Clocks have gone forward, there is a glimmer of warmer weather and spring is in the air! YAY!

Oh hang on a minute, what has been happening under all those layers of winter clothes we have been wearing?

Have you found yourself eating more rubbish food than usual during the winter months because you are cold or perhaps bored and fed up of the dark, grey days?

Have you been hibernating at home, avoiding going to classes and doing anything that requires additional time and energy?

Are you feeling sluggish and tired, skin looks lack lustre and you feel generally yuk?

Do these all have a connection? YUP!

Traditionally Spring is seen as the time of rebirth, rejuvenation and starting afresh which generates urges in many of us to finally get fit, lose weight or makes positive life changes. We all want to be healthier but sometimes the thought of the challenge ahead can put us off before we even get started.

For those of you who know me already, you would have heard me talk about my own personal experience. My previous career took me travelling all over the UK staying in hotels Mon – Thurs then at the weekend I’d be too tried/busy to bother cooking so we’d have takeaways or really nice supermarket prepared food. At my biggest I was a size 24 and weighed in over 17 stones. So definitely know what ‘BIG’ feels like and can truly relate to “you are what you eat.” Plus I REALLY know that life can get in the way of making those changes!

When you are stuck in a negative place, thinking you are too unfit, too overweight or just too busy the excuses become real and so we never take those first steps. That’s why it really helps (and has been proven in a lot of research) that to have a group of like-minded people around you to support and motivate you can make a big difference.

However I am not talking about just jumping on a scale, being told that you have put on a 1lb and left to think “what now?” I am talking about being part of a lifestyle community where we provide nutrition plans that work, we provide a wide range of exercise classes (as there is more to fitness than burpees) and we look at the mind-set too.

So stop holding yourself back from making those changes and let’s make Spring 2017 different! Become part of the Thrive Hub and be with people who have been there but have found a way out of it. Be motivated, be inspired and throw off those winter layers and Thrive!