‘These 3 habits helped me lose fat after I took my grief out on my body’

Sinead started her fitness transformation with three simple habits

Two years after Mum’s death, I knew something had to change. The first step was the hardest: pinpointing what was preventing me from living healthily. I needed to accept the passing of my mother; I couldn’t change what had happened, but I could change the future. I resolved to focus on the positives in life and, with the support of family and friends, committed to getting fit and healthy in three months.

I put together a sustainable and realistic routine

Quick-fix diets and sporadic workouts weren’t working, so I knew I needed a sustainable and realistic routine. I put together a plan for the first month: a healthy calorie deficit for my height and activity level, monitored via MyFitnessPal; walking 10,000 steps a day and drinking plenty of water. A simple strategy, but it worked – the
excess weight began to shift.

Weight training with a PT played a big part in Sinead’s health overhaul

I gradually started attending gym classes

By February, I was attending gym classes, too – group exercise felt less daunting than going it alone, as I had no idea what to do. My first class was legs, bums and tums: the camaraderie I felt with my classmates was amazing and the teacher was so motivating. Crucially, I wasn’t hiding. For the first time, I felt involved and confident – I couldn’t wait to go back. I began mixing in spin and body-combat classes, attending five times a week, while getting my daily step tally back up to 10,000.

Hiring a PT helped me learn about progressive overload and nutrition

Confidence buoyed, I started weight training with a PT in October 2022. He helped me identify my goal – building muscle to feel strong and mobile – and taught me how to get there through progressively overloading the weights I’d lift. In a few weeks, I felt stronger than ever. Now, I lift weights three times a week, run and attend a fitness class. I fuel my fitness with simple, nutritious meals; breakfast might be porridge, lunch is often a chicken salad and dinner will be a stir-fry.

Sinead feels she has ’transformed’ her life

I’ve since ran a half marathon

I’ve lost the weight I gained during my grief-induced binges and I no longer feel out of breath walking up a flight of stairs. Last year saw a real milestone: I ran a half marathon, raising £1,000 for my mum’s hospice. I’d never have considered taking part in a group run a few years ago – let alone 13.1 miles. It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve transformed my life. If I ever feel like giving up, I think of Mum.

MyFitnessPal is the #1 nutrition tracking app, macro and calorie calculator, with a database that contains over 18 million foods.

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Bridie is Fitness Editor at Women’s Health UK. She spends her days sweating over new workouts, fitness launches and the best home gym kit so you have all that you need to get fit done. Her work has been published in Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She’s also a part-time yoga teacher with a habit of nodding off mid savasana (not when she’s teaching, promise).