ZUMBA YOUR WAY TO A NEW YOU!!
JOIN KIRSTY FOR A FUN FILLED, FAT FIGHTING HOUR AT JASPAS
10AM EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY AT 10 AM.
MEN ONLY ZUMBA - STARTING TUESDAY 4TH OCTOBER 7.30PM.
€5.00 Including a Drink
And an after-time girly chat
Kirsty's Story....
From the moment I was hatched in April 1983, I was up against it! My parents were part of families, which, on one side were decidedly short and dumpy, and on the other side, tall and large of frame! I managed to grab myself the small frame, dumpy legs and thick ankles from my Dad’s side and the appetite of my Mum’s family!!!
From the time I grew some teeth, I was a habitual chomper, with an insatiable appetite for all things crispy, crunchy and chocolate covered, but my biggest addiction from the age of about 18 months was “WOTSITS”. It did not help that, the local storekeeper was highly amused at my attempts to steal them at the age of 2, and put quickly under my pushchair cover! I would have Wotsits at any cost!! My other enemy, as lovely as she was, was my great-nan, who looked after me 4 days a week when my mum was at work. Despite being told that my breakfast should consist of things like, boiled eggs, porridge and cereal etc, my nan thought that I needed more and decided that she would treat me (almost every day) to fried bacon, eggs, sausage, and, to top it all the sin of all sins, “a lovely fried slice”!!! I soon got used to these fat filled feasts and for at least 4 days a week, cereal, yoghurt and fruit either gathered dust on the shelves or got eaten if I had run out of Wotsits. This regime lasted for around 3 years and although I could not be called an obese child, my stomach was definitely growing faster than the rest of me.
When I was about 4 years old, I was mesmerised by Musical Films and would watch them hour after hour, wishing that I were either Mary Poppins, Annie, Jemima from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I would grab a tray or large piece of wood and use it to tap dance and I suppose this did at least give me some exercise. All my waking hours were spent “being” one of these characters and so my mum took me to dance and acting classes. I was, in fact, very good at these schools and at the age of five, I was offered a place at the oldest theatrical school in England, the Italia Conti Academy. However, in my wisdom, I decided I did not want to go and to this day, my Mum does not really know why I refused. I can only think that I had heard the daily supply of Wotsits was insufficient for my needs”!!
During my school years, I retained my little dumpy figure for the most part, but cannot say that I was the focus of any serious bullying or fun-poking. The odd time when a detrimental comment was made, I shrugged it off and did not think too much of it. As I got older, I would envy the tall, skinny girls a little, but it was not enough to make me want to try to lose any weight.
I left school at 16 and went to work for my Mum. Initially I had a lift both to and from work and even when we arrived the walk from car to front door never lasted more than 30 seconds. Then I learned to drive, got a car and so from the age of sixteen, I basically sat on my bum. The only parts of my anatomy that got any exercise were my fingers and mouth! Despite my growing size, at the age of 21, I managed to find a boyfriend who was also a couch potato but he was ridiculously skinny! By then I weighed in at over 15 stones and my boyfriend who was several inches taller than me, weighed little more than a Wotsit!!
A couple of years later, my Mum decided that she had also gained too much weight and started a Weight Watchers class. I saw that she was doing well and did not seem to be starving herself. I had been really worried about stepping on to scales (which was a word I avoided at all costs and began to imagine they didn’t exist!) and this was the main reason I had avoided joining any sort of slimming regime class. However, enough was enough and mum was doing well so I decided that I must face the scales one day! With the promise that no earthly soul would be told my weight, I wobbled along to the Chingford WW class and shut my eyes as the digital demon did it’s work. I was almost physically sick as I looked down and saw the screen’s diagnosis……. 17stones 10 pounds. I almost choked on my Wotsit!! I then started the slow downward trend, but even then it was hard work and I was not good at keeping up weekly classes, especially if I knew I had munched more than I should have.
My mum left to live in Spain at the end of 2007 and I was not sure that I wanted to go. I had a good job, a boyfriend and a nice place to live but I missed her and after a 2 week Christmas Holiday with my family, I decided I wanted to move my fat bum over here.
In July 2009, I saw an advertisement for Zumba classes. I had never heard of it before and was intrigued, so I went along to a local class with 2 friends who also wanted to shed a few pounds.
Within the first few minutes of the class, I was hooked!! We would go to as many classes as we could fit in around working and the difference in me, in just a couple of months was astounding. People who I had not seen for a few weeks were amazed at the difference in me but the biggest reward was looking in a mirror at a person I had never seen before. I found that I wanted to eat more healthily but also it seemed that I could eat normal meals and still the pounds dropped off me.
Bones I never knew I had came to the surface! I discovered cheekbones, wrist bones and one of my greatest pleasures was to pull on a pair of boots over my calves. I had never been able to buy boots, as they just did not stretch over my 53cm lower legs. My upper arms, previously a replica of Popeye when fully flexed, had shrunk beyond recognition and my toes and fingers, which were likened to Fred Flintstone’s digits, became sleek and feminine. I could, at last, wear open toe shoes, shorts and, although Lycra had been a friend to me in the past, (I could get away with size 20 if it had that magic ingredient) I had not realised that it did not always stretch to see-through dimensions and burst into holes in the upper inside leg!! New Horizons Indeed!
In all I have now lost a total of almost 8 stones and dropped from a size 22 to a size 10. I never thought I cold do it, but most of all I never imagined I could do it AND enjoy it at the same time.
If you are anything like me, you will maybe initially think that joining a Zumba class, when you prefer to cover up in baggy clothes and hide in the background if there is a photographer about, is a bit daunting, but I can put my hand on my heart and say that it is the best move I have ever made. Zumba has totally changed my life. It has changed the way I feel, the way I dress and my confidence in myself. If you don’t believe me – ask my mum!!!!
Zumba is my new Wotsit. I just can’t get enough!!
FOR FULL INFORMATION CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
