5 Minutes With…Laura Fat To Fit

In this months ‘5 Minutes With…‘ I’m really excited to introduce Laura, she was, as a matter of fact, one of the first bloggers I met in real life. I know, exciting times! We were at the ‘Yoga Show’ and I was pottering around with my head in the clouds, or full from all the tasters. I can’t remember and I bumped into this lovely lady and spent 5 minutes scaring the life out of her with my sugar boosted craziness. I’m not sure talking at 100mph is the way to make a lasting impression, or is it…?

I’ve followed Laura and her journey for many years now. It started with me being in awe of her weight loss journey and has evolved to a mutual love of cats, wishing I was brave enough to enter a triathlon like her and admiring her great sense of sporty style.

Over the past few years, Laura has learnt to swim, taken on a few half marathons and set some fabulous personal bests. I love her honest and authentic writing about training, it’s refreshing to read a diary which doesn’t sugarcoat the highs and lows. If you ever need some inspiration to start your fitness journey, Laura’s blog is a good place to start.

With that in mind, let’s have a chat…

I never tire of hearing about people’s morning routines, can you tell me about yours?

Since moving, my morning routine has wildly changed from what it was before. I now wake at 5:45AM. I typically give the cat a fuss for a further 10 minutes before actually getting out of bed. I get clothes ready for my commute and work and pack my bag. I don’t know why, but time flies in the morning and before I know it, its time to commute. I either run commute or cycle commute to the train station to get a 6:57 train. Whilst on the train, it’s time to either catch up on social media or watch a Netflix episode which perfectly fits into my train commute. Once at work, I freshen up from my commute, make my breakfast, which is typically a bowl of porridge and then it’s time to work!

After losing a lot of weight, what would you say was your biggest achievement?

Ooh, this is a toughie, there’s been a couple of things that stand out. I think it would probably be learning to swim. I hadn’t learnt to swim until 2014. Sure… I’d done swimming lessons as a child but never actually ended up learning to swim and it took me all this time to learn. It took a very long while to finally get the swim technique in my swimming lessons but it was an incredible achievement to be able to swim a length then consecutive lengths. I’ve now conquered my swimming fear and do lots of Open Water Swimming, took part in the Great North Swim and did my first Triathlon in September!

What advice would you give to someone looking to make a huge change to their body/life?

Start slow. Making huge changes all in one go is a lot of pressure to deal with and could lead to feeling like you’re failing. Avoid this by making small changes gradually over time to make them more sustainable in the long run. With regards to weight loss, I’d say try not to restrict anything from your diet. Allow anything in moderation, if you allow yourselves the foods you like rather than restricting them, you’re less likely to break and end up bingeing on it.

I know you keep busy with running, swimming, cycling and work, but tell me, how do you relax?

Cozying down with a good book, watching an episode of a TV series I’m watching on Netflix or blogging/catching up reading blog posts!

What are your 3 favourite foods?

Wow! Tough to whittle this down to just 3 foods. Chocolate would have to be my first choice. I have a huge sweet tooth and it’s my weakness. I typically have chocolate in some form at least once a day. Second would be a hearty bowl of porridge – so many ways to switch up the flavour with different toppings and great fuel for a run! Lastly, probably pasta! I love carbs and pasta is a firm favourite, great for carb loading too!

Finally, tell me what fitness wear pieces you’re loving right now?

I’ve been wearing my Redbear Sports Long Sleeved tops now that the weather has been getting colder. Getting lots of use out of my running Christmas jumper whilst I have the chance. I’m also loving SKINS too. Great compression wear which is coming in handy now I’ve started upping my mileage again for Half Marathon Training. I’m loving the prints they’ve been releasing lately, I’m all for bright, out there prints!

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Laura!

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I hope you all have had a lovely Christmas and my favourite thing about today (Boxing day) is eating all those lovely leftovers!

Katie

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