Let’s do this together

It was an unexpected surprise this weekend to be able to get into my winter jeans without cutting off my circulation.

Some of you may remember that back in June I embarked on a brutal lose-the-covid-kilo regime, knowing full well there was a lot more than just a kilo to lose. As I’ve never owned scales, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to grandstand without committing to anything concrete. Which, coincidentally, is what my lardy arse probably weighed.

Of course when I say brutal, I mean I’ve just been going to the gym twice a week for three months. In the meantime, I’ve pretty much eaten what I liked most days – which is usually three rounds of Marmite on toast followed by the least out-of-date pickles in the fridge.

When my niece Leo came round to help unpack boxes last weekend, she worried my PH levels might be catastrophically high looking at my diet of mainly cocktail onions and mini gherkins.

“They’re not a weird diet, I have them with slabs of cheese on crackers,” I reassured Leo, making a mental note not to let her see my vast collection of chilli chutneys in case she should discover the full horror of my condiment addiction.

Anyway, you won’t hear any quick-fix, miracle diet advice from me. I can reveal my hardcore HIIT gym sessions made me feel sick, achey and filled with dread. And then I started the classes.

Three months on, nothing much has changed. It still hurts like hell, but I’ve discovered a hidden talent for rowing. Probably because it’s one of the few sports I can do while sitting down…

Please send your stories, memories and photos to siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.