At 18 stone and approaching my 40th birthday suffering from back ache, sleep apnoea and so on, I decided enough was enough. I needed to do something about my weight. This is where the vicious circle started - every ache and pain pointed to being overweight. The answer apparently was to exercise to lose weight, but because I was so heavy the best exercise to lose weight (running) was not appropriate because of the risk of joint pain, tendonitis and so on.
I felt that I was banging my head against a brick wall, so I joined Slimming World to lose weight before starting to exercise. I lost two stone within two months, and then I started going to the gym and doing the cardio exercises on the treadmill, crosstrainer and exercise bike. After a while this changed to just the treadmill, and when I was brave enough I ventured outdoors. I chose a countryside route so as not to bump into the local teenagers hanging around the street corners.
I ran four miles slowly, stopping for five minutes at the halfway point. I felt absolutely drained and couldn't walk properly for a week but I got the running bug.That was around Christmas 2005. I needed a target to keep me motivated so I entered the Sheffield Half-Marathon to be held in May 2006. I started training for it in January by doing two or three midweek runs of three to four miles then a Sunday run of six to ten miles. The weight kept dropping off and by the time of the half-marathon I had lost five stone. I finished the race in 1 hour 52 mins with energy to spare and was over the moon (eight months earlier I couldn't run to the end of our street without stopping).
Because I have got the bug I am now looking to enter more races and possibly join a running club. The running really helped me to lose weight and obviously the more weight I lost, the easier it became and ultimately more enjoyable. The back ache and sleep apnoea also disappeared! It is a well-documented fact that running is the best exercise for weight loss (I am living proof) so if you are like I was a year ago, get out there and hit the streets. Make sure you get proper shoes, eat properly and focus your mind and anything is possible! Good luck to everyone.
Post a Comment