How did I get here? 2 years on…

So I thought I’d re-tell my story for all you lovely new followers and members as it’s been a while since I did – plus it’s been about 18 months since I told it so a few things have changed!

First off – I’m Becca and live in Sale and have done for 12 years.  I’m a Southerner, originally from Surrey, but after going to Uni in Nottingham (Trent…not proper Nottingham, always have to clarify!!) I never went home and instead met my now husband and after living the dream for a few more years after Uni in the centre of Notts, we decided to move up to Manchester.

Roll on 12 years of living in Sunny Sale, and I’m now a Mum of 2 kids – Chloe who’s just turned 6 and Harry who’s just turned 3 and I have been running These Mums Do Fitness for just over 2 years.  So how did I get into it all I hear you ask (hopefully!!)…

Almost 3 years ago, I was made redundant whilst on maternity leave with Harry which whilst I kind of had an idea it was coming, was still a hell of a shock.  It was a bit of a game changer.  I loved where I worked before – it was very flexible, I was part time and it worked really well for us so to try and replicate that was going to be pretty tough.  Part time jobs are pretty hard to come by, so I decided to start thinking about doing something completely different and that’s when I started thinking about doing something for or with Mums.  I wanted to use the redundancy as an opportunity to do something that I love and am really passionate about and that’s when I started thinking about fitness.  About how much it helped me start to feel like me again after both my kids and how important it had become in my life and that was the start of the These Mums Do journey.

If you know me, you’ve probably heard but… I put on a LOT of weight when I’m pregnant – can’t really tell you why (cake had a little (LOT) to do with it!) and after having Chloe I really struggled.  I struggled with being at home on my own with this beautiful thing who was completely dependant on me – it was a lot for my head to adjust to and I really didn’t feel like me.  It was hard to admit that I wasn’t coping very well and I needed to do something for me.  So I found out about a fitness class in the park and me and 2 of my antenatal group went down and met a lovely lady called Lorna who ran her own business doing fitness in the parks.  This was it – this was exactly what I needed – this was the start of my journey back to fit.

Lorna’s classes were very similar to what I now run (why change something that works so well!!) – and I cannot tell you how much it helped me.  Just getting outside and into the fresh air to do a workout was amazing – slowly I started losing some weight, gaining in confidence, and I started to start feeling like me again.

Knowing from experience how much doing exercise and regaining my fitness helped me overcome the starting’s of post natal depression, I decided to use this and re-train and become a Personal Trainer. So I pulled a business plan together and ran through the whole thing with my husband and we decided why not give it a try.  It’s funny when I look back now and I remember saying to him “I’ll give it 6-9 months and if it doesn’t work I’ll get a proper job”!!!!

So when Harry was 6 months old, I started my PT qualification and 3 months later I’d qualified which was pretty full on studying and looking after both kids, but when else would I have the opportunity to do something like this?  I took the positive out of it and made it work (just about!)

Then in September 2016 I started the business and it’s genuinely the best thing I’ve ever done.

I currently run Mum & Baby exercise classes, a ladies only evening class, I do 1:1 and small group Personal Training and I also have 3 different running clubs – all in just 3 days a week and as knackering as it is, I absolutely love it.  Being given the opportunity to help Mums on their own fitness journeys and meet their own goals and at the same time, give them the opportunity that I had – to be able to meet new people, get some support and get active is absolutely amazing.  The amount of friendship groups I see being created and the amount of support which each and every member gives to others is totally humbling.  One of my favourite things is to see the Mum and Baby groups all go off for coffee and a catch up after the class – that’s exactly what it’s all about.

There have been so many highlights – I’ve grown my classes from 3-4 people to the biggest Mum and Baby class of 16 and the biggest evening class of 22.  I’ve trained almost 300 beginner runners to get to 5k, I’ve trained over 100 people to get to 10k and I even got 28 lovely ladies trained and round the Manchester Half Marathon.  On top of all this, I also train with over 10 different 1:1 or small group clients per week!

The amount of friends I’ve made, people I’ve helped and how much fun I’ve had along the way makes every minute I spend on the business worthwhile.  It can be totally all consuming some weeks and I sometimes look like the walking dead come Thursday (especially if my husband has been away for the week on business) but it’s totally brilliant!

So if you’re thinking about coming down or want to find out any information about the classes, PT or running club, then don’t hesitate to get in touch…everyone is in exactly the same boat and you definitely wont regret it. Check out my reviews on Facebook for some of the feedback I’ve received since I started and you’ll realise that I have something suitable for everyone.

These Mums Do Fitness..together.  Let’s carry on making this fabulous community!  Mums doing it together and all that!

Right…off to pick up the kids now!  Hope you enjoyed my story and hopefully see you soon