According to a BBC article over 40% of people said that they put weight on during the March 2020 lockdown, with the same percentage reporting an increase in anxiety and depression. Whether or not the small sample size in the survey was reflective of the UK population as a whole, it’s true that our exercise habits were altered with gyms, swimming pools and yoga studios closed.

For me, I found that the general slowdown of life gave me an opportunity to focus on my own health and wellbeing. I was still busy with freelance work but now had time during the week to walk into the next village and stock up on fresh produce from our local independents.

However, I was conscious that my normal outdoor adventures had been curtailed and daily exercise outside the house limited to once per day, so looked online for something to keep me fit and active at home. I searched for equipment free HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions on YouTube and started doing workouts on the patio.

My motivation was 3-fold: maintain a level of fitness while locked down at home; help keep anxiety about the Covid-19 situation at bay and; drop the lbs and inches which had crept on over recent years. The regular sessions soon turned me into an early morning exerciser and I was enjoying my new way of life (healthy food, regular exercise and daily meditation).

However, I was unsure whether my ad-hoc regime was overdoing things or, conversely, too easy.

I winged it for around 3 months before seeing a local personal trainer JW Fitness advertise an online 42 day body transformation plan. I’d been following Jarrod on Instagram for a while and liked his approach to nutrition and fitness. The advertised plan included a recipe book, a programme of online HIIT sessions and personalised advice to help me reach my goals.

My aim was to find a weekly exercise routine which would push my body and improve fitness, without overtraining and getting injured or run down. I also wanted to have more energy, feel healthier, have better fitting clothes (without going shopping) and lose a little of the excess so that mountain biking uphill would be less of an ordeal. I signed up!

Starting the 42 day transformation

Meals for the first 2 weeks were planned out with suggestions from the online recipe book (incidentally, delicious). Since working with a nutritionist a few years ago, I was already eating a fairly similar diet so just needed to double check a few of the guidelines before getting started.

The main areas which needed my focus were to ensure that I ate good protein with meals and to reduce the level of carbohydrates and sugars which had snuck in over the months.

The exercise plan was simple to follow with fasted cardio days built in around the HIIT days. I discovered a new love of early morning walks and things were going well.

Weekly check-in and support

One of the huge benefits of signing up for the 42 day plan was the amount of 1:1 support received. During the first week, Jarrod checked in regularly to see how things were going. At the end of each week, we had a chat about the previous week and how I was feeling so that we could make tweaks to improve my results.

Everything was fine for the first month, but then I started to come across a few problems.

One of the effects of ageing is that recovery time from exercise takes longer. As the years have progressed, I’ve noticed that long bike rides can wipe me out physically for a few days. However, I refuse to stop doing the things I love, so accept that I need to build rest into my routine.

Over the course of the 42-day plan, the HIIT sessions were becoming tougher with double sets and less rest in between. Responding to the challenge, I toughed it out and pushed through, but eventually my body gave out. I wasn’t able to recover and started failing to complete the exercises.

This came around the same time that weight and inches were stubbornly refusing to shift and, although I could see positive changes in the mirror, I was feeling frustrated. Life had also taken a stressful turn and I was struggling to sleep. My old nutritionist always said that intense exercise can create an increase in cortisol, particularly in women of a certain age, so I began considering whether the old stress hormone may have come out to play.

Jarrod and I chatted about everything and agreed to deviate from the original plan for the last couple of weeks so that I could build in more recovery between sessions (gentle walks). I also had the ok to pause the video for a rest between sets if I started to struggle. It was a great way forward and meant that I could finish each session in full.

One of the things I picked up over the weeks is that Jarrod really wants his clients to get results and, if you’re prepared to put the work in, he’s prepared to help you get there.

The results

Ok, first up, you’re not going to find a bunch of stats with weight and inches lost, nor see amazing before and after pictures!

Why?

Aside from the fact that I’m not happy sharing such personal information, I also firmly believe that losing weight or inches is never the real motivation behind embarking on a new fitness regime, it’s just a nice by-product. Instead, I believe that the real reason is so that we can feel better in our own skin (both physically and emotionally).

People also start from different base levels, making it impossible to compare our journey with someone else’s. The closer we are to our ideal weight, the less likely we are to see big numbers drop on the scales. The older we are, the more stubborn extra weight becomes. The fitter we are, the more time and consistency is needed to achieve results.

Basically, our health and fitness is a long-term lifestyle choice..

Staying in shape does become tougher as we age (recovery time and hormones play a big part) and needs a different approach to the way we exercised back in our 20’s. However, I refuse to accept being told that weight gain is inevitable as we get older, or that there’s nothing we can do about it.

What I can tell you is that since the 42 day plan, I feel healthier, my clothes fit better and I have more positive thoughts about my body shape when I look in the mirror. Basically, it delivered the very things I aimed to achieve.

In conclusion

If I’d carried on with my YouTube HIIT sessions, would I have ended up with the same results on my own?

The answer is not straightforward!

I possibly did have enough knowledge already without buying a plan from someone else. However, I had doubts and often wondered whether I should be doing things differently. Without fast results, those doubts could have led me to give up (it had in the past).

Honestly, I wasn’t really signing up for HIIT classes and a recipe book! I was signing up for the chance to chat 1:1 with a qualified personal trainer / nutritionist who spoke my language and would help me to get the most out of what I was doing.

So if you’re looking to buy into a new fitness programme, my recommendation is to find somebody qualified and check that you’re both on the same page. Also ensure (via previous clients) that they can help you to get results and that they offer 1:1 support, because no size fits all.

The motivation I had at the start of lockdown put me onto the right track and working with Jarrod helped to steer me through the next phase. Consistency is now the focus and it’s up to me to continue dedicating time and energy towards my long-term health goals.

I kinda like that!

Outdoor-Girl is run by Jacquie Budd, a freelance writer providing content writing, copywriting and digital marketing services for businesses.

Visit www.jacquiebudd.com for more information.