If I Can Do It So Can You! :-D

Me & My Fiance.

A Little About Me.

Hi :-)

I'm Nicole & before I tell you how 'If I Can Do It So Can You' I want to tell you a little about me & why I started this blog.

I'm 22 from Liverpool, I work as a Sales associate for Holland & Barrett, and i'm engaged to the most amazing man in the world. My beautiful Fiance Abu, is actually the person who gave me the confidence to finally do what i wanted to do with my life. I recently started a Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Adviser course. I'm using my experience to hopefully eventually help others see, if you want to do it, you can. Its not too hard. 

I have struggled for years with my weight, I've tried diet after diet and have never been able to find an exercise class that I didn't eventually get bored off.

I'd always read stories in magazine of woman who had turned their lives around, took control and lost weight, but I always thought "I could never do that"  But after suffering the loss of my beloved daddy, I lost 4 1/2 stone and went from a size 24 to 14.

If I Can Do It So Can You. :-)

For as long as I can remember I have struggled with my weight, at school I was badly bullied die to my size, and even some of my family members always seemed to have something to say. For years I had tried diet after diet but nothing worked, I tried to exercise but always got bored and gave up.

My Beloved Daddy R.I.P

Eventually I'd come to terms with being the size I was (which at that time was a size 24) I just thought "I give up, this is me, if the world doesn't like it tough" I acted all happy and fine with it in front of everyone else, but secretly I still loathed being over weight. 

After my dad died I was a mess and needed something to keep my mind occupied as I was slowly sinking into a state of bad depression. I was not coping well at all. I started working for Holland & Barrett and my colleague Andy was always very fitness minded, after a lot of long and educational talks with him plus the knowledge I was getting from my work training, I decided enough was enough. I joined the gym with my friend Busayo. At First I was terrified, I even tried making excuses not to go, I hated the thought of others seeing me exercise, but with the encouragement of my friend Busyao I battled against my inner demons, & when I got inside, I suddenly realised "why was I so worried?" Everyone was different, different shapes, different sizes and no one card what I was doing, they where all too busy with what they where doing. When I started talking to people they where lovely. I soon saw that the only thing stopping me, was me. The fear of going to the gym was actually bigger than it needed to be. 

I started going the gym 2-3 times a week as I was working a lot, and when I couldn't go the gym I was getting off the bus sooner and walking the rest of the way to work, I even started walking 5 miles to work and 5 miles home. But exercising alone is not the answer, you have to eat healthy too. Id come to the conclusion that a diet wasn't going to help me at all. Why? because when Id hit my goal weight Id stop dieting and start eating what I wanted again. Loosing weight is one thing maintaining it is another. I opted for a complete lifestyle change. Being a girl with PCOS (Polly cystic ovarian syndrome) my body doesn't process carbs and sugars like everyone else, so I started only eating carbs early on in the day. If I was going to eat carbs Id eat them at breakfast, so I was getting the energy my body need from them through out the day, and my body would burn them off through out the day rather than storing them as fat, as the body dose if carbs are eaten later in the day when the metabolism is slowing down and you sitting around not doing anything. I cut down my portion sizes, started eating a lot more fruit and veg and as I was spending a lot of time with my friend Busayo who loves spicy food I was eating a lot of chili. Just because I was trying to eat healthier didn't mean I didn't eat some of my fave foods, Id still have a treat but only once a week and I wouldn't over indulge, Another way I found to stick to healthy eating was to play around with food, I tried a lot of different recipes so I wouldn't get bored and also so I would enjoy it. I love food and healthy eating doesn't mean food has to be boring and tasteless.  

After a while I noticed my clothes where getting bigger, people where commenting on how much weight Id lost and how good I was looking. I didn't notice it myself until I was shopping with my cousin Laura. I picked up a per of jeans sized 16 and she said "Nicole they are too bug try the 14" after a lot of debating if I could fit into them I tried them on, and to my surprise they fit. I actually started crying in the shop, I never in a million years thought Id loose as much weight as i did. But like I said loosing it is one thing, maintaining it is another. I'm still eating healthy, and exercising, as Ive found now I enjoy it. I'm determined not to go back to the way I was. All it took was determination, motivation, finding something I enjoyed, support from Friends & family and a little will power. Don't believe me? here is the proof. And If I Can Do It So Can You. :-)

If I Can Do It So Can You!