Jane Gois, 46, runs a craft workshop business and lives in north London.
I had two young children, a business to run, and my weight had been going up and up for some time. I knew the problem was a combination of stress eating and a lack of time (or so I thought) to exercise, but I couldn’t see a way around it. I weighed 11 stone 4lbs, or 73kg (I’m 5ft 4in), and was concerned about the health implications of carrying excess weight around my belly.
I had tried all the big diets, I had a personal trainer that I saw for half an hour, twice a week and thought, “Maybe I just have to resign myself to being bigger.” Then a friend showed me the social media account of a trainer who had helped her, Rachel Priest; I contacted Rachael the next day. I remember the initial call where he was researching my lifestyle. She was really frank with me. In addition to cutting calories to 1,200 for three months, she needed to exercise five times a week, including three cardio sessions.
I felt a great sense of relief: someone finally told me exactly what it would take.
Calories didn’t feel like much of a restriction, because Rachel rephrased it so that I started counting macros (the grams of protein, carbs, or fat I was consuming) and increasing protein. That meant adding protein for breakfast, for example by simply adding protein powder or changing my snack from a chocolate bar to a chocolate protein bar. And I started getting up at 6 am every day to exercise, which became part of my routine. I felt so motivated by all of this and the increased exercise meant that I felt less stressed.
After almost four months, I was down to about 8st8 lbs, or 56 kg, and had a healthy BMI, as well as reduced my body fat from 41% to 29%. But then I was very surprised when I found a lump in my breast that had to be removed. Fortunately, the operation went well and I was very grateful to be at a healthy weight; I was sure it also helped my recovery.
I wanted to get back to working out as soon as I could, but Rachael told me to take it easy and just walk at first. Surprisingly, I didn’t gain any weight during the six weeks off to recover from surgery, but now I’m back. The lump turned out to be precancerous and it was feeding on estrogen in my body, so I can’t take HRT, but the exercise program has really helped me manage my menopausal symptoms. I stay with the program, not to lose weight, but to stay strong.
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