I have always been a chubby girl. No matter what I did I was always the biggest girl I knew. I used to dance 4 times a week, swim 3 times a week and even played football, rugby and badminton a hell of a lot a college and in my first year at uni. 3 years ago I was the thinnest I can remember being in my teenage life and I was happy even though I was still big. That was until I hit uni and started drinking more and eating all the wrong food a lot of the time. I was still on the go a lot and didn't notice my weight start to creep up on me. Before I started work I was at the same weight I was at the age of 13 (I remember this because we had to weigh ourselves in Physics that year and me and another girl in my class started crying at the numbers on the scale and refused to tell the teacher what it said). However just by working I have managed to lose half a stone fairly quickly but have now come to a stop. Therefore I am making a pledge to start the Couch to 5k running program that you can find all over the internet.

I have decided to start this because to be honest, as much as I would like to, I can't afford to join a gym at the moment. When I start uni again in September I can become a member of the gym there at a highly reduced rate and make use of the shower at my dad's office round the corner (it is the most amazing power shower you will ever see) before I hit the lectures. Until then I am going to start running because it's free and there are lots of fields and green spaces in the vicinity of my house.

The Couch to 5k running program takes the form of 9 podcasts, where you listen to one of them 3 times a week. The early ones are a mix of walking and jogging to get you used to moving again, slowly working your way up to a 45 minute run/jog which should equal approximately 5k. The podcasts are great because they are set to a dance music mix that changes tempo as you change from a run to a walk intermixed with verbal instructions in case you loose where you are. I am starting these in a week because I need pay day to roll around so I can get a new pair of running shoes and have time to break them in.

Of course in addition to the running I'm going to try and swim at least once a week (hopefully on a day off) and cut out the morning toast breaks and scavenging from the canteen that occurs a lot at work recently...I'll keep you all posted and here's to losing weight and staying healthy!

You can read more about the program here in addition to downloading the free podcasts.