Looking back to a few years ago, I was a bit of a mess. Battling anorexia and depression, I had lost not only too much weight but all of my strength and stamina. Over a couple of years, I worked through it and got myself back to a healthy weight but was left with food allergies and an auto immune condition that makes me prone to bouts of extreme exhaustion that can last for weeks. In short, I had gone from being able to run a marathon in less than four hours to barely being able to run a mile. My muscles were weak and lacked any tone and I had very little strength at all.
I could feel myself becoming unhappy with how my body looked and decided that, rather than let myself fall into a rut again, I would get myself a personal trainer to help me get back in shape in a healthy way. I needed someone who would understand my past problems and would challenge me, but would also recognise when I wasn’t able to push myself any further.
Luckily for me, I found Kimberley practically on my doorstep. In the 3 months or so I have been having training sessions with her, so much has changed. She gives me loads of encouragement, knows when I am capable of more and when i’ve reached my limit. My strength and stamina are building weekly and I can now do a lot more than I thought I was capable of, even taking a full minute off my best ever time for running a mile. She changes each session so it’s never boring or repetitive but also focuses on my weakest areas so that my overall fitness levels are improving and I leave each session feeling happy and energised.
When I have bouts of fatigue, I am recovering quicker and I can see my body shape and muscle tone changing; so much so that I actually wore exercise clothes out in public for a whole day without panicking (and allowed photographic evidence!). My goals have changed so that I now aim to finish one more burpee or go one level higher on the spin bike rather than miss one more meal or lose one more pound. I have a way to go but this is the healthiest and fittest I have felt in years and a lot of that is due to Kimberley’s efforts.