There’s nothing more rewarding than setting yourself a goal, and smashing it! Give yourself a reason and achieve your best year yet with one of the UKs most scenic and beautiful runs.
Has exercise and the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k helped you in more ways than one? Well it has for Gareth from Kilvey, we caught up with Gareth and had a chat about his journey to date.
We hope you enjoy his story, and find it motivational to help you further your own fitness and health goals.
- At what point did you think, I want to get fit and healthy?
Was it from health concerns, sporting reasons, self-confidence…
Oddly enough it started originally from being lazy. I had just separated from my wife (now divorced) and had moved out to my own place. After a couple of months of generally being too disinterested in cooking for myself and eating out of tins I just took it upon myself to spend a whole 50p on the weighing machine in my local Tesco’s. And too my surprise I discovered that I had lost nearly 2 stone will no real effort.
- To date, how much weight have you lost?
As of today (2nd June) I have lost 11.5 stone or 157lb
- What has been your biggest struggle during the course of your weight loss story?
E.g was it at Christmas, during summer, during a stressful period in your life?
Stress every time…My weight over the last 7 or so years has thankfully gone down, but there have been times where I have gone down to 17 stone then back up too 20 stone, then down too 18 stone then back to 19.5. Overall if I had only lost weight and not gained any I would of reached my target probably 4 years ago.
- What good things have come about because of your changes?
e.g. Healthier, more energy,
A whole lot fitter for definite Not having dead legs from sitting on the toilet, not thinking the bathtub will break when I have a shower. I was borderline diabetic and suffered from High Blood pressure when I was 25.5 stone. The last time I had a blood test the doctor actually said ‘if anything your blood sugar is a bit low’ and my blood pressure is near perfect.
- What are your favorite health and fitness blogs, books, or magazines you read?
I tend not to use anything really, If I get concerned about something I might do some research on Google for an evening. I have however maintained my own personal blog which I have used for other aspects of my life but also about my feeling on my weight loss. It’s at kilveyshaman.wordpress.com if anyone is interested.
- What is your favorite healthy food to eat? What is the recipe?
Swede, It can go with almost anything, pasta, curry, noodles, and it fills you up and is very low in calories. Most of my cooking centres around a big pot on the stove which i chuck in some steamed chicken, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, swede and onions and then add a sauce, at the last I add either rice, pasta or noodles. I then divide it up into small Chinese style tubs too about 300 calories and put them in the freezer. This takes all the guess work out of my meal plans and I know its all healthy.
- What is your favorite cheat meal?
Ice cream lollipops (6 for a pound in Asda, Tesco or Morrisons), I tend to have one a day for my treat (sometimes 2, if I am feeling a little down or stressed) and they are on average about 70 calories.
- When it comes to eating well what are your top 3 recommendations?
I don’t necessarily follow these, however, keep hydrated, don’t starve yourself and occasionally let yourself have a treat (go out for a meal)
- What is your favorite form of exercise to do and why?
I presently go to the gym about 5 times a week and spend about 40 minutes on the weights and 45 minutes doing cardio. I used to be mad about jogging 26 years ago and am keen too really get back into it. I tend not too enjoy team sports, possibly due too normally being over weight.
- Have you had to deal with any injuries along the way?
No injuries due to losing weight, if anything my health has improved. However I did go for a ‘test run’ recently and it was such a shock too my body that when I returned home I made a very fast dash to the bathroom
- What motivates you to keep going?
Loads of people congratulating me inflates my ego and also makes me more determined not too backslide. Being a good example for my son, who I am presently trying to motivate to follow in my footsteps as he also has an issue with being over weight. And finally but certainly not the least, my girlfriend who has taught me a lot about cooking for myself and eating healthily.
This post is also available in: Welsh
