Four months ago, feeling de-conditioned and slightly out of shape due to an over indulgent Christmas, I made a decision to get myself into the best shape of my life. Being a personal trainer I would always stay healthy and in good condition however this time I wanted to take my physique to the next level and so I entered myself in to a fitness modelling competition. This would be my marathon race!

This is my fitness journey

I gave myself 15 weeks to prepare for the show. Step one was to have a clear vision of what I wanted my body to look like by the end of my 15 week prep. I envisioned stepping on to the stage in unbelievable condition in front of hundreds of people (whenever setting out on a fitness journey it is imperative to visualise success).

I was determined to get to my goal and so the next step was to prepare my mind and body for what lay ahead. I had to accept that my social life was to be put on hold for the next 4 months, and that all the foods I enjoyed over the festive period were no longer a part of my day. My fitness journey would consist of, weighing out everything I ate, sticking to a strict diet plan, counting macros and prepping all my food for the week. I would also be training twice a day, doing brutal early morning, fasted, high intensity interval cardio (looking back at this now for the low calorie diet that I was on this wasn’t the most sensible choice). I then had to fit my weights sessions in all around juggling my PGPT clients. There were days where I would leave the house at 5am and would then get home late at night exhausted, drained and very hungry. Not to mention the many sleepless nights. I had reached a point of being physically exhausted and mentally drained beyond anything I had ever felt before. I was starting to question whether this fitness goal was worth it?

The hardest time throughout my preparation, came during the Easter break. I had a busy morning at work, and had completed my 2 training sessions of the day. I returned home from work where my family were there, indulging in a traditional roast dinner followed by deserts, and lots of chocolate Easter eggs. All of which I couldn’t touch as it didn’t fit in with my very strict yet scientific diet and so I went into my room, away from everyone else, with a Tupper wear container consisting of white fish and green beans. I was now used to eating separate meals to the rest of the house, however, this time really got to me, I have to admit it, emotionally I had a bit of a breakdown. At that moment I stopped caring and for the first time wished for the challenge to all be over. I had a voice in my head telling me to join the family and the roast meal I had been craving for the 12 weeks prior. Halfway down the stairs making my way towards the kitchen, heading straight for the chocolate I suddenly stopped. Remembering back to my “Why” and the reason I started this whole gruelling schedule in the first place it became clear I had to go on. This was something I wanted to do for me. An accomplishment I wanted to hit.

I could do this I knew my fitness journey was going to be difficult this was my marathon! There were only 3 weeks left and the finish line was insight. Remember what the goal was from day one, remember the vision of how you wanted to step on stage.

I used two of my most powerful weapons at this point, affirmations and visualisation. With my tools in full execution I survived the Easter weekend challenge!

Three weeks later it was the day of the competition I was in the best shape of my life. Everyone likes a statistic☺, I had gone from 15% body fat down to an all time low of 4%. Job complete I had made it. Unfortunately I didn’t win the competition, but I had achieved a level of conditioning even beyond my original vision. The moral of the story…. Always set yourself clear goals, have a strong vision in your head of what you want to achieve, devise a plan of how you are going to get there and don’t stop working until you achieve that goal. Believe in yourself and don’t ever settle for less then you’re capable of.

And this is my fitness journey!