After just over five months of avoiding chocolate and gradually upping my exercise levels, I have managed to drop four stones – which is quite a bit more than my very tall five-year-old daughter weighs! Maria has calculated that in the last three months, my waist measurement has reduced by an amazing seven inches and my hips are six inches smaller. In the same period, my body fat has shrunk from 38.8% to 30%.
Not surprisingly, I have grown out of my entire wardrobe, and have donated virtually all of my clothes to charity. I have the perfect excuse for a shopping trip!
Racing
Having lost so much weight and trained hard, I decided I was ready for a smaller local race to prepare for the British 10K, so I entered the Beckenham 10K in early June 2007. It was enormous fun, with other competitors and race marshals giving me lots of encouragement, especially when they heard it was my first race. I managed to complete it in 1 hour and 2 seconds, which was another occasion when Maria was proud of me.
All of these preparations put me in a confident mood for the British 10K in central London on July 1st. I even asked Maria to massage my legs a few days in advance to give myself that extra edge! It was a huge and exhilarating event with over 20,000 excited runners, hordes of cheering crowds, and entertainment around the route. I finished the race in 58 minutes, and even sprinted the last 50 metres. And this time, I was really proud of myself. It was a terrific day.
8 July 2007
Maria from Sapphire Lifestyle says, "Sheila has continued to progress and lose FAT mass and increase her fitness levels to the point where, upon my recommendation, she sought out a specialist running coach. I am PROUD to report that Sheila ran her first half marathon in a respectable 2 hours 2 minutes and 25 seconds. - Congratulations! - A real achievement, and all in less than a year!!!
Testimonial for Maria Rudzki at Sapphire Lifestyle
by Alison Wilson
I have been the same weight for years. I was a good 11 stone before I had my two children and I was still over 11 stone (11 stone 5 actually) 3 and a half years after the birth of my second child. I have been going to various keep fit classes for a while in the hope of improving my figure and I began attending Maria’s pilates class on a Thursday morning. I often moaned about my shape and Maria said to me more than once "you can do something about it you know" I just thought that as I was exercising plenty and didn’t look too bad with my clothes on that I would just carry on as I was.
In March she had an offer - £10 off her health check. I thought that it would be a good thing to do and imagined that I would be middle of the road on everything. I got a real surprise when I discovered that I was 36% fat!! And that my hip to waist ratio put me at high risk of heart disease and diabetes. It was definitely time to take action so I signed up to Maria’s lifestyle management sessions.
She gave me a food diary to complete, and it wasn’t too many days before it was very obvious that I was just eating too much of the wrong thing. (I peaked at over 3,900 calories in one day!) By analyzing my diary Maria and I were able to see that I was going for large periods of the day without eating anything and then feeling so hungry that I was over eating when I did. I also needed to drink more water. She suggested starting the day with a pint of warm water with a squeeze of lemon in it and that try to make sure that I snacked during the day to prevent me feeling so hungry at mealtimes. She was able to give me a calorie range to try and stay within that would ensure steady weight loss. I also decided that I would be a good idea for her to continue to monitor me after my three sessions so that I could see my progress and halt any bad habits before they became a problem.
It has been brilliant. I began the weight loss part in March and within a month my body fat had decreased to 29% it is now 22%. My overall weight loss has been nearly two stone and I am now lighter than I have been for at least 20 years. I am now around 9 stone 7. I have dropped two clothes sizes and if I so say so myself I look and feel fantastic. I haven’t felt hungry as its amazing how much food you can fit in the calorie range, I also started to eat more healthy choices as they naturally have fewer calories although I still like my two bar kit kat with my lunch! As Maria has monitored me she has been able to highlight if I have been losing more of my ‘lean’ mass instead of my fat mass, so I know that I really have just lost the fat part of me. I still keep a food diary, which may sound a hassle, but it really isn’t – It really keeps me on track. If I go out to a nice restaurant – I eat what I like and enjoy, but the following day I will either try to do a little more exercise or think to myself – well one meal isn’t going to make any difference! and it hasn’t because I am back to my usual habits for the rest of the time. Maria also gave me some great tips to survive the buffet experience. I can’t tell you how pleased and proud I am of myself. Clothes fit and look so much better now. I think everyone should have a Maria – she’s fantastic.
July 2007
Dr Austin Doyle
Austin realised that his fitness levels were diminishing as his Lifestyle was changing. Sapphire Lifestyle (Maria) eventually convinced him that he could still make time in his busy schedule at work and at home (new husband and Dad !!!) to improve his diet and to incorporate some fitness training. He also had the support of his wife Andie, who was taking the challenge of motherhood extremely well with baby Ciara. A goal was required to work towards. Maria suggested entering The British 10k Race, which seemed quite a challenge. Running for charity was an added incentive not to give up and ensured that Austin would be there on race day.
Austin was able to send out this note to everyone - .
"Thank you very much for sponsoring me to run 10K in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Along with 20,000 others, I ran around the streets of London in what was almost perfect running weather; a light intermittent drizzle with a gentle breeze followed by sunshine as my race ended. I completed it in 65 minutes and 16 seconds which was a few minutes faster than my training times predicted.
You helped raise £786 (plus approx £150 tax to be reclaimed via gift aid). I was overwhelmed by your response and thrilled to have collected such a sum of money for such a good cause. Every hour of nursing care costs approximately £20 to provide, so our efforts have funded over 45 hours of care and support. I originally set a target of £100 and secretly hoped to reach £200. I changed my target on the website to £500 the day after I sent the first e-mail when it became clear that I had completely underestimated your generosity. Thank you.
I promise not to ask you for money again this year. In the future, if I do ask again, it'll be for doing something that will be at least as challenging to me as the prospect of running 10K was 7 months ago.
Thanks again for your support and generosity.
Austin
July 2007
