Flo Gets Fit Week 1: Weigh-ins and Hill Sprints

Until fairly recently, my diet and fitness had taken a bit of a back seat to vodka and bacon sandwiches. But about this time last year, fed up of feeling fat and needing a week-night hobby that didn't involve Eastenders, I joined the David Lloyd gym in Exeter. And because I pay a fortune for it and signed up to a year's contract, I felt I didn't have much choice but to go!

It took me a little while to work out that getting fit didn't necessarily mean getting slim, but once I'd realised this, I signed up to the Slimming World plan to give me a bit of guidance on how to eat healthily. The pressure of a weekly weigh-in also does wonders for talking yourself out of a Wispa Gold.

But even though I've lost about a stone in weight in the last year, I still felt that I wanted to get more out of exercising and some more nutritional advice, and so I've enlisted the help of a personal trainer, Martin Leadley, who specialises in fat loss. Over the next couple of months I'll be documenting my training and the results (hopefully) that I'm getting.

So here goes!

Week 1 with Martin began with having my measurements, weight and body fat taken (and a not-very-flattering 'before' photo!).

Martin also gave me a starter pack to help me on my way. This included lots of nutritional advice, covering basics such as what different food groups mean and how they affect your body. He was happy to answer my questions about the sort of things I should be eating when I'm training and gave me some suggestions of the sort of protein I could look at buying.

I think, for the time being, I'll keep going to Slimming World meetings to weigh-in, but probably will have to make a few changes to my diet to make sure that I'm eating the right foods when I'm training.

The pack also had sheets to record my measurements and state my goals, as well as a health and injury questionnaire.

Then came my first training session. I was rather nervous as I hadn't exercised properly outdoors for about a year, and even that was just a half-hearted attempt at a jog. Also we are currently experiencing the coldest spell of weather we've had all winter and running around outside wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing... But nonetheless, I put my fleece and gloves on with my gym kit and braved it!

After a warm-up jog and stretch, we started with a circuit of 40 seconds of squats, press-ups, burpees, star jumps and mountain climbers. This was a tough start and really tested me, but I was really pleased when I'd completed the circuit with almost no stopping. Then we started with the dreaded hill sprints! 5 up one hill, 3 up the next, then another 5 mixed with burpees. It was seriously tough, but Martin reassured me that these types of exercises which use multiple muscle groups, although hard work, are the most effective way to lose fat.

It made so much difference to my workout having someone to push me and make sure I was doing all of the exercises correctly, and I can really tell I've done a decent amount of exercise today as my legs still feel like jelly!

So although it hurts - I'm going to stick at it!

If you want to find out more about Martin and what he does - visit his Facebook page.