Happy weight loss clients
Alison’s story - from Couch Potato to Half Marathon Runner
In September 2009 my parents held a celebration party for their 50th Wedding Anniversary, 70th Birthday & 80th Birthday. My entire family would be there and my mother and sister were determined to lose weight to feel and look good for the occasion. I decided that it was just too much effort to do this and fiercely defended my right to be overweight as if it was a declaration that I was happy in my own skin – which I wasn’t. I have always pretended to be confident and gregarious but at the function I avoided everyone who pointed a camera in my direction and hid behind people in the photographs I was obliged to pose for. It was a lovely, happy day and I was the life and soul, cracking jokes wherever possible and using humour to amuse and impress my lovely family. The reality of how I felt about myself was something quite different.
Soon after this it was decided that a group of friends and I would go to see The Rocky Horror Show in Leicester. We were going to dress the part and I decided that I did not want to look comical in my risqué outfit so decided to start a low-carbohydrate diet. It worked very well and by February 2010 I had reduced by at least one dress size. I had not weighed myself as knowing the enormity of my challenge would have stopped me from trying to meet it. The good feedback from friends and family encouraged me further and by May 2010 I had lost 2 dress sizes.
At around this time two of my friends had seen Stamford Boot Camp advertised and had decided they would join up. I hadn’t done any exercise for years and generally took the easy option when it came to choices such as driving or walking but I wanted to start a healthier lifestyle, bearing in my mind I would be turning 50 the following year.
I was extremely nervous when we attended Boot Camp for the first time. What if I couldn’t do any of it? Would I be the only overweight person there? Rob Dulieu was really friendly though and the other Boot Campers seemed very nice too. The exercises were hard work and I was exhausted after the warm-up, but I did manage to make it through the rest of the hour. One of the exercises was to carry a weighted bag around a course in many awkward and varied ways. I was always at the back and, although I didn’t think I had a competitive bone in my body, I was not satisfied with coming in last every time so I started trying harder. I was absolutely elated when Rob gave us a bag-run position that I found some of the faster campers struggled with and for the first time I was able to outrun them. There were also team tasks at the end of each session. For the first 2 or 3 sessions I dreaded this part as I thought I would let my team mates down. However, it soon became clear that this was the section that highlighted how we all have different strengths and weaknesses, and each part of Boot Camp was designed to challenge all participants. Rob’s team exercises were innovative, imaginative and very often absolutely hilarious. We Campers used many different ways to beat our opponents and of course, we never cheated!! I began to enjoy Boot Camp and anyone who knew me before I started it would be astonished to hear me say that I enjoyed anything involving that much physical activity. I became a Boot Camp Bore – I told anyone that would listen how great it was. Everyone expected Rob to be a shouting, bossy, intimidating tyrant but he achieved the right level of encouragement and challenged any negativity without bullying or embarrassing any of us.
In September 2010, I switched the TV on to watch the Great North Run as the 2 friends who joined Boot Camp with me were running in it. Among those many thousands of people I actually saw them cross the finish line and found it very emotional. I decided that I wanted to participate the following year. I wanted to cross the finish line of the Great North Run in the same year as I turned 50. Around that time Rob was planning to attempt to break an exercise world record in December and as a warm up for the crowd invited me to join his Boot Camp Demonstration team. A year previous I could never have imagined myself exercising in the middle of Stamford High Street but I accepted his invite and performed in front of a packed bank of spectators. I felt great! For Christmas I was given running gear and hence the Great North Run training started. We continued with Boot Camp because this gave us stamina and core strength, and Rob encouraged us all the way.
In spring of 2011 several Boot Campers took part in the Race for Life. I had only walked it before and had never expected to be able to run 5k without stopping. But I did. These small achievements, and encouragement from friends and family, spurred me to keep trying. The great thing was that I could add a few good carbohydrates to my diet without increasing my body size. Rob gave us regular healthy nutritional tips to ensure that we all performed to our best.
An activity weekend had been suggested so Rob gathered all the information and booked an affordable hostel along with activities such as cycling, hiking and kayaking in the Lake District. What a brilliant time we had. Some of us were nervous about different aspects of it. I was particularly worried about kayaking but it was really good fun. We looked comical in wet suits, no hiding the lumps and bumps but we all knew each other so well by then I don’t think anyone cared about looking somewhat less than glamorous. I wasn’t worried about the cycling but struggled with it. The hiking was amazing. We experienced all four seasons in one day, wearing a vest top in the hot sunshine one minute, covering up in jumpers and waterproofs to keep warm the next, and then drying off ten minutes later. It was exhausting but it was worth it for the beautiful views and the ‘glad to be alive’ feeling. I didn’t want to be anywhere else that day and no amount of wealth could buy that serenity.
I had a 50th birthday party in August this year (2011). I was able to wear a lovely party dress in an off-the-peg size available from any store and could get away with it being pretty short because the combination of Boot Camp and running had toned up my legs. There were several friends from Boot Camp there. They are a really lovely crowd, all supporting each other, keeping in touch outside Boot Camp and forming firm friendships. The weeks between this event and the day of the Great North Run soon flew by. I didn’t enjoy the training because running isn’t really my bag but I was determined not to cancel my entry because I would have been letting myself down and all of the people who had shown so much faith in me.
I started the run with my friend Kay. We were both excited and emotional. Hearing ‘Abide with Me’ and getting a Red Arrows fly-over would break even the most hard-hearted on a day like that. There was such a mass of people and we got carried away with the rest of the runners until Kay reminded me to pace myself. The sun was beating down and I started to panic that it would be too hot, but after a couple of miles it clouded over a little and the weather was perfect for the rest of the run. I wanted Kay to run her own race and I was concerned that I wouldn’t keep up so we separated at about 4 miles when I had to queue to use a portaloo. I hadn’t run more than 8 miles before the event because I’d become disheartened by my own thoughts. Before the event I kept telling myself that I would walk it and it didn’t matter if it took me 4 hours, but on the day the spectators and other runners just kept me going. The atmosphere is truly heart-warming with strangers offering sweets and drinks, and shouting ‘come on Alison, you’re doing really well’ when they see you slowing down. I almost thought I’d managed to find a short-cut when I crossed the finish line because, although I had walked every now and then, I finished the race in 2 hours and 42 minutes. If I deduct my portaloo queuing time, I reckon that’s 2 hours and 37 minutes. It’s not the best time in the world but I couldn’t run half a mile without stopping last year before I started a fitness regime. I’m really glad I put the remote control down, got off that couch and started treating myself to a healthier lifestyle, especially Stamford Boot Camp. It’s so worth it. It’s not that much pain for a huge amount of gain. I still have a long way to go but I’m much healthier and more comfortable in my own skin, and that makes me happier too.
Alison White – Customer Service Supervisor
Want to lose weight? Contact Rob on 07846 457959
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