Oh ‘hi there’ 2017 – nice to see you. The end of 2016 kind of crept up on me and now here we are already on the second Sunday of the new year.
My December was full of the usual seasonal events, Christmas parties, socialising and delicious food and drink. But it was also full of fitness. I’m not one of those people that just gives up on their fitness goals during December, or puts things off until the New Year – I used to be, but not anymore.
In fact I find that keeping focused on my fitness during the silly season actually helps me to enjoy it more. I don’t know about you but days and days of eating sugary, fatty food and drinking alcohol doesn’t make me feel great. So having days or even just one meal a day when I eat healthily and keeping up with my training really helps to keep me feeling good all the way through December and into the New Year.
Following Julia’s Four Week Breakthrough programme really helped me during December. At 30 minutes each they were perfect sessions to fit in to my busy diary and really kept my fat fires burning. So much so that I actually lost an inch off my tummy – during December! That programme is now available to all Silver members of her online gym – the perfect way to kick start your fitness in 2017 for just £6.50 per month. You can sign up here.
December is also my birthday month, I was 43. If you’ve been following this blog for a while you’ll know that I set myself a goal of fitting back into the dress that I wore on my 40th birthday. I’m delighted to report that I did it – I didn’t actually wear the dress out on my birthday as we were going for a big meal, and it’s still a little on the snug side, but it does up and I was absolutely delighted to reach this goal.
Strongwoman training was also a regular feature. We had a really fun Christmas session which included Santa sack carries and sleigh pulls with us dressed as reindeer or in Santa hats.
On the subject of Strongwoman in December I made a decision about my next competition. I’ve decided to enter the England’s Strongest Woman qualifiers in March 2017.
This is a bit of a leap into the unknown for me – some of the women that I’m going to be up against are seriously strong and I’ve only been training and competing in the sport for a year.
But if 2016 taught me anything it’s that you only live once, and that life might turn out to be shorter than you’d like it to be. With that in mind I’ve decided just to go for it! As with my previous competitions my focus is on me and lifting as well as I can on the day. If I leave with some new PBs I’ll be happy.
A lot of people will write 2016 off as a bit of shit year and I guess from a political and ‘loads of people dying’ perspective it was. But for me personally it was a very good one. I’m going into 2017, back to my leanest and smallest but also at my strongest and I’m excited about what the year will bring.
From Strength to Strength 