Getting older sucks, doesn’t it? Because it invariably also means getting heavier.
I’ve never exactly been a fitness freak, but in my younger years, I was self-conscious enough to do the requisite amount of exercise to stay slim. Well, sort of slim. I’ve always had curves.
Anyway, after I had kids my body changed. A lot. I also had approximately zero time to dedicate to exercising, and comfort eating was my way through the lack of sleep. Can you guess what happened? Yep. I put on weight.
I decided I had to get fit, so I did what everyone does and Googled the bejeezes out of it. I found diets, online courses, fitness apps – all sorts of businesses that were very helpfully willing to take my money.
It seemed the path to fitness lay through my debit card, so I started spending.
I think if I’m honest, I knew I wasn’t going to use a lot of the stuff I was buying – so why did I do it?
Spending Money Felt Like Progress
Well I can’t go to the gym without new gym clothes. I need them. And I want to do it properly so I’ll buy the good stuff. The Gymshark stuff. Oh and wouldn’t it be more effective if I had a smartwatch to help me track my workouts? And what about a few bits for exercising at home?
I bought all sorts. Every time I completed a purchase, I got a little dopamine hit. It felt like progress. I wasn’t just talking about getting fit, I was investing in myself. I was taking action.
Buying the gym gear made me look and feel like someone who goes to the gym. Subscribing to the workout app made me feel like someone who had a plan. Buying access to the online PT and nutritionist made me feel like someone who takes their health and fitness seriously.
But mostly I just became someone who owned a lot of gym gear and forgot a lot of passwords.
I thought I was making a financial commitment to a fitter future, but the commitment sort of ended there. I didn’t actually want to make the horrible chia seed based breakfast in the recipe book I bought, or complete the boring online course about nutrition, but I felt like paying for them would push me to act.
It did not.
My body didn’t change at all because I wasn’t getting any further than my 3 digit security code, and I kept tripping over that bloody kettle bell on my way to the biscuit tin as well.
What Actually Worked
I don’t want to sound smug, but I have now lost a lot of that baby weight, and I didn’t need to spend more than a few pounds to achieve it.
The most annoying thing is that my other half was the one who snapped me out of it.
I was complaining about my body again one day, and he half lost his temper and said to me:
“If you’re that miserable with the way you look then do something about it. And I don’t mean buying another pair of gym leggings. You can’t buy yourself thin Millie.”
I obviously reacted badly to this – how dare he correctly point out my ridiculous behaviour – but he stuck to his guns and I realised he was right. He even offered to help by pointing me in the right direction (he has always been more of a gym person than me).
It was hard to accept his help but I’m glad I did. This was a put up or shut up situation. If I wanted to lose weight and get fitter, I had to eat better and move more. Nothing extreme, I just needed to make some small changes.
He showed me a few Youtubers that gave great advice for free, including workout routines, and I started doing them. Just twice a week. I also made healthier food choices, but without becoming a total quinoa crusader. The weight fell away slowly but surely. It took about a year, but then I wasn’t trying all that hard or obsessing over it.
Lifestyle changes was all it took. And patience.
Self Deception is Expensive
I was going to look through my old bank statements and tot up exactly how much money I wasted trying to buy myself thin, but I didn’t want to get depressed, so you will have to make do with this: it was North of £500.
That said, I was able to recoup some of it because I still had all this gear that was practically brand new.
I sold most of my Gymshark clothes on Vinted (brand new with tags), stuck my Smart watch on eBay, and cancelled the app subscriptions. I still have a couple of those low calorie recipe books though, so if you are in need of a rectangular paper weight, I’m your girl.
It was an expensive lesson, but a good one to learn. It applies to pretty much everything else in life too.
If you want to achieve anything worthwhile, you can’t outsource the hard work. Real change can’t be bought or downloaded, it comes from effort. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Your legs are free. Walking is free. YouTube workouts are free. Even learning about nutrition is free. You’re buying food anyway so buy healthier food.
Sorry I don’t have a magic pill to sell you that turns you into a fitness influencer, but then, no one else can sell you it either, because it doesn’t exist. I might not be able to magically reduce your waistline, but perhaps I have saved you from needlessly reducing your bank balance.
Now, get up off your bum and do some squats!