{"id":1915,"date":"2020-07-16T09:49:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T08:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slimmingworld.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?p=1915"},"modified":"2021-10-27T16:42:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T15:42:09","slug":"kats-body-magic-diary-how-im-staying-active-during-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/kats-body-magic-diary-how-im-staying-active-during-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Kat\u2019s Body Magic diary: “How I\u2019m staying active during lockdown”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With gyms and leisure centres closed for a couple more weeks (in England and Wales at least), lots of us are still looking for ways to keep active at home \u2013 and we\u2019ve got an inspiring member story packed with ideas. When Kat\u2019s fitness classes were put on hold during lockdown, she had to find new ways to enjoy Body Magic<\/a>, opening up a whole new world of activity. Check out her Body Magic diary to find out more…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hi, I\u2019m Kat. I\u2019ve been a member of Gillian Stewart\u2019s Slimming World group in Rutherglen, Glasgow, since June 2019, and just this week I got my 6st award!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s playing sports, running or going to the gym, I\u2019ve always enjoyed being active. When I was at my biggest, though, my weight stopped me from enjoying it as much as I\u2019d have liked. If I went walking in the countryside with my friends, I\u2019d soon be puffing and sweating, eventually needing to stop to catch my breath. Not that I\u2019d let anyone know that \u2013 I just pretended I was taking in the view!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a friend invited me to her Slimming World group<\/a> to talk about a walking club I was part of, I was amazed to hear just how much you could eat when following Food Optimising. I\u2019d tried dieting in the past, but that always involved cutting out foods that I enjoyed, and left me feeling hungry. This healthy eating plan sounded different. So, on the last Monday before term finished, I went along to Gillian\u2019s group and started my Slimming World journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the support of Gillian and the other members, I quickly got my head around Food Optimising, and the weight began to come off steadily. After losing 2st, I noticed I could get through a walk or a Bodypump class at the gym without needing a breather. In fact, I had so much extra energy, I added a Bodyattack class to my routine, and later a step cardio class. The more I exercised, the more motivated I was to fill up on the hearty meals I\u2019d been discovering in group, which boosted my weight loss even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It felt like everything was falling into place; then lockdown happened\u2026 Like everyone else, I had to get used to spending more time at home, especially when the gym closed and my Slimming World group was temporarily suspended. I was determined not to fall back into unhealthy habits, and when Gillian launched her Slimming World virtual group<\/a> a couple of weeks later I was excited to get involved. Although nothing could replace that feeling of a real-life group, it was great to see how the other members were getting on and to get Gillian\u2019s expert support again \u2013 I hadn\u2019t realised just how much I\u2019d missed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as continuing to be part of my virtual group, I knew that staying active would help me get through lockdown feeling as fit, healthy and happy as I possibly could. Luckily for me, I found there were a lot of ways to get my Body Magic fix without going to the gym…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat\u2019s lockdown Body Magic diary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

April: Walking it out<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As I reached the top of the hill at Cathkin Braes Country Park, I stopped to take in the view: I could see the whole of Glasgow. It\u2019s hard to believe that only a few months ago I had no idea there were so many picturesque spots near my home. I\u2019d always found walking to be a great way of clearing my head, and that became even more important when lockdown started. Working at home was new to me, and I struggled to cope with being stuck inside all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I needed something to get me moving outside of the house, so every day after work I\u2019d pull on my trainers and head out to explore the area around my flat. Before I\u2019d lost weight, I would\u2019ve felt exhausted after a long walk. Now, though, I was walking over four miles a day and still had energy to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May: Finding my home-workout groove<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Standing in my living room, I bent my knees and lowered myself into a squat position as the instructor guided me through the exercise. When I\u2019d first thought about trying a virtual exercise class, I was sceptical: the reason I was drawn to classes in the first place was because I enjoyed the camaraderie of exercising with other people. Doing it alone in my living room just didn\u2019t have the same appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I missed going to the classes, though, and as my gym instructor was offering virtual sessions to members, I thought I had nothing to lose. And it turned out that I loved it! Not only was it a great workout, but the instructor was still cheering me on with shoutouts, and anyone taking part could post comments on the video to say how they were doing. I didn\u2019t need to buy any expensive equipment, either. If one of the exercises required weights, I\u2019d just grab a couple of tins of baked beans from the kitchen (a brilliant way to use store-cupboard staples<\/a> \u2013 SW Matt)<\/em> and use those instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because I was exercising on my own, I had the confidence to try classes that I\u2019d never have dared attempt in normal circumstances. I recently had a go at a Dance Fit class, which was great fun. I still don\u2019t think I\u2019m a very good dancer \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t matter so much when you\u2019re in your living room with the blinds drawn!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June: Slimming World activity videos and getting new ideas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lying on my side, I lifted my right leg up as high as I could, and then lowered it back down. I\u2019ve been following one of Slimming World\u2019s activity videos (you can find these on the member website<\/a> \u2013 SW Matt)<\/em>. I\u2019d heard members talking about them during my last virtual group session, and I thought I\u2019d see what it was all about. There were lots of different exercises to try out, and the fitness coach made each one really easy to do. It felt good to freshen up my workout routine with something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that things are slowly getting back to normal, I\u2019ve been meeting up with a few members again for hikes around Glasgow, and I can\u2019t wait to get back to my real-life Slimming World group to get some more inspiring Body Magic ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Incredible stuff! It\u2019s great to hear how Kat has been staying active during lockdown and how much she\u2019s enjoying attending group. If you\u2019re looking for more inspiring Body Magic ideas or you\u2019d like to get support with your weight loss journey, you can find out more about joining Slimming World here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d love to hear how you\u2019ve been staying active during lockdown. Share your brilliant Body Magic ideas with us on the blog<\/a>, or on social using #theSlimmingWorldblog<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When lockdown struck, music teacher Kat Miller worried she wouldn\u2019t be able to keep up her active lifestyle. With the support of her Slimming World Virtual Group, she discovered new ways to move more at home and now she\u2019s got a diary filled with Body Magic <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,23,26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}