Oh honey, I'm sweet enough

So I'm doing something silly. I'm quitting sugar for the whole of February. 

Once upon a time I was the little blonde girl who bought 100 penny sweets with a pound, because back then when a merchandise was named after a price, that is exactly what is cost and plus I really really really like sugar. Now I am the brunette who will stride towards the honey jar for that mandatory hit of hoochy mama when the tide's running low.

Why?

Because it's a challenge. Also, my friend Alice co-runs a blog called I could never do that, where every month they try something new that they thought they could never do. Well I love that idea and wanted to get involved so...here I am. Chomping on a rope of nerds with a chocolate bar in my other hand and some smarties up my nose. Sweet Jesus I will miss you guys. I know you know.

Why I will be fitter

I have recently read a lot of articles discussing the issue of fat shaming - big people are beautiful and fat is just a factual word awarded negative connotations. I agree with these articles, I find inspiration in the humour and poignancy of their words and I am an active advocate of the delightful symphony of beauty. Weight is almost always the least important factor, happy eyes, confident smiles and kind words are by far the more integral. 

However, as someone who lost over four stone about seven years ago, I know first hand how uncomfortable it is to be fat. I don't mean the stares and the mean words, I mean the physical discomfort that comes from your thighs rubbing together in the summer and carrying around so much extra weight that your back hurts and you tire easily. I never want to be fat again. I simply feel more comfortable in my own skin when I weigh less.

                                       

                                        

Over the years I have been travelling around, having a blast and paying less attention to my health. I haven't put on weight but I have lost a lot of the fitness and strength I built in my quest to be healthier (and thinner) all those years ago - I climbed to the highest point of the Atlas mountains like a freaking don! This is the first post in my blog, which is dedicated to mapping the course of my return to fitness. I admit that losing weight is a factor in this, I would preferably like to be a dress size smaller and feel more comfortable in a bikini in July. However, I know there is nothing wrong with my body now, that I am beautiful and proud and I have no intention of pointing at each imperfection in disgust. This is me.

But there is always room for improvement. For me, 2014 is set to be the year of the self. 

This blog is a personal challenge made public. Not only am I challenging myself to get fit enough to do the Tough Mudder in June but I also want to re-address my lifestyle as a whole. I have had enough of spending too much money on alcohol and cigarettes and weekends spent feeling rotten and gouging on food that my body doesn't need, ignoring the food it does. This blog is a personal challenge to change my whole lifestyle, to move through a list of things I have always wanted to do but put off and to do so on a budget of no more than £10. 

So to 2014 - health, aspirations, self control and achievements. Wish me luck!