I know we are all living is an extremely difficult and stressful time right now. Everyone has been so affected, not just physically and financially but also mentally and spiritually. Particularly I feel for those under the most stringent restrictions. So I just wanted to share my message of hope and positivity. As mine has been a very personal and emotional journey.

Many years ago I was hospitalized with severe Depression and Anxiety. Extensive sessions of ECT did not make a difference. I was discharged with a multitude of drugs and with the trepidation of thinking this was going to be me for the rest of my life.

I did start going to the gym, and after a short while I employed a Personal Trainer. I was training hard with weights and cardio exercise however, as I now know the workouts were only 2-3 percent of my whole week, I didn’t have a clear plan that suited my needs for the other 97%. So I was actually getting bigger and it wasn’t muscle. That trainer soon left the gym. There was a constant turnover of Personal Trainers at our facility, so it became difficult to approach another. One that stood out was Ann Carter. She introduced me to Metabolic Precision, and that is when everything changed, it opened my eyes to a whole new world of eating and exercising.

Within 12 months my life changed completely. My health has improved dramatically – to the point where I no longer need most of the medication I was on. I now have the body I was hoping to achieve, I am fitter and healthier than I was 20 years ago.

How I did it..

My biggest goal is my health. My time in hospital was not at all pleasant. I was in there with some dangerous people and not all the staff were helpful, I never want to go back there. So, my goal is to keep doing what I know is working for me. I also know that a written goal needs a deadline. Although my deadline is the rest of my life, I make every new day a goal. As there were so many times, I wanted to take my life when I was not well.

You also need small short-term goals that actually distract yet keep you on track for the long term. One of those goals was to achieve just one pull up. I have been trying for over 12 months and it was in the last 11 weeks I was finally able to do one. My new goal now is to achieve 10 in a row.

In the early weeks I read the Metabolic Precision book, but I didn’t do much else I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I wanted to share that if you feel this way, when it comes to facing change, this feeling is very normal.

Still feeling overwhelmed, I did clean out the pantry, spent a long-time grocery shopping to get our food…I still wasn’t using all the great systems and I was still feel overwhelmed. I had to tell myself that I can do this.

I did listen to the audios and read the MP book again, a little more started to resonate and I started some meal prepping, small at first, a recipe from the Transformation Cookbook, then two.…. I felt more like I can do this.

I did follow the training plan set out for me, it was less training than I’d done before and more food. But with my measurements taken I was actually improving my shape, so I felt wow this does work.

I tried a few more different recipes from Shar’s Transformation Cookbook, so yummy! I kept on training and eating. Some days I did really well, some days I didn’t. I just tried to be consistent, so that when I add the days up at the end of the week, the good eating days were outweighing the not so good. So, this gave me a real sense of achievement.

Funny enough, after a while I did start to feel hungrier. And when I did feel hungry, I increased my meal portions and I actually kept improving! I was like, wow I eat so much food!

One thing I did have and still do have that is so important is a great support network. My husband – we often workout together my coach and the MP Community, I think you need these to keep growing as an individual. There are so many resources on-line, and each new program I complete with Ann, I just keep learning more and more about myself and how my body responds. This really builds my confidence.

My Tips to help you

For me, one of the first things I learnt from this is that you cannot outwork a bad diet. I was the one who always thought if I ate something bad, I would just burn it off at the gym.

One thing I’ve discovered is that to succeed, you don’t need to be perfect. However, you need to learn and grow. Understand about what carbs to eat inside and outside the metabolic window. Know how much protein you need. What type and how much of the right fats you need.

Yes, it all makes a huge difference and with the resources available it becomes an exciting life education. Get your head around results-based exercise training which might be less but more intense than you’re doing now, like me you’ll quickly fall in love with the results.

No matter what happens in the rest of my life, I finally feel free. To have that feeling every day is amazing. That’s why I just wanted to share my story with you.

Ali and Andy are coached by Ann Carter