Before I started writing in 2012 I led an active life. A mother and a childminder I spent my days running round parks, playing hide and seek and pushing double buggies up steep hills. I was a trim size 10, I weighed 9 stone and could still fit into my wedding dress, just. After my mum died and with my children all at school, I took a new career path and became a funeral celebrant. Around this time I started writing family sagas and to date I’ve written 7 novels. My days began with a filter coffee, a check of emails and then down to some serious writing. The morning would disappear at my desk, between shuffling back and forth to the kettle and fridge. Breakfast consisted of toast or porridge but by ten I usually opened a bag of Mini Cheddars or grazed on a few biscuits, giving myself the excuse that it helped me to think and gave me ideas! By two in the afternoon, having written my target of 1000 words, I could no longer concentrate. And so my afternoons were spent wandering up to the town to get fresh air and exercise. I’d invariably plonk myself down in a cafe to read a book or catch up with a friend, enjoying hot chocolate with a delicious slice of cake. I didn’t notice the pounds slowly creep on. And when I reached a size 14 I told myself it was due to the menopause and an underactive thyroid, but the truth was my immobile lifestyle was the cause the weight gain.
In June I celebrated my birthday in style: a huge cream tea at a 5 star hotel. I waddled out of the hotel feeling like an indulgent, bloated pig. I’d also started dating a guy who was a skinny rake, the shape of a teenage boy and sitting next to him on the beach with our bare legs exposed made me feel fat. My legs were twice the size of his. Something inside me snapped. When I stepped on the scales I was nudging towards 11 stone, a whole stone heavier than him! The weight had to go. I had to change otherwise I’d continue to pile it on.
I’ve taken up swimming and try to swim for about 40 minutes each day. I also do a regular power walk round the woods and I’m on a strict diet: a chia seed, almond milk and banana smoothie for breakfast, or porridge, Ryvita and reduced fat cheese for lunch with salad and a salad in the evening with a form of protein such as tofu, boiled egg, chicken or salmon. I feel so much better, more energised and the terrible stomach bloating I was getting has gone. Since my birthday in June, 10 weeks ago, I’ve lost 13 pounds and my size 14 trousers are hanging off me!
So fellow writers out there, be careful of those creeping pounds and be sure to have a balanced life of work as well as regular exercise!
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The third novel in my thalidomide series is now on pre-order! Click here to order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Sons-Fear-Parents-Book-ebook/dp/B09FGHSLRG/
