For approx 70% of CSQ weddings, there is a bride on a diet for the big day. I always ask what diet they're on, or what workout they're doing because I'm pretty willing to try something new. I have ,maybe been a little too willing with the something new actually as I've tried just about everything fitness-wise ......Insanity, Zu, Circuits, Swimming a mile a day, Body Pump, Body Combat, Couch to 10k, Yoga, 7 Minute Workout, 3 week Challenge bla bla bla but the thing is, I just really dislike exercise. And I have a funky foot that gives me a bit of gyp.
I really really love "refurbishing". Nails, Lashes the whole shebang. And it was Erika at "Love Those Lashes" who sold me the idea of a Personal Trainer and sent me on my merry way to Ricky.
Now, being a musician is by no means a career that's going to afford me the Dream Yacht on the Côte d'Azur, and I'm saving for a new house so this is not an expense I ever deemed important before or anything I ever thought i could justify. But Erika knew the answer to this "It's personal fitness!" she said. It's feeling good in yourself - "How can you put a price on that?"
So myself and my bestie, Debbie, decided to go for a free trial, to see what the whole thing was all about, and that was how we found ourselves, one Friday Morning, clutching our water bottles and standing on the scales at Ricky Singhs swanky gym.
We were put through the hardest workout I've ever had. The thing is, I enjoyed it so much, I didn't know it was the hardest workout ever until my boyfriend had to haul my ass up the stairs of the Mull ferry the next day. I hobbled about all weekend, mortifyingly looking like I couldn't deal with my stilettos, even though this gal here was born in Kurt Geiger's. Ricky text to ask how I was getting on and had zilch sympathy for the whole thing ...
On Tuesday, we had another session and soon forgot any pain as we made more pain - and it was brilliant. We loved it. Working in a pair is great as you can box one another and take out the frustrations of the week, or throw a ball, that might weigh 1million kg but if you try really hard, you could imagine its a beachball and you're on your girls holiday in Lanzarote. I did say verrrrry hard.
We got loads of homework. Questionnaires to see how serious we were, and if we really wanted to change? And who our support network is? And what our weaknesses are?
Now we're three weeks in, and we do four sessions a week. Three of these are in a 7am class where there's never more than 7 of us so lots of individual attention and a great deal of care is taken to make sure everybody is moving at whatever pace they can - but also insuring we're all using maximum effort. "FASTER ANNEMARIE" gets blasted in my ear every morning I try to get away with a leisurely country pedal on the Airfit, my personal nemesis.
Each class begins with a warm up, followed by a gruelling and torturous cardio session where I apologise to my body for every Dominos I've ever phoned and every Craft IPA I've ever swigged. Then we do strength and conditioning which has Cardio and Weights and Body Weight training and I cry inside - Little Red Wine tears.
By the cool down everyone is a panting, sweaty broken mess....but we're all smiling - because it feels amazing to have got to the end of such an unbelievably hard workout, and we actually feel ok. We all skip off to work, protein shake in hand, ready for tomorrow.
Our One-to-One's, or in our case Two-to-Ones are more specialised on working certain parts we want to change. My bingo wings hate this class most.
My aim is to drop 2 dress sizes in 16 weeks, so four months essentially and fit into a lovely dress I bought in a sale thinking "One Day"
Apparently not only is that doable, but I'll also change my attitude towards food and be able to maintain this weight loss, so I'm going to blog my way through so you can all see the improvement week to week and see if a Personal Trainer is what you need in the lead up to the big day.
I'll upload all my statistics when the new glitzy posh body scanner comes which measures every part of your body and tells you what weight you've lost and where and makes you a cup of tea in the mornings.
I promise not to hide the gristley bits. There's no hiding from Ricky.....
I promise not to hide the gristley bits. There's no hiding from Ricky.....
