Over the past
few years I have raised a few eyebrows about some the decisions I have made.
Having a baby at 18, getting a breast augmentation at 19, studying for a degree
as a ’single teenage mum’, taking my two year old son to rural Ghana for two
months, to name just a few of my ‘controversial’ life choices; and now I have
made another decision that is sure to give rise to further criticism and
judgement but hopefully it will challenge a few stigmas.
Why? Well, like
many of us I have battled with my body image. Despite gaining top marks at
school, having a large group of friends, a supportive family, no concerns over
getting a date if desired and following a healthy eating and exercise regime,
there has always been a niggle of unsatisfaction with my figure. Over the past five years my body has been on
a rollercoaster ride, I have pushed it to its limits tipping the scales at
under six stones, putting it through a pregnancy, breastfeeding , running a
marathon 5 months after giving birth and loosing 20% of my body weight whilst
in Africa. It has only been in the past six months that I have accepted and
started to “like” my body. It is what I have been given I want to make the best
of it.
Size 4 in 2007 Pregnant in 2008 Running in 2009 Curvier in 2010 Africa in 2011 Confident in 2012
Along with this
I am ready for a new physical and mental challenge. I have been a county
gymnast champion, represented the South East as a junior athlete and cycled and
ran long distances for charity. I am
ready to use the skills and knowledge I have gained from studying a degree in
Dietetics along with those I have learnt from my career in personal training
and studio instruction.
I will however
admit that my brief insight into the world of body building from a few training
sessions alongside Adam Read, BFF champion 2007 was scary and intimidating. I
am a complete and utter novice in this area. Although I have a good idea of
training methods ad nutrition, I have no idea how to pose, and after
researching into the safest way to
increase muscle size and decrease body fat
there are so many opinions and scientific studies that contradict each
other out there I feel slightly blinded by where to begin.
Adam Read, Natural BodyBuilder
So I am going to
do it MY WAY, practically applying my own experience and knowledge with the
advice from trusted acquaintances and research that is valid. I will trial
different training methods and experiment with different sports supplements
until I find something that works for me. I need results good enough so I have
the confidence to get on stage next April in a figure/fitness contest.
Luckily I am in
‘ok’ shape to begin with. I am an average size 8, 32-24-32, with 14% body
fat. I train 6 days a week – always a
combination of free weights and resistance machines. I dislike cardio and
embarrassingly only manage to do this when teaching a high impact studio class.
I think this stems from all the training I did for the marathons and long
distance cycling I have done in the past. There is considerable room for
improvement in my diet, I only manage two meals a day and these are usually large
to catch up on calories. I also have a sweet tooth (or two), but luckily I am a
keen cook and use protein powders to bake with to make some yummy and healthy
puddings. I am a bit of a carb phobic after following a ketogenic diet as a
training experiment, however I have starting re-adding these into my diet over
the past couple of weeks, with no adverse effects (yet!).
So the purpose
of this blog is to keep track of my journey to the stage, to note down both my
training and eating, to see where I go wrong and of course where I go right,
along with the sweat, blood and tears (of which I am sure there will be a few)
shed throughout my body building journey.
Any comments,
advice or support will be gratefully received!
Rachel x
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