fitness Archives • Page 2 of 2 •

Posted on 23rd June 2016

BMI: it doesn’t work for everyone

Hey guys! In this post today I’m going to be talking about something very close to my heart.

Learn to love your body – ditch the scales

Weight has been an issue for me for a long time now, since I can remember pretty much, and for the longest time I’ve been insecure about it. This only got worse when I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (see my posts here and here for more on my experience with PCOS) monitoring my weight has become a part of my life, and regular weight checks at my nurse appointments have put me on edge and made me feel awful about myself. Recently I had a mini-revelation about BMI and it’s uselessness with my condition and I know that many others feel the same way!

What exactly is BMI?

BMI stands for Body Mass Index… but what does that even mean? Well by typing this question into google I was able to find the following answer from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention site:

“Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness. BMI can be used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems but it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual”

… Well that’s interesting… This reference would suggest that BMI isn’t reliable when calculating the health of an individual. Perhaps I’m the only one, but to me that came as a surprise seeing as my doctors seem to rely on it and that there is actually a BMI calculator on the NHS site, which will proceed to tell you if you are 1. Underweight 2. Healthy weight 3. Overweight. A link for this calculator is here but hold on before you type in your data and cry like I did at the results, because I’m about to tell you why you shouldn’t bother.

No matter how much I work out, the scales stay the same

As I’ve said, over the past few years I’ve done a fair amount of research on BMI and it seems that EVERYONE is asking why? EVERYONE agrees that it isn’t a useful tool for monitoring the health of an individual. For example, this was said by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

“BMI (body mass index), which is based on the height and weight of a person, is an inaccurate measure of body fat content and does not take into account muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, and racial and sex differences”

So FINALLY someone with medical knowledge is backing up what everyone’s been thinking. At the end of the day, muscle weighs roughly 3 times more than fat, but BMI only takes into consideration your weight and height – which excludes important details such as the weight of your muscles, your bones, your natural body shape and other things which could effect your overall weight such as race and sex.

Now it’s getting personal…

So what’s my problem exactly? Why have I been so obsessed with BMI?

Well, as I mentioned at the beginning I was diagnosed with PCOS at 18 and at that time I was the smallest I’d ever been. I had a cyst on my left ovary the size of a golf ball (just imagine that in your head for a moment… A GOLF BALL?!) and as a result the pain had led to a complete loss of appetite. I fell out of love with food for the first, and hopefully the last, time of my life. My mum was really concerned about me but I couldn’t even force myself to eat… or sleep…. or just function as a normal human being. At this time I was roughly 8 stone 7lbs, the lightest I’ve ever been. When I was diagnosed I was weighed and my BMI was taken… Drum roll please…

Yep. On that day the doctor told me that I was the PERFECT WEIGHT and that with PCOS it is important to remain on the lower end of the scale in order to improve chances of fertility in later life so maybe I should consider losing a little bit more… Well my mum wasn’t happy with that I’ll tell you that much. She said something along the lines of “Look at her – this isn’t healthy! Don’t encourage my daughter to starve herself! She hasn’t been able to eat due to the pain!!!” Yes, the doctor was only doing her job but if she opened her eyes and took one look at me it would only take an educated guess to realise that she shouldn’t have told me to lose even more weight!

That was the day it began. Ever since then I have had to go to the doctors and be weighed every 6 months in order to pick up the pill, which I need to stop the cysts from growing. My weight now fluctuates between 9 stone 7lbs – 10 stone 7lbs (usually depending on my lifestyle), but I do live a healthy lifestyle on the whole. I absolutely dread my appointments because what do I get told?

And of course I get the TOTALLY offensive “Well… You don’t LOOK ten stone” immediately followed by advise to try to lose at least a stone, fantastic. It’s degrading, it’s emotionally traumatic, and what makes it worse: it’s completely pointless! I get myself so worked up over these appointments because even though I know it’s utter rubbish, a stranger still looks me in the eye and tells me to lose weight. It’s so wrong on so many levels GAH.

The scales have become my enemy

My alternative to BMI

My weight stays put at roughly ten stone for the majority of the time, regardless of what my body is actually looking like, so I have turned to a different method to maintain my health and that is by using body measurements.

For me, this method is SO much more accurate than BMI when I’m trying to lose a bit of fat or what have you because I’ve always been very muscly, particularly in my legs (I danced a lot from the age of 3 so my legs are firm as rocks!) and so it comes as no surprise that like many of us… I do have some muscle?! When I lose weight I do it through exercise, meaning that my fat turns into muscle. So whilst I reduce in mass, I stay the same in weight. Using a tape measure is honestly a game changer for me.

