BODY TRANSFORMATION
Three WH staffers test their bodies over 12 weeks
What do you get when you take three of the WH team, pair them with some of the UK’S top trainers and ask them to give their all – body and mind – for three months? Turn the page to find out…
I’ll let you in on a secret. When I was appointed editor of Women’s Health, one of my first thoughts was, ‘Yes! I’m going to be in the best shape of my life.’ After all, how could I head up a brand that has wellness oozing out of every pore and not live and breathe its message? The reality was a little different. Within six months, I’d gained a stone and was pretty miserable with my overall health. A long commute, even longer hours and a hectic home life with two children under five had taken their toll. I was making bad food choices and wasn’t training effectively. As someone who has long prioritised nutrition and fitness to manage my mental health, not only was I risking being out of shape, I was also facing the prospect of my depression and anxiety returning. So I jumped at the chance to take on Women’s Heath’s 2017 Transformation Challenge. Would being a sleep-deprived working mum with a high-pressure job hamper my success? Would my natural greed for large portions and incessant snacking derail me? To say I have a sweet tooth is an understatement. That said, I’ve lifted weights for years and I genuinely love training, so my body is on my side. I tasked Women’s Health columnist and PT at London’s Third Space Alice Liveing with training me on the gym floor, and head of Pilates Tony Diamond with stretching out my worked muscles. And I’d fit in a cheeky HIIT session at Orangetheory in Winchester most weekends. My body was used to lifting heavy, so within four weeks, I was hip-thrusting 100kg, and by eight weeks, I could manage 120kg with ease. I’ve even deadlifted more than my original body weight. As the transformation progressed, I decided to forgo my Pilates sessions and I added in another weights workout to get even stronger.
‘I’M NOW PHYSICALLY STRONGER THAN I EVER THOUGHT WOULD BE POSSIBLE’
I was doing two upper body and two lower body sessions each week, and Alice frequently commented on how ‘amazingly strong’ I was. But if you’re thinking I found the whole transformation process a breeze, let me assure you that you’re wrong – very wrong. It turns out the whole ‘abs are made in the kitchen’ thing is true. My training was consistent and I was clearly building muscle, but the areas of fat I’d expected to melt away weren’t shifting. I felt frustrated that my hard work couldn’t be seen. My diet was devised by a registered nutritionist and I tried to follow a regular eating pattern of three protein-rich meals with one snack a day. But stress meant I was still finding it hard not to rely on snack foods to get me through the day – the ‘healthy’ raw balls or nut bars that are often sugar and calorie bombs. And in all honesty, I could have done with a stronger support network at home. My husband soon began to resent that I was cooking and eating different food to the rest of the family (he’s open about the fact that he prefers the boobs and bum of my body pre-transformation) and there were some days when leaving the house (and my children, getting ready for school and nursery) early in order to exercise before work was enough to make me cry.
When I’d finally forced my frustrated head out of the biscuit jar six weeks into the process, I sought the help of nutritionist Gillian Brunton of Vida6, who deduced that I was often undereating, encouraging my body to hold on to fat, and not eating the right foods to support my level of training. From then on, it was all about nutrient cycling – eating around your energy output (more details on page 40). Given that almost every meal had to be served with green veg, my body began to change. I gradually upped my protein intake so that in the final weeks it constituted 50% of my daily calories. A typical day was overnight oats with unsweetened almond milk and berries after training, a protein shake mid-morning, turkey breast and green veg for lunch, a green apple with a teaspoon of Pip & Nut Crunchy Almond Butter as a mid-afternoon snack, and salmon with pesto and veg for supper. Ultimately, I achieved my personal targets of reaching 10st 4lbs and sub-20% body fat. I don’t want to be any leaner – it would make me look drawn and older than I actually am. I’m physically stronger than I ever thought possible but don’t have quite the mental strength that I expected I would. I use food as an emotional crutch and that really came into play; on days when I felt frustrated about my progress or when life stresses got on top of me, I reached for chocolate rather than hitting the gym. But I’m proud of myself. I often come so far down the pecking order in life’s priorities – I’m a mum, a wife, a manager, a homemaker, a cook – everything to everyone – and I’m Claire last of all. Yet I still managed to create strength and push my body’s physical barriers. And in case you’re wondering how I got those abs, it was very little actual core work. Instead, I engaged my core during every single exercise and I’ve learnt to do so automatically now, even just walking around. Plus, my middle got super-lean in order to reveal them – they’re still a work in progress. Now it’s time to get even stronger.