My Fitness Diary – Part One

After extensive research (into the deepest darkest recesses of my soul and on the internet), it appears there is a natural / cultural aversion to exercise deeply rooted in the Parisian psyche… At least this is what I have used as an excuse for the past 36 years to avoid exercising. Even when I was little, my mum had to write me notes so I wouldn’t have to do P.E at school (although I did dabble in a fair few sports outside of school)… This is the horrible creature I am. I have been getting by somehow without becoming morbidly obese and also without becoming the incredible muscle-less woman. Currently, I am a size UK12, pretty happy with what Mother Nature gave me and eating a rather balanced diet, punctuated by decadent restaurant stints and daily the occasional croissant. I’ve had bouts of complaining about my weight (I put on 30kgs while I was pregnant, which was NOT fun) but overall, being “thin” or “thinner” isn’t my goal. However, I recently realised I wanted to be stronger. Because despite what I said earlier, I am well on my way to becoming the incredible muscle-less woman, at least in certain areas (biceps, where are thou?).

I spent the Summer swimming everyday and realised it made me feel really good to move more. I even had a stint following Cassey Ho’s Blogilates videos fairly religiously but didn’t quite have the drive to commit myself to a programme without someone pushing me to do it. Of course, I also made all the usual mistakes and joined the gym, only to injure myself running on the treadmill after a couple months. The result is that I had to stop exercising altogether which wasn’t really ideal when my goal was to put the “strong” back into “strong independent woman“.

Having come to terms with the fact I am far from motivated when it comes to exercising, I did what I always do in times of trouble and I turned to my best friend, Google to find a personal trainer near me. Someone to sit on my shoulder like a health conscious Jiminy Cricket who would kick my lazy butt into gear. PT sessions are something I tried briefly before, but since I am very particular about the humans I surround myself with, I hadn’t really found the right match.  My ideal PT is someone with a sense of humour, who would understand my goals and not judge my fitness levels (akin to those of a soft shell crab on a hot day). Enter David Jones aka FitNotSkinny (see his instagram here – warning: it is very funny) who, after meeting me for a coffee to discuss my fitness goals (and my injury) agreed to take on the challenge of turning this soft shell crab into a regular crab. And here ends the crab metaphor, I have given you everything. Make yourself a cup of tea, you are about to read my fitness diary for the first four weeks…

THE FIRST SESSION