“You don’t LOOK ten stone!!” … Oh buzz off!

As an example: since coming home from University 3 weeks ago I have been eating healthier and tracking progress on the scales and it has come up at ten stone and seven pounds every single time. Out of curiosity I also measured my body and I have lost half an inch off my waist and half an inch off my hips!!!

That was sooooo amazing to see as I don’t usually see any progress being made at all! I honestly could have cried!

My advice to you

If I could recommend you all to do just one thing it would be to listen to your body. Don’t punish yourself for gaining a little, adjust your goals, forgive yourself and keep motivated. We’re all only human at the end of the day – we’re not perfect, and we would be boring if we were. Learn to embrace your insecurities and try something new if what used to make you feel good no longer does. I’m so happy to have ditched the scales and tried something which works far, far better for me. Equally, if the scales do work for you – then go crazy! What I’m trying to say is: don’t let numbers rule your life. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy. Life isn’t as easy as a scientific formula or a maths equation, so don’t treat yourself or your body like one. Look after yourself and be the best you you can be.

If you’re interested in reading more about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, check out my two-part post about it, here and here, where I go into much more detail about how it effects me both physically and psychologically.

*DISCLAIMER* Please remember that every experience is different and if you have any concerns after reading this, ask your GP. I am not a doctor and I know through my own mistakes to never self-diagnose.

I really hope you’ve learned something and maybe gained some self-confidence in reading this post! Do you have any opinions on BMI? Perhaps you have a medical background and have an explanation for it’s use? Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

Thank you so much for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on my other social media accounts, and feel free to comment below or message me for a chat – I’d love to talk to you.

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Posted on 9th June 2016

I’ve Finished my Degree… Now What?

Why hello there! So many things have changed in the last few
weeks, my head is spinning! I had my last assignment deadlines and my last ever exam as a student, I left my job in retail, started a full time job in administration, I moved out of my student house and said goodbye to my friends who I have lived with for the past 2-3 years and moved home with my whole life packed into boxes. Phew. So what now? In this post I’ll be looking back and discussing my amazing last few years at University, but also looking forward and getting exciting about my short & long term plans for the future… Exciting!!!

What I’ll miss about University

I’m going to miss Lincoln as a city more than words can say. It’s been my home for the last few years and I’ve become so familiar and attached to it! It’s not altogether different from Cambridge which was attractive to me when I chose University of Lincoln but it’s so different at the same time. Like Cambridge, it’s full of quirky and eccentric characters, and I’ll miss having a giggle at some of the sites I was subjected to when walking down the high street. I’ll miss the touristy areas of Lincoln such as the castle and the cathedral, I absolutely love cities like Lincoln which are rife with history and culture. I’ll definitely miss the wide choice of food available to me on the Brayford, which was home to so many different restaurants, there’s literally something for everyone and every appetite there and I took that for granted definitely.
The partying is going to be hard missed for sure. Having the ability to go out any day of the week and take full advantage of all the student promo offers was amazing. One particular night I will miss is Skint Tuesdays. Drinks were £1 each, the music was always amazing, themed nights, a non strict dress code and an awesome crowd! What’s not to miss there?! Some of my best nights out were definitely at Skint and I miss it already. I definitely took for granted the short walk into town on every night out – now it’ll be train journeys and expensive taxi’s home… *sarcastic woo*.
I’m going to sound like such a nerd here, but I’m genuinely going to miss the lessons! I love the academic environment and the vibe of a seminar room. Of course this rule doesn’t apply to ALL lessons, there were some which I would have much preferred to sleep through, ~~and often did~~, but on the whole I loved soaking up the tutor’s knowledge like a sponge.
One thing which I have started to miss already is my independence. Living so close to everything I very rarely relied on lifts or public transport to get me from A to B, but now I’m home I have to either catch a ride or take the train and walk a mile just to get to work. Weirdly, I miss doing my own laundry and planning and cooking my own meals… Weird right? I’m doing as much of this as I can at home but there are certain limitations like over complicating the food shop and wasting money by separating my laundry from my family’s. I’m just going to miss feeling like more of an adult I suppose.
MY FRIENDS. Waaaaah this is a big one! We have our fall outs but I loved my little family oh so much. Having a crappy day and knowing I would come home to cuddles, Game of Thrones or a movie night was definitely a huge security blanket for me, and one I’m going to miss immeasurably. By third year, I had made such a huge bond with Katie, Tom and Dan and I now consider them to be some of my absolute closest friends. Luckily, Dan only lives about 20 minutes up the road and so meeting up with him will be fairly easy, but Katie and Tom live a good 2 hours away :'( We’re definitely going to make time for each other though,we chat on Facebook messenger at least once a day but I can’t handle being away from that lot!!

