By Liana Jacob
MEET the incredible woman who doubled her calorie intake and replaced cardio with weight lifting and her vegetable-dominated diet with meat to gain a stone-and-a-half of MUSCLE in just two months.
Media student, Paige Gowland (20), from Hawarden, North Wales, UK, spent her whole life picking her body apart every day and night constantly wanting to change her six to eight size physique.
After suffering from low self-confidence and restricting herself to consuming as little as 1,000 calories a day, Paige decided she had enough.
From eating a repetitive diet of a fried egg, vegetables, spinach while only snacking on nuts and dried fruit, Paige completely turned her routine on its head.
She now eats a varied diet, including; two bagels, flavoured chicken, battered fish and is now lifting weights five to six times a week instead of focusing on cardio.
She has gone from 8st to 9st 5Ibs and now wears a UK dress size of eight to 10 and gained 1st 5Ibs in just two months.
“I grew up in quite an active family, so exercise has always been a part of me,” Paige said.
“I had very low confidence when it came to my figure. My mind set was so damaged that the first thing I would think about when I woke up and the last thing I would think about when I went to sleep, was changing my body.
“I wanted to feel happy in myself again, the way I was before I lost all the weight, and start to enjoy food again. I had been so restricted for such a long time that I didn’t even feel like a human being anymore.
“I achieved these results by hard work, determination and re-gaining a good relationship with food. I decided to go on a slow bulk, where I would be in a calorie surplus and this was subsequently fuelled by workouts.
“I feel so much better about myself; both mentally and physically. I have so much more energy, which means that my workouts are better than they have ever been. The results on my body have been better than I ever could have imagined.
“I’ve had to make changes in both areas, but predominantly diet. I was eating around 1,000 to 1,500 calories before the transformation and now I’m eating double that amount.
“Exercise-wise I have changed my routine from completely cardio to weight training five to six times a week.”
Throughout her whole life, Paige has developed a repetitive pattern of cardio and low-calorie food that she found it extremely difficult to change her lifestyle.
“The hardest thing about the process for me was breaking the barrier I had put up regarding food,” she said.
“I had tried so many diets (gluten-free, vegetarian, paleo), so the thought of eating normal food was quite scary to me.
Observers have now seen a new side to Paige who now exhibits a new-found confidence in her current curvier and healthier body.
“Those who have commented on my transformation have said how much better I look for putting on the weight,” she said.
“My close friends and family voiced their concerns many times over my weight previously, so for them, I think it’s a relief.
“The main advice I can give anyone is to be persistent. It can be so easy to give up after not seeing immediate results, but sticking it out will be the best decision of your life.
“It helps to write down your goals in figures and then build up on your workouts each week.”
For more information visit: https://www.instagram.com/paigefitnessuk/
