It’s time to get in wedding shape

I got engaged this year. My partner and I have been together for over 9 years and this year, we decided to take our next step. We already have a house together, a dog, bills to pay and pretty much everything else that comes with a relationship. But we were never really too fussed about getting married because we’re not really wedding-y people. The thought of spending eye-watering amounts of money on a single day and all of the stress that comes with it isn’t something we’ve exactly been rushing to do, so we’re not going to do it. We haven’t really decided when, where or how we’re going to get married — only that we want to do it next year, we don’t want it to be stressfull and we want it to be all about the two of us having fun and nothing else.

But this isn’t about planning a wedding, this is about getting into wedding shape!

My girlfriend likes to poke fun at me because I’ve been talking about ‘getting ripped’ since 2009 and have never actually done it. Sure, we go to the gym regularly, bought a Nutribullet, stock our cupboards with quinoa, love running and spend too much time falling down the #healthyeating Instagram rabbit hole — but I’ve never actually devoted myself enough in order to ‘get ripped’. Now, I wouldn’t say that I’m in terrible shape. I used to weigh 18 stone (252 lbs) and it wasn’t 18 stone of muscle. I was 18 stone of chocolate, fried breakfasts and sadness. Now I hover between a slimmer 11.5–12 stone and feel better for it. But I still have a bit of a flabby stomach and I’m not in the shape I want to be in. Writing a blog about eating burgers in Glasgow for four years certainly hasn’t helped and also, the fact that I don’t have a lot of willpower when it comes to turning down chocolate here and there. But we’re getting married next year and whenever we decide to do it, I’ve got until then to finally get in the best shape that I can! I don’t expect to get ‘ripped’, but I finally want rid of my flabby stomach and to get in better shape than I have been before.

It’s going to be a long, tough process. I love the odd cake here and there, fries and can’t imagine the thought of watching a movie without snacking on something. I’ll probably fail on days and stuff my face, but I’m determined to make it work. I’m going to push myself out of my comfort zone, go to more gym classes, eat better, sleep better, meal prep and set myself goals. I wanted to write this as a challenge to myself. Now that it’s out there in the wild, I can’t just forget about it.

I WILL GET INTO SHAPE BEFORE GETTING MARRIED!

Luckily, I don’t have to go it alone. Even though my girlfriend is already in good shape and can lift weights and do excercises that would leave me crying like a baby right now, she’s going on this journey with me. We could both do with improving our eating habits and can be bad influences on one another when it comes to food — but I guess that’s why we’re getting married, right?

Our goal is to get into shape before we get married in 2017; however, we want this to be a long term thing. We’re both in our 30s now and it’s not quite as easy to shed the pounds as it was ten years ago. Back then I felt like I could do it without even trying. We’re making this a lifestyle change and the deadline of our wedding was the last push that we needed.

I’m looking forward to documenting our progress here. It’s going to be a challenging journey!