Finishing University uni friends www.wingitwithjade.com

These guys have been my rock at University and it breaks my heart knowing how many miles they are away from me now </3

What I won’t miss about University

My stress levels have definitely dropped by at least half in the last few weeks since completing my degree. Obviously stress is natural and I’m sure I haven’t escaped it completely, but WOW they really don’t prepare you for the quantity of work you will be doing, the close deadlines and just how tricky the work is. I’ll definitely miss my library sessions because we made them fun and I always looked forward to them – but the lack of sleep and the amount of work it took to put into a good essay by third year was just so much stress by the end of it, so it’s nice to take a break from that for a while.
Although I enjoyed being given the opportunity to read such a variety of books, and to analyse them through certain lenses, I WILL NOT miss having to read constantly. On so many occasions in the last few years have I found myself at 4am waking up with a start, dribbling on a book which I had to finish for the next day with 100 pages left to go. Some of you are probably thinking “Well, you should have organised your time a little better” but I can’t explain how difficult it was to juggle everything. I had to find time to read at least 3 texts a week in between attending University, typing up my notes, going to work and you know, enjoying my life? Some of these texts at 100 pages were a breeze – it was the big bulky 500 page ones which screwed me up completely. I tried my best but I have no idea how someone could read EVERYTHING on the course… Unless they didn’t have a life?
One amazing feeling coming home was banishing the distance from my friends back home, my family and Dan. I am now a 2 minute walk from Jess’ house and a 15 minute walk from Dan’s, and of course I’m under the same roof as my family! No more emotional Skype calls, home sickness and Dan no longer has to travel 80+ miles to see me for 24 hours at the weekend. This is a big one for me. Although mine and Dan’s relationship began at University, so the distance was all we ever knew, it’s so nice to know that he’s only around the corner at any given time!
I WILL NOT miss being in my overdraft!!! I was quite good with my finances at University roughly 90% of the time, but when things were tight and I slipped into my overdraft it was the most horrible feeling in the world! I never ever went near my £500 overdraft limit because of the way it made me feel. I worked two jobs every time I came home just to scramble my way out of it, and of course I worked in retail throughout my whole time at University. The student loans really screw over those who come under the “middle bracket”. Grrrrr. I could go into a rant here but I’ll resist.
One thing I am glad to see the back of is the drama and the arguments which happened at University. So you’d think that childish pettiness and bitchiness would have ended at secondary school right? WRONG. In my final year there were horrible incidents with individuals which made me feel so alienated I felt like I couldn’t speak in my own house, in fear that I’d say something and it would be taken in the wrong way, twisted, and it would be spread around that I was this awful person… Yep, this is how bad it got. Now, I don’t care what simple minded people think of me, but false accusations were flying around on social media (not small accusations either), I just lost it. That sort of petty drama could have had a SERIOUS effect on my career prospects, but luckily people knew they were false and ridiculous and were therefore invalid. One thing University has taught me is that some people out there are just nasty, and the healthiest thing to do is to cut them out of your life as soon as you possibly can. Maybe it’s because I took a gap year before University, but the immaturity of some people was baffling!!!

Finishing University books www.wingitwithjade.com

This isn’t even a dent in a years worth of reading for an English Literature student, or even a term!! Although I’m so happy to have read such a variety of texts, I’ll be glad to be able to actually ENJOY a book now.

So now I have found myself in this strange transitioning period. From Saturday – Tuesday I went from being a student and having zero routine to working 9-5.30 Monday to Friday and having the weekends to myself. It’s a very strange, sad, yet wonderful feeling! I’m so proud of what I’ve managed to accomplish in my time at University – both academically and socially. I have made so many bonds with countless people and really proved my talents both to myself and to those around me.

So what are my plans for the future?

