Hi all

So I have a confession to make
I am not happy with body at the moment
Something I think us women are renowned for
But we know our own bodies, and when things aren’t right we worry about it
Sometimes it can be our own fault, yet other times it is our bodies reaction to something like stress, trauma etc
As you know I was ill in January and had a few hormonal issues going on, which has caused me to store fat and I hate it
Now before some of you shut off and say ‘ ahh you don’t understand what it’s like to store fat, you look great’
I’m not being a self conscious, self obsessed pain in the ass here, I’m telling my story to try and help you guys
Oh and to show that yes, I am real too 🙂
So please read on, and pick up some tips that will also help you on your fat loss journey
Being a little depressed through poor health, I will admit my nutrition was not as good as normal, but I wasn’t really bad either, not bad enough to change shape completely, or so I thought
So over the past 6 months things have changed a lot for me
I had a re-scan of my back, and was told that my disc problem has got worse and in actual fact I now also have another disc affected
So I had to change my training even more
I now only demo for small group (fat loss programme) or 1 2 1 personal training
I then concentrate on my own workouts
But seeing as I am to avoid high impact exercise, cannot run on a hard surface,
My cardio has suffered massively
I can only run on the sand, to take away the impact from my discs, but this is only something I can fit in once a week, due to work commitments
I have had to cut out the treadmill, sprints and adapt my hiit training to avoid high impact jumps etc
So all in all my cardio has dropped
On top of this I became ill in January, where my hormones were effected, my body was under stress, and it immediately stored fat as protection
I gained half a stone in 5 days, and I still cannot get it offPhotoGrid_1493051229260
My tummy, which usually has a lot of definition, started to look bloated and round, and actually still looks the same
As soon as I eat or drink substantially, it gets bigger and I am trying to hide it behind baggy clothes all of the time
Now, I know enough about the body my body and stress, hormones and how this all plays a massive part in how our bodies run daily
I teach this to my clients clients constantly
Yet, when it’s YOU, it’s very different, and as I have been very lucky to never have struggled in this way before, I fell apart
Luckily, I have the best mentors in the World
Some o the World’s most knowledgeable people in hormones, nutrition, exercise and health in general
So sent Jade Teta, of Metabolic Effect, my mentor and good friend a message
I hated bothering him, as I said he is so well respected and high up in the industry, he must get thousands of messages per day
But, I really was in need of his advice, as I now was driving myself mad with this
I had already taken time out, listened to my body, tried to rest, recover and give it the time it needed to repair
I had made sure my nutrition was spot on, but I was trying to throw myself into exercise to compensate for this fat gain, and hopefully drop it
Jade was amazing, and arranged to give me a call, all the way from California, USA and help me
We went through everything, and even though I had started doing all of the right things,
There was one thing I was doing wrong
Something again, I would have noticed in my clients, but my mindset at the time, was one track and focused solely on exercising more to get this tummy of mine back
Once we went through all that I had experienced, I recognised everything Jade recommended for me to do
We established, that this illness had actually knocked me off my feet, put me under a huge amount of stress, and affected the function of my Thyroid and Adrenal glands massively
They were under so much stress, that the only thing to do was take a massive step back, and give my body more time to recover
I needed to cut my exercise, cut my food and do more rest and recovery sessions
I also needed to take a few supplements to aid the process
Firstly Vitex, which is considered one of the most popular herbs in Europe and other Western nations for the support of gynecological imbalances.
As well as Ashwaganda, which is one of the most powerful herbs in Ayurvedic healing, has been used since ancient times for a wide variety of conditions, and is most well-known for its restorative benefits.
Ashwagandha can help alleviate symptoms from Stress, fatigue, lack of energy and support an energetic and rejuvenating sense of wellbeing.
And Rhodiola Root, which is a traditional Chinese medicine and Scandinavian herb, said to promote physical/cognitive vitality.
Rhodiola appears to be proven for reducing fatigue and exhaustion in prolonged stressful situations.
So I got ordering these immediately, as well as Epson Salts for my bath and Glutamine powder for after my workouts
We reduced my workouts to only 2 days of heavy weights
Walking for nearly an hour every single day
And bathing, sauna, steam room, yoga, fun with family and friends at least 3 times per week
This for me was hard, especially as my job is mostly training people
So I had to make a massive effort to listen and adopt these changes in to my lifestyle
Food, however, had to change too, especially as my exercise was changing, I needed to accommodate this,
So I followed Metabolic Effect’s 3:2:1 protocol as with the exercise above I change my food
So only 3 meals a day (so different from the 6 I’m used to)
First 2 meals, protein and veg only
Last meal of the day could contain carbs
Now for me this was a huge change all around
I am used to training myself twice a day, as well as the demo sessions for my clients
And I have always eaten 5/6 times a day according to the amount of exercise I am doing
However, I soon got into this, as I was doing less exercise, I wasn’t looking for extra food
I noticed a change in 10 days
I lost some water, and I felt a little less bloated
I had much more energy, whereas I had been exhausted all of the time
And feel a lot better within myslef
It has only been 3 weeks, and this is something again that can take a minimum of 12 weeks
But it is a start
As much as I know the impact stress has on the body
When it happened to me and had such a big impact, it was horrible
And I couldn’t quite get my head around it and see a way out
We all have times in our life, where we need extra help,
Times where we can even know how to get out of the problem ourselves, but are unable to put the pieces together
This is exactly when we need a coach to guide us
I am now thankfully on the right track
I am very self conscious of how my body looks, and I’m not totally happy with it
But I know I’m doing my best to get it back to where I want it to be
I haven’t given up
Fallen off track and jacked it in
I am actually working harder on my body now than I have ever had to
So I wanted to share this experience with you guys and show you, that it is not easy for anyone and we all experience obstacles along our journey
It’s all part of life
How we deal with these problems is the main thing
Getting the right advice, help and support and pushing forward no matter what
and never, ever giving up
Check out the great article from The amazing Metabolic Effect HERE https://www.metaboliceffect.com/how-to-heal-the-thyroid-adrenals/
And join my FREE facebook group for more tips and advice HERE
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682438582022781/
Keep fit, happy and healthy. Invest in yourself, remember health is wealth
Emma xx