***If you don’t want to see selfies of me then close your browser now***

…now let’s get something straight – I am NOT an arrogant person and I do not consider myself a show off. At all. If you know me well you will know that I am actually a complete wimp and I am very sensitive so be nice.

A few people have asked me to do a general piece about how I have got to where I am now in terms of training, body composition and diet. I must forewarn you that I have had FIVE shots of coffee today so this may well be a slightly incoherent post! In fact I think my hands might be shaking – oh dear – that is either coffee or nerves. Told you I was soft.

Let’s rewind to 2000 and my first gym membership, now I am not going to bore you all with bla bla my childhood bla bla, also because I promised myself when I started this blog I would keep personal life OUT OF IT. I think that is important. Let’s assume I spent ten years “training” in the gym. Predominantly cardio, every diet under the sun, weight fluctuations up and down etc etc. Quick leap in time to 2011….

Ok – so we can see I like a drink and we can see I am in average shape. Don’t get me wrong, I know plenty of people will be thinking “you look fine!” but for myself I wanted to be strong and lean and confident. #gettheviolinsout

So another quick leap in time to the beginning of 2014. I start weight training. I start seriously overhauling what I am eating and I stop drinking booze (for the most part). To break it down these are the things that I believe were most important in my “progress”

1. I got professional advice – I know, stop rolling your eyes, but seriously, this was invaluable.
2. I stopped kidding myself that I was eating healthily. Just because you eat salad now and again and tend to go for the “healthy” snack option I can almost guarantee that if you aren’t seeing progress it is because your diet is off.
3. Speaking of diet, I cannot say this enough, it does not matter how hard you work in the gym, how many classes you do, how many squats you do – if you don’t fix your diet you will not get the results you are looking for (of course this depends on your goals)
4. Learn about food. Learn about the importance of protein. Learn about sugar. Don’t know how to learn – ask the experts.
5. Start training with weights. Real weights. Not sit ups or body pump classes. Do those classes for cardio or for fun but if you want a body that will stay strong and lean you need to get the heavy kg’s out.
6. Learn to be patient. It takes a DAMN long time to see results. Don’t think after three weeks you’ll have abs, or definition or be a clothes size smaller. You want to know the truth? It took me A YEAR to get to where I wanted to be.
7. Once you find something that works, keep doing it. Don’t like chicken for lunch? Don’t have it then. Don’t like going to the gym when it’s busy? Go for a walk instead. If you find something that works be consistently consistent with it.
8. Don’t give up. Don’t compare yourself to other people either. So what if they are doing something different to you – you are not them. See points 6 and 7  – you have to keep going. Fell off the wagon by having the birthday cake in the office? Don’t go and smash a takeaway for dinner because you think you’ve ruined it. That’s ridiculous. Shake it off and get on with it.
9. Be proud. People winding you up for drinking sparkling water instead of beer on a Tuesday evening? Let them laugh. You’ll be damn pleased you avoided the booze and the late night binge when you start to see results.
10. Don’t believe the hype – it really is as simple as good real food, training bloody hard, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep and avoiding the processed crap. The media absolutely LOVES a headline for the Health & Fitness pages. Seriously though, raspberry ketones, detox tea, juice cleanses, 30 day sit up challenges —— IT IS ALL NONSENSE

I hope that sheds some light on the reality of progress……

“How did you get your abs Cat?”

…..firstly, they aren’t always there – they come and go, I assumed once you were lean you were lean 24/7 – the girls on Instagram though? They prepare for WEEKS for those photo shoots. It’s absolutely OK to be softer in real life. If you want to be ripped with abs 24/7 then prepare to be a damn boring person!

This is what I look like now – generally day to day, unless I go home for a week and abuse the fridge full of Marks & Spencers deli food (damn you mezze platters and cheese and posh crisps!)…

It’s kind of hard for me to tell you exactly how I did it and this is down to two reasons…. One – I am now training for an Ironman, this involves training twice a day every day and eating an awful lot – it’s intense and science-y, yes, science-y. The second reason is I cannot shortchange my coaches/friends that have got me to where I am….. it really does come down to them yelling at me when I whined that I wasn’t getting anywhere and them yelling at me when I doubted myself. Honestly – I am an absolute TREAT to work with.

So – 9th June 2015 – less than 100 days until Ironman Wales…. A mere 18 months since I started training properly. If that doesn’t prove that you can make massive progress and massive changes then nothing else will.

I hope this is received as it is intended. My little blog is about fuelling after all – we will get back to the good stuff tomorrow I promise.

….oh and don’t worry Wil – I will dig out some fun facts about our beloved H2O for you very soon.

C xx