“I thought you’d have a better body”

I felt quite reflective last week

Not too sure why, but I actually pin-pointed one moment

And I have never shared this with anyone!

It was a school trip to Spain

I was 17 years old and hadn’t been on many foreign trips

I think it could even have been the first without my parents!

A fairly small group of us attended that took an introduction to Spanish course as part of our A-Levels

And, one day, a few of us were having a few drinks (as was typical at that time), a few guys and a few girls

I can’t recall exactly when or why, but we were probably just getting undressed having returned from a night out or even getting changed ready to go out

And one of the girls looked at my half-naked body and said

“I thought you’d have a better body”

I’ve stated before that I was not a confident teenager

And that shattered my already fragile confidence!

BUT

I am truly grateful to the girl that uttered those words

Because it fueled a long-term passion to change!

To change my physical appearance

To get healthy

To stop drinking & smoking 

And start thinking about what I was putting in my body

It was the catalyst I needed to totally change my life

To discover how much exercise and nutrition could do for my body and mind has been the greatest journey and one that continues to develop day after day!

I am in the best shape of my life, physically, mentally, emotionally

And it all started some 16 years ago with one seemingly innocent sentence!