as to why. Having a look through at the photos of me from my 20’s for this blog post and looking at myself in the mirror today, I look like two vastly different people. There are over 10kg less on the scales, there is much more muscle and much more confidence now. It’s proof that anyone can make these same changes to become a fitter, healthier version of oneself. Have you always been into fitness and exercise? At what age did you start your fitness journey?
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