Fit at Forty something
Keeping yourself fit is not always easy. With the pressures of work, family, life commitments, not to mention getting older, often the gym gets put to the bottom of the list, writes Tracy Hargreaves. Photography: SusieQPhotography.co.uk
I’ve always been interested in fitness. From the age of 10 I played badminton and was part of a team for a local league for around 10 years, I was then a yogi for four years, before becoming a fully-fledged gym bunny several years ago.
So, when the opportunity came up to have a personal trainer, I jumped at the chance and signed up to an eight-week course with trainer Jemma Knox.
I’d always had mixed views about personal trainers, but my first session was all about what I wanted out of it. I wasn’t necessarily looking to lose weight but lose inches. Having someone like Jemma was great as she had her own story to tell about how she became a trainer.
“I’ve always been passionate about training myself and gained a great knowledge of discipline from my years on the Great Britain Show Jumping Team between the ages of 17 and 22, when I had my daughter Holly,” says Jemma.
“After Holly, I gained a lot of weight through gestational diabetes and I had to find a way of getting back in shape, which led me down the path of a whole lifestyle change from the point of view of fitness and nutrition.”
“I lost five stone and then went on to train and run the Great North half marathon and the London marathon, trained by my trainer at Shaw Hill Golf Resort and Spa Hotel, Kieron. In the time I was losing the weight I became more interested in how nutrition and exercise can change people’s lives which lead me to become a personal trainer and nutritionist.”
Jemma also knows what it’s like to be a busy. Running her own business, Sculpt Aesthetics at Shaw Hill, non-invasive face and body treatments such as cellulite, skin tightening, stubborn fat removal and non-surgical face lifts, which is now in its fifth year, training for a marathon and bringing up a young family.
After being measured, weighed and asked about my lifestyle and what I ate, Jemma developed a fitness and food plan bespoke to me. As part of the eight weeks, I used Shaw Hill’s gym and fitness facilities as well as attending some of the classes Jemma also runs there and tried to get walking outside as much as I could, but Jemma was always available online to provide advice, tips and encouragement.
“We kept the diet plan relative to Tracy’s lifestyle, so she could continue to socialise, have drinks and meals out with friends and fuel all of her workouts. There were weeks when work was extremely busy for her and she just couldn’t exercise so we tailored days that she couldn’t train in to her diet plan.”
“Working online meant I gave Tracy guidance on which specific equipment to use to build up her cardio and her strength with weights. The routine varied each week with different exercises, using different muscles, said Jemma.”
At first, I struggled with the food plan, whilst I ate reasonably healthy, I did make some changes and noticed a difference straight away. I cut out bread, only having wholemeal very occasionally, didn’t have any processed food and upped my salad and vegetable intake. I stopped eating cakes and biscuits (I have a sweet tooth) and changed my snacks to little and often so I was never hungry. It’s also important to drink lots of water.
What I was surprised about was my cardio, whilst I was used to going to body combat and box and burn I hated running and the tread mill. But at the end of the eight weeks, I had managed to run almost 5k. Not much you might think, but for someone who was adamant I wasn’t going to run, it was a massive achievement.
“Tracy smashed her goal of wanting to tone up her arms and lose the little bit of fat she stored around her middle,” said Jemma “I tailored the diet plan to help her target the areas she was most concerned about and she lost the half a stone we planned on. In addition, she hasn’t suffered with bloating like she used to and her mental wellbeing has improved considerably.”
“My typical clients tend to be busy working mums who have lost touch with making time for themselves, always putting everyone else’s needs before their own, which slowly leads to them putting on weight through poor food choices, stress, lack of sleep and hormones etc. In addition, for women who are older and who are approaching the menopause, keeping fit and healthy will go a long way to easing some of the symptoms we get.”
With so many people time precious, the benefits of online training are that no matter where we are, we can always do a workout and stick to the nutrition plans set with the added benefit of instant support 24/7. Every plan is tailored to that individual to match their specific goals.
There were times when I didn’t feel like exercising, especially over the winter months when it’s hard to motivate yourself but I’m definitely pleased with the results. My clothes are loose, I feel more toned and I have more energy.
The trick now is to keep it up. But somehow, I think I will be able to hear Jemma’s voice in my head saying, ‘go on you can do it’.
jemma@sculptaesthetics.co.uk
