Fit_Well_October_2017

Before After Loss

14st 5lb 10st 7lb 3st 12lb

18 10 4 sizes

Weight

Dress size

wendy’s

weight Loss

We n dy has gone

from covering up

to proudly showing

off her size 10 shape

» For more information on

Walk the Walk events, or to

sign up as a walker or a volunteer,

visit walkthewalk.org

» Ramblers organise group walks

throughout the UK. To find out

more, visit ramblers.org.uk

have a go...

she started

walking the fife

Coastal path

2016. My friend had done one and told
      me what an amazing experience it was.
      I’d lost an aunt and uncle to cancer, two
      nieces had been diagnosed with the
      disease and now I’d had cancer, too. It
      was time for me to give something back
      for the treatment we’d all received – and
      for me to transform my own health.

i began by walking for two

miles. within four weeks i

had increased it to 12 miles.

With my sister Tracey, a friend from

Slimming World and sometimes on my

own, I started walking along the Fife

Coastal Path and in local parks. We started

doing two miles which, at first, I found

so tiring but walking every other day

it soon became easier. I went out after

work twice a week and walked three

miles, soon upping that to six, which

took about an hour-and-a-half.

Leading up to the Moonwalk

i’d walk between 12 and 20

miles on a saturday. It took

between three-and-a-half to five-and-a-

half hours depending on the distance

I walked. On Sundays, I’d walk for another

13 miles, a half-marathon distance.

i fell in love with walking

and the changes i could see

in my body. I was toning up, building

my stamina and the exercise was helping

my physical recovery. My changing shape

also spurred me on – I was finally able to

wear skinny jeans with confidence!

on the day of the Moonwalk,

my friend was injured, so i

had to do it alone. I arrived at

8.30pm to an electric atmosphere. I was

nervous despite being the fittest I’d ever

been, at 10st 9lb. At 12 miles, I hit the wall.

It was 2am, pitch-black and cold. But I’d

met two fabulous girls from Yorkshire and

we kept each other going. Crossing the

finishing line felt amazing.

exercise classes have taken

over my life. Walking in the dark and

cold last winter didn’t appeal so, feeling

more confident, I started some classes.

I now do 12 a week including boxfit, body

combat and boot camp – and I often walk

the three-and-a-half miles to the gym and

back. I did The MoonWalk again this June,

knocking nearly an hour off my time. Now

I’m even training to run a half-marathon.

now my friends tell me i’m

athletic-looking. I’m where I want to

be fitness-wise and have muscles in places

I didn’t know existed. I even feel confident

enough to wear tight dresses, something

I never would have dreamed of four years

ago. For the first time since being a teenager

I’m a size 10 – I couldn’t be happier!

T

he starting line for

The MoonWalk was

buzzing. normally at

11.40pm I’d have been

in bed, so it felt strange

to start walking in a wonderful

party atmosphere when I

should have been asleep! Two

years ago, at nearly 4st heavier,

I never would have been able

to walk 26.2 miles but, having

shed the weight, I felt ready to

take on the challenge...

Before being diagnosed

with thyroid cancer, my

weight was steady. After having

my children, Emily, now 16, and Samuel,

10, my weight was always 11st. At 5ft 7in,

I was happy with that. But it all changed

when an operation to remove what was

thought to be a goitre (an enlargement

of the thyroid gland) turned out to be

thyroid cancer. My thyroid gland was

removed and, after radioactive iodine

treatment, I was given the all-clear.

no thyroid gland resulted

in weight gain. Getting my thyroid

levels correct with the drug thyroxine was

tricky. It affected my metabolism, causing

weight gain. The diagnosis had come as

such a shock, I also began comfort eating.

over three years, i put on 3st.

I was eating takeaways three times a

week, snacking on crisps and my portion

sizes were out of control. I blamed my

weight gain on having my thyroid

removed but I wasn’t watching what I ate

at all. I started to notice it when I hit size

18. Nothing looked nice on me.

the trigger to lose weight

came two years ago. I was

breathless going up stairs. I kidded myself

I was doing exercise because, in 2012 I’d

joined a gym, but I only went five times

in a year. I tried a few classes and went on

the treadmill but I felt so self-conscious

with all the mirrors. One day a family

friend I hadn’t seen in a while asked when

my baby was due! When I said I wasn’t

pregnant she replied, ‘What a weight

you’ve put on then, hen.’ I felt so hurt but

I knew what she’d said was true.

i started walking and set

myself a goal of doing the

Moonwalk. I joined a slimming club

in July 2015 and lost 3st in six months, but

I needed to tone up. So, in February 2016,

I started power walking. I thought, ‘I’ve got

a pair of legs, let’s use them.’ I signed up to

do The MoonWalk in Edinburgh in June

How I DID It

Words

georgina maric

Photos

helen Barrington