Trim.
Louise Oliver-Brown

I felt unhealthy, had low self-confidence and I was tired all of the time. I saw photographs of myself and compared them to some from a couple of years earlier and this made me decide to take action.

I joined LA fitness Loughborough and set myself the goal of attending 4 times per week. I also decided to eat more healthily and regularly instead of snacking as much.

I really enjoyed exercising again and found that if I went to the gym at the same times each week I got into a pattern which I found easy to stick to. I loved the extra energy that it gave me.

Initially I only used the cardiovascular and weight training department but I was advised to try a studio class which I did and really enjoyed, it wasn't long before I was hooked. The other members in the classes were really friendly and the instructors were very motivating.

It took about a month for me to see a change in my body shape, but even after 1 week I felt more energized. I felt I had something to aim for and became more encouraged as I hit short-term goals along the way, whether it was weight loss, time spent on a treadmill or increasing body pump weights.

I lost about 1 stone and went from a size 12/14 to a size 8/10. I can now maintain that size with regular exercise and I now enjoy going to the gym. I'm a lot more confident about my appearance and I realise that weight isn't necessarily an indicator of health.

I'd say to anyone thinking of joining to just keep going, set yourself short term targets and make sure that they are not just related to weight/size, but also performance. Also, don't expect improvement every session/week, everyone has bad sessions and slow weeks, just forget about it and move on.