School teacher Kirsty Chapman who has lost over four stone in weight with the aid of personal trainer Rodger Greenaway at The Fitness Shed, Clonmore. (Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX)
Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX
School teacher Kirsty Chapman (Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX)
School teacher Kirsty Chapman who has lost over four stone in weight with the aid of personal trainer Rodger Greenaway at The Fitness Shed, Clonmore. (Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX)
If you've stood on the scales over the last few days and found yourself wondering where those extra pounds came from, you're not alone.
Christmas is traditionally a time of overindulgence and many of us let our belts out a notch or two after that second portion of plum pudding or handful of Quality Street.
But this year you may have found yourself going into the festive season already carrying a little extra weight.
The impact of 2020's lockdowns on our eating and exercise habits even coined the phrase 'corona curves'.
Mum-of-three Kirsty Chapman, from Dungannon, motivated herself to change her lifestyle and has shed four stone with the help of personal trainer Rodger Greenaway.
"I feel like a different person," she says.
Rodger Greenaway, who runs The Fitness Shed at Clonmore in Dungannon, says if you're thinking of overhauling your health in January, motivation is key.
He said: "If you're sat on the sofa on December 31, trying to think of reasons to make changes, then you won't get off it," he says. "You need motivation to get you started and discipline to keep you going.
"I always say find your 'why'. Why do you want to get fit or lose weight? It needs to be really specific and personal to you. If you're not sure, just keep asking yourself why, and dig deep until you get to it.
"Having that very specific 'why' will keep you going."
One person who knows the value of having a specific 'why' is mum-of-three Kirsty Chapman, from Dungannon.
After tying the knot with her second husband Mark, in 2013, by her own admission she relaxed into wedded bliss "and ate, and ate, and ate".
Already mum to Alistair (15), from her first marriage, she was used to cooking healthy meals for her family. But Kirsty's stumbling block was snacks. She adored crisps and chocolate, and was a typical binge eater after a bad day.
When she fell pregnant with Lorcan, in 2014, she embraced eating for two.
"I could get through a couple of packets a day of Cadbury's chocolate fingers," Kirsty (44) confesses. "I just kept popping another one into my mouth."
With each pregnancy Kirsty gained a little more, but after giving birth to her daughter Niamh, in 2016, she was unexpectedly hit by post-natal depression.
"If anything, my third should have been the easiest, but it didn't feel that way to me," she remembers. "I'd had a bad birth and didn't get to see Niamh for the first hour, so perhaps that's what triggered it.
"I felt so low, but I was putting on a brave face. Whenever anyone came to visit I was determined for the house to be perfectly tidy and to put on a happy smile."
Kirsty was struggling and she turned to junk food for comfort.
"On bad days I would eat and eat until I felt sick," she says. "Multipacks of crisps… Magnums… biscuits… whatever was in the house."
As Kirsty became more unhappy her weight spiralled out of control. When her size 16 clothes became too tight she simply stopped buying clothes.
"In the winter of 2018 I was too fat to buy a winter coat, so I just went without one," she remembers. "My arms wouldn't squeeze into them and I couldn't bear going up another size.
"I remember taking the kids to a winter fair and spending the whole day freezing because all I had on was this sleeveless bodywarmer. It wouldn't even zip up so I hid the front with a scarf."
The turning point came after a meltdown in the changing rooms in Next.
"I couldn't fit into any of their size 16 jeans," says Kirsty. "I burst into tears. Mark was outside waiting for me and he was so worried."
It was Mark who eventually signed Kirsty up for six weeks with a personal trainer in November 2018.
"He was so loving and supportive, he just wanted to help me," she explains. "I'd been to the doctor, I'd been on anti-depressants but nothing worked.
"He said he just wanted to see me happy again and he'd read about how exercise could help. He found a local personal trainer, who looked really friendly and he'd spoken to him, but I was still terrified."
Despite her fear, Kirsty decided to give it a go, and surprised herself by how much she enjoyed working out and how much better it made her feel.
Over the following 18 months Kirsty lost weight slowly and healthily, dropping from 14st to 10st - a dress size 8-10. Now Kirsty works out five to six times a week and says she feels like a different person. Her mood has lifted and she loves running round after her kids.
This summer she bought her first pair of 28-inch jeans and a size 8 top.
"I feel like a different person," she laughs. "Mark is delighted too - he's just relieved to see me smiling again."
When the first lockdown happened in March, Kirsty started training with Rodger online and he devised a personalised programme to keep her going.
"She was so determined, she worked out in her living room and stuck at it," he says. "When you find your 'why' you find a way to make it work."
School teacher Kirsty Chapman (Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX)
Personal trainer Rodger launched his online home workout sessions after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first coronavirus lockdown last March. With gyms closed again it is proving a lifeline for those who want to keep healthy and fit.
He recalled: "My head was spinning with questions. How would I pay my bills and provide for my family? And how could I keep all my clients going forward on their fitness journey?
"I had a week of feeling sorry for myself and many clients got in touch, telling me their own fears. Fears of putting on weight, going backwards, suffering anxiety and depression, eating disorders coming back.
"I decided I had to step up to the mark and figure out how to keep going and keep supporting them.
"I'm in contact with my clients every day. I check in on their fitness and make sure they're keeping their nutrition on track. They also have weekly challenges to hit.
"It's been keeping me busy and keeping my clients moving forward. I think lockdown will have a huge impact on mental health, so I'm trying to help people be as positive as possible."
For information about training with Rodger Greenaway, visit www.thefitnessshedonline.com