Take driving lessons and pass my test. I have been reliant on other people driving me about for far too long now, and after coming home I’m already craving some independence, so this is how I aim to get it!
Start saving. I am now earning enough to live comfortably AND start saving. What a wonderful time to be alive! My main two things to save for are holidays and for a future house deposit, but I’ve also wanted an iPad for quite a while, I need a new camera etc… So I aim to put roughly half of my wages away a month.
Blogging. Now I’m free and my routine is being slowly established I will be blogging regularly now, rather than as and when I could squeeze it in! Until I get some decent lighting, I intend to take all my blog photos at the weekend and take a couple evenings of the weekdays to type up two blog posts a week. I’d like to post three a week ideally but we’ll see how easily my time spreads.
Search for a career. This is in the next few years or so as I’m in a secure well paying job at the moment, so there’s no particular rush. I have a few ideas floating around in my head *Top Secret* but I want to take my time and make sure I end up doing something I love for a living – there’s nothing worse than having to rely on that Friday feeling every week.
Decorating. Now I’ve come home, I’ve found that my room hasn’t really changed in the last four years in terms of style, and I desperately need to make this room more homey. I’m looking for pastel shades with a bit of marble & monochrome!
Taking up hobbies. One thing I don’t want to happen is for me to get too comfortable in this 9-5.30 routine and to forget the things I enjoy. So I need to find a reasonably priced gym to go to and potentially a gym buddy but I’m quite happy to go on my own. I also want to start back up with dancing and to ensure that I carry on reading.

Finishing University reading for pleasure www.wingitwithjade.com

I am absolutely LOVING The Girl on the Train!!! I’m only 150 pages through so far but omg… Please can someone else who is reading it get in touch – I need someone to discuss theories with!!

As you can probably tell, my emotions towards leaving University are all over the place. But at the end of the day, I don’t regret a single thing about the past three years – University was honestly THE BEST decision I have ever made! I’ve learned and matured so much, it’s unbelievable. Most importantly, I have made the most wonderful friends who have given me fantastic, unforgettable memories which I will treasure for the rest of my life.

If you want to read more about my University experience, you can read my post “Seven Things I Have Gained Through University” – it goes into a bit more detail about what things I have taken away from this wonderful experience!

I hope you have enjoyed this post – I’m sorry that it’s a tad bit long, I just had so much to say! Were you a student at University? Did you feel any differently when you left? Please comment below, I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on my other social media accounts, and feel free to comment below or message me for a chat – I’d love to talk to you.

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Posted on 29th April 2016

Colour Run Lincoln 2016: Why I’m Glad I Tried Something New

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all had a great week despite the freak British weather. We’ve had rain, sun, snow and sleet… What is going on?!

This post is a bit different from my usual, but I just HAD to write about my amazing experience at the colour run last weekend! In this post I will be showing you millions of photos and going through what you can expect from a colour run, and why you should take a big step out of your comfort zone and give it a try!

When we booked our tickets for the Colour Run, I didn’t really know what to expect; but one thing which we could all agree on was that we would take part for fun, and probably not run the entire thing. After all, I hadn’t run competitively before and I was concerned about injuring myself. Although 5k probably isn’t very far to most people; I absolutely LOATHE running, purely because I’ve never been very good at it. I always try to stay in shape and healthy because of my PCOS in order to keep on top of my weight, you can find more information on this condition on my previous posts, here and here.

If I’m honest, we totally forgot about the Colour Run up until the week before: I blame this on dissertation stress! So naturally we hadn’t trained AT ALL. The closest thing I did to training was that I managed staying on the bike at the gym for 30 minutes; a new personal best for me. But I didn’t do this with The Colour Run in mind admittedly. But regardless of our lack of preparation, the day finally came and we were all really excited to get messy!

With the purchase of our tickets we received a really nice Colour Run t-shirt and our own running number to wear on the day as modelled on the morning by myself – before being absolutely covered in paint! But thankfully I did manage to get all the paint out and it is like new – so I have a lovely souvenir to remember the day by!

Pssst. I’m wearing my coppery eye shadow look from my Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette!

On the day of the event, we were really worried about the weather as it was forecast to rain randomly throughout the day and the wind was incredibly cold.

But luckily, although the sun was popping in and out throughout the day, it was warm enough to just take a light jacket and to wear shorts! – I really didn’t want to have to wear my nice gym trousers.

We arrived an hour or so before the event so that we could buy paint and soak up the atmosphere before getting messy!

The only issue I had with The Colour Run was quite a doozy – no locker rooms or bag holding areas were made available. Obviously we wanted to bring our phones, jackets, drinks, and money at a bare minimum. Considering that they were encouraging us to purchase more paint, you’d think that there would be facilities made available for us to store our possessions safely and out of harms way – but apparently not. So we were forced to strap our boyfriend’s up with backpacks. They weren’t all too happy with that, I’ll just say that much. But our argument stood – a handbag would be much harder to run with than a backpack (CURSE YOU WOMEN’S FASHION).

We were waiting for quite a while before the paint party kicked off, but that was because we arrived so early! It was quite chilly but they had a live DJ who kicked off the party and kept us in good spirits.