Eat For You Dietitian

This wasn’t always the case. Who else hated P.E or physical education at school? 

At an all girl’s secondary school we got forced to have the cycling shorts and hockey mini skirts to wear. I couldn’t find the sport that I was good at. Even when I had a group of friends who liked to play basketball at lunch, I joined the team too. I was awful at basketball but I don’t think the coach had the heart to tell me and plus there weren’t others waiting to join instead. Either way, as soon as we reached Sixth Form College I was glad it was no longer forced upon us. 

Being exposed to messages about exercise and body shape constantly always made me believe that the only reason to exercise is to want to become smaller. These messages come from all angles including media, friends, and family. Even when I’ve been at my lightest, my body shape never really changed. When I realised I was that weight (checking on some gym fancy scales with a friend), a weird feeling overcame me. It wasn’t happiness, body love or freedom. What we always get told we will be feeling when we reach our goal weight. Nothing changed mentally. And that’s when I realised my body shape or weight does not matter. Being negative about my body doesn’t make me want to be kind to it and take care of it. Yet it keeps me alive and keeps me moving. 

I guess that’s when I came across a local kickboxing class when I was doing my postgraduate degree in Dietetics in Cardiff in my early twenties. I wanted to do something besides going to the gym and being confused again at what to do (I’ve never been a keen gym-goer). It took me a long time to be confident in the moves I was learning, and being punched in the face is an interesting experience but the diversity in bodies and ages was eye opening. During sparring matches I would be faced with someone twice my age, then three times my age, then someone my age and we were all treated equally regardless of external factors. 

Running came alongside when someone suggested completing the Cardiff Half Marathon. 2 years prior I had always ran a half marathon which I hated so I think someone mentioning the challenge again I thought let’s try this again. Half marathons, marathons, one Ultra marathon, running injuries later and I run for me only. I think changing my mindset about my body has helped me continue to run regardless of my body shape because I remember how I feel when I reach a certain distance, speed or even when I see a gorgeous sky or bird. Content that my legs took me here and I want to continue until they no longer want to move any further. 

Family and friends may still think I run to lose weight or to maintain my weight or body shape and they will talk to me about it. Neither is true. I don’t blame them for their assumptions as this is the message we get told. I can only emphasise that I run because how it makes me feel when I run. I also do yoga and strength workouts because it makes me strong and each time I complete a workout I feel like I’ve done something I didn’t think I could do. For example, I bought a pair of 10kg dumbbells 6 months ago, which I’ve been using on and off as my other dumbbells are 5kg so it’s a big jump in weight. Today I finished my workout using only my 10kg dumbbells without having to swap to the lighter ones. Progress is beautiful to see in any way, shape or form. 

Reminder: Measure your progress based on you, not anyone else’s journey.