talkwomenshealth

Nobody could say the last six years have been easy.  Despite being a military wife, having cancer myself, a child with cancer, a car crash, moving country twice, returning to full time work, and five hugely invasive surgeries, I have managed to lose over ten stone through diet and exercise AND keep it off.

It has been an incredible journey and writing about it on talkhealth has been my way of exploring the feelings behind the physical and emotional repercussions. 

Physical health and mental health are two sides of the same coin and too often the weight loss industry ignores the emotional issues behind weight gain and loss. I strongly believe that anything is possible if you get your mind in the right place. 

I am a 39 year old mother of four sons ranging between 17 and 7. In my spare time I travel the country speaking to weight loss groups hoping to use my story to inspire and motivate and fund raise for children's cancer charities.

Besides finding 'Healthy' I've discovered I have a spine of pure titanium, a love of writing and a family that I'm incredibly proud of.

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Hula Hooping, Hoopdance or Hoop Fitness appears to be a fairly recent trend in yet another way to get us all up off the couch and into a new and fitter way of living. Actually, hooping for both fun and exercise has been around for centuries. (Think Ganymede rolling a hoop as depicted on an ancient Greek vase held in The Louvre or Victorian children having fun with hoops on their waist).

The benefits to Hula Hooping are numerous, foremost, above everything else it's fun! For some it can bring back memories of youth and for others it's about gaining the complete satisfaction of acquiring a brand-new skill. Whichever category you fall into, everyone can still enjoy the benefits that hooping has to offer. Basically, anything that gets me laughing and smiling whilst apparently exercising gets my vote! 

I started hooping a little more than two years ago. I wanted to see if I could still spin that hoop around my waist, just like Grace Jones did at the 2012 Queen's Jubilee concert! Okay, I was a little rusty at first but with the right size hoop I soon found myself in hoop spinning heaven. What's more I became addicted, hooped quite a lot and resulted in being 2.5 stones lighter within 6 months, an unintended bonus!

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