Why are you here?

Hello and welcome!

It goes without saying that there is ample fitness related content available to consume on so many platforms, from Insta to TikTok, podcasts to books and programmes claiming to GET LEAN IN 12 WEEKS and honestly I try not to waste my time with a lot of it because I spent far too many years in my teens wondering why I looked different to my peers. The question of "why am I so much fatter" than my friends is one I asked myself all the time and the sad part is that amongst all the content available at that time (before social media was a thing) I couldn't actually find the answer. So, I clung on to what ever fat loss method was trendy at the time and did that.

It was never sustainable, so I only ever lasted a few weeks at best.
It was always something I had to pay for - weightwatchers/slimming shakes/detox teas, for example.
It always made me feel unwell and constantly hungry.
It was ALL CONSUMING.

I am glad that there are people now that have enabled us to educate ourselves on what we actually need to do in order to lose fat. Brilliant people in the fitness space such as James Smith, Ben Carpenter and Sean Casey all great examples of online coaches who have built their reputation on educating the public on the basic principles of a calorie deficit, daily exercise and weight training for sustainable and long term fat loss. 

But they haven't always been there. That's why I'm here now, to tell you about why I'm here. I am not just a regular mum, I'm also a cool mum, as my step daughter would say. But I haven't always felt that way and my confidence can sometimes be lacking when it comes to speaking in front of people through fear of what people might think of me. As an aspiring fitness coach myself, who wants to work from home and offer online mentorships to clients on weight loss and nutrition, this can't be an option. For me, getting my thoughts out has always been easier to do on paper. So I'm here for the joy of sharing the education I have received on fat loss, on paper. Well, digital paper. 

Because I LOVE it.

I love the process I have undergone of losing a substantial amount of weight with the guidance from an online coach, to starting out in the gym and building strength I never knew I could have and drastically improving my quality of lie. I wish I could go back in time with the knowledge I have now and tell my 11 year old self that I do not need to eat a 1200 calorie diet to lose weight, I don't need to feel guilty for eating chocolate or fast food sometimes and I certainly don't need to self harm in order to let out the frustrations of being different from my peers. I wish I could tell my younger self that it gets better. I wish I could give her the biggest hug and tell her that she is beautiful and worthy of love no matter what she looks like. 

At the same time, I am glad I had those experiences because without them, I wouldn't be where I am today. I was not a sporty kid, unlike a lot of the fitness coaches who have become very successful online now. I am jealous that they found joy in P.E. at school, that they did school clubs revolving around some kind of team sport, that they were always the ones picked first. I was never any good at sports and I was not raised by a family that prioritised fitness or movement therefore I never put any pressure on to improve, ergo I never did, so I never enjoyed it. Trying to go out for runs in the evening as a chubby teen was the most I really did and I only ever did that when I was trying to lose weight (as if running had some magical component that meant weight would fall off you without sorting out my nutrition first, oh Amber you young fool). All it ever did was make me feel crap because I would go with my much thinner much more athletic younger sister who would always be much faster than I was. Shout out to KP, still one of my biggest supporters. 

So why are you here? Maybe you're reading this as a millennial woman nodding along to the comments about peer pressure and weight loss, how you were always trying to lose weight as a teen and how most of the fitness content you consume online comes from coaches who were always into fitness so are completely unrelatable to you. Maybe you just stumbled across my page and fancied a bit of late night reading. Either of these are acceptable, my vision here is to create a space for me to talk about my thoughts and experiences as a regular but also cool mum in the fitness space in this day and age. To provide a bit of comfort to women who have struggled with their weight at some point or even their whole lives. Even to motivate those of you who need a kick at the bum during these colder months where the idea of heading out in the evening for a run or to the gym seems like torture, because I guarantee if you do it, you'll feel better afterwards.

I hope you come back for my next rant. I promise to only talk about things that are important to me that I think will help people and enrich the lives of women who have not yet found their love for health and fitness.

 
Love, Amber xo