TRICK OR TREAT? How to motivate yourself for some EPIC autumn running The night is cold, the air is frosty, it’s already dark at 5pm…and the thought of putting on your runners and heading out into the ibis is just too overwhelming. OK so here’s the thing, I haven’t been running much of late, a mix of not having a goal, being focussed on other things like moving house and starting a new job…and I just haven’t felt very motivated. Add to that the fact we are going into darker, colder months, and you’d probably not be surprised if I decided to take a break until the Spring. No way Jose’ In fa ..read more

So you ran a marathon...now what? Congrats… you are officially a marathon runner. Your eyes opened this morning and for just a single moment you forget who you are, maybe even where you are… and most importantly you forgot what you achieved just yesterday. And then a split second later you feel a shoot of pain somewhere in your body (probably your feet), and it all comes rushing back to you. Yesterday you ran a bloody marathon.  Nothing can compare to the feeling of accomplishment you have the day after running a full marathon. However… the day after can also be filled with other emot ..read more

Is weight loss REALLY the hardest thing? I have been working with plus size women for more than a decade. When I set up my blog in 2010 I had no idea that it would reach millions of women all over the world. I also didn’t realise that my views and opinions about my body would evolve so much… When I started the blog I was still very much in diet mentality…counting calories, dabbling in well known diet plans. I used running to manage my weight…and to some extent it worked. When I ran my first marathon in 2012 I was at my smallest and lightest (I also happened to be pregnant and didn’t know i ..read more

What have you done today to make you feel proud It is 10 years since London hosted the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games…in my home town of Stratford, East London. Today it is exactly 10 years since I was asked to pop into my bosses office and told, “We are making your role redundant” For context, I had been working on the build up to the London 2012 games for more than 8 years, and the previous evening I had sat in a local park watching the Opening Ceremony with thousands of local people on one of the many big screens that were dotted around the capital. I was gutted. Not just th ..read more

sierra leone marathon 2022 There are some races that change you. That teach you so many deep and profound lessons that you wonder if life will ever be the same again.  Streetchilds Sierra Leone Marathon is described as “The Craziest Marathon on the Planet” and it lived up to that desciption and so much more, so buckle up…because this review is likely to be as lengthy, epic and lesson filled as the race itself. I didn’t think I’d ever run another marathon. With 5 already under my belt and a pandemic that saw me stop running all together…I just didn’t see this coming. And then in January a ..read more

Going back to fitfarms, the place it all began Back in 2007 I made a decision that would change my life. I was at a real crossroads and feeling a bit sorry for myself. I needed a break but had nobody to go on holiday with at the drop of a hat…and so I started eyeing up holidays for singles, and somehow came across something completely different all together. Fitfarms…a week of fitness, food and friendship in the Devon countryside…now that was more like it. That week in Devon changed my life. Prior to attending I didn’t do any outdoor activity, I didn’t know much about nutrition, and I H ..read more

The “getting back out there” challenge 2022 So as you may know, myself and 7 women from the Too Fat to Run Community have committed to running the Sierra Leone Marathon in West Africa, this June in an attempt to raise £100,000 for StreetChild….here they are, 7 wonderful women who are working incredibly hard in preperation. Signing up to this challenge was about something BIGGER than us “just” going off to West Africa to run. It was about us collectively doing something to remind us of how flipping awesome we are after a challenging few years. And so The Getting Back Out There Challenge&n ..read more

Its NEVER just as easy as getting out the front door I have been running for more than 20 years. I have run 5 marathons, more than 30 half marathons, almost 100 parkruns, I’ve done Triathlons, Duathlons, Tough Mudders, Spartans, I’ve climbed mountains, I’ve swam miles in the ocean, I’ve even taken part in an ultramarathon. And still its bloody hard drumming up the energy and enthusiasm to get out the front door. I’m normally Ok once I’m out there, but the getting out there is never that simple. The stop-start phenomenum is not unique to me. This yo yo-ing of goal setting, throwing yours ..read more

TFTR at The Sierra Leone Marathon this summer It has been 3 years since I last run a marathon. During the global pandemic I barely run at all, and never imagined I’d ever think about running a marathon again, let alone a marathon considered one of the craziest on the planet…oh and why not bring a bunch of your clients with you too Julie and raise £100,000 for charity in the process? NO PRESSURE And so yes, myself and 10 women from the Too Fat to Run Community have committed to running the Sierra Leone Marathon in West Africa, this June in an attempt to raise £100,000 for StreetChild. Bu ..read more

How to get a summer beach body So this may well be the shortest blog I ever write. Now it’s summer, take your body to the beach…enjoy. You are welcome. You see this photo, this is one of my all time favourite photos of me and Rose. It was Summer 2019 and my whole family had gone to the beach by Walton on the Naze, it was a fabulous day as we played in the sea with Roses cousins, and had lots of Creffield banta with my siblings. I was doing my best slow motion baywatch impression to make my older nieces and nephews cringe, when a massive wave knocked me over, and Rose came and threw herself ..read more