Ben Snape Health & Fitness

You wouldn’t believe how much it’s costing us to get our roof fixed 😭

Actually... if you’ve had any work done on your house recently, you probably would. 🙈

The frustrating part is that we knew it needed doing.

For months we’d noticed little signs that there was a problem.

Damp patches had been appearing on our bedroom ceiling over winter but it was nothing urgent enough to force action.

So we did what most people do and we put it off.

We had Christmas to focus on, birthdays, a holiday that seemed more of a priority.

And once winter ended, the visible signs disappeared completely.

Out of sight, out of mind and all that.

But deep down I knew the problem hadn’t gone away.

The leak was still there.

The damage was still happening.

It was just hidden.

And the longer we left it, the bigger and more expensive the problem was going to become.

So despite the cost we got it sorted.

Because ignoring a problem doesn’t make it cheaper.

It makes it more expensive.

Your health works exactly the same way.

You know something needs to change.

You feel it every time you catch your reflection.

Every time you avoid being in a photo.

Every time you promise yourself you’ll start on Monday.

But right now it doesn’t feel urgent enough.

So you focus on other things.

The problem is that while you’re ignoring it, It’s still there AND it’s getting harder to fix.

Not because weight loss becomes impossible but because another month becomes another year.

Another year becomes another size up.

Another year of memories spent hiding instead of living the life you actually want to live.

The roof wasn’t getting better while I ignored it.

It was getting worse.

If I’d left it much longer we’d have been dealing with mould, structural damage, and a much bigger bill to pay.

So here’s the question:

If you leave your health for another year...

What’s it going to cost you??

I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate Leigh’s amazing progress over the last 9 months.

Since Harry was born Leigh has lost 20kg.

8kg initially when she gave birth and a further 12kg since then.

All of this whilst navigating being a first-time mum.

Solely breast fed for the first 4-5 months.

LIMITED SLEEP (when I say limited I mean 2-3 hours max per night at the beginning).

6am workouts.

Tracking her food even when she didn’t feel like it.

And now back at work.

I haven’t helped her with this, she’s done it with the help of her coach ✨ Kirsty Darr ✨ .

All I’ve tried to do is try to create the best conditions for her to succeed.

Looking after Harry so she can train.

Collaborating on the food shop (instead of me taking full control 😂).

I’ll never know the pressures of being a woman, but I see them.

The pressure to look a certain way.

The being in a body that doesn’t feel like it’s hers after pregnancy.

Having to come to terms with the fact that her body couldn’t do the same things as it once could (at first).

It could have been very easy to not go to the gym because 6am was her only option.

It could have been very easy to not track her food because its the last thing you want to do when you’re sleep deprived.

But she did it anyway.

She took action even though it wasn’t “perfect”, even though she couldn’t “nail” every workout and even though she didn’t feel full of energy 24/7.

But she wanted to.

She wanted to for herself and to set an example to Harry that you can look after yourself even when life is hectic.

So stop looking for the perfect time to start.

Stop looking for all the reasons not to do it.

Start in any way you can and keep showing up.

Leigh Derbyshire

Every action you take has an impact somewhere down the line.

Even if you don’t see it right away.

SOME illnesses DO come out of nowhere.

But if we can be more accountable to our actions today, we can build a better, healthier future.

Who’s ever been around people that actively try to sabotage their weight loss attempts?

I know I have.

“Why are you eating that?”
“You don’t need to lose any more weight”
“You’re becoming obsessive”
“C’mon it’s only one!”

You’ll all agree how difficult it makes it to be consistent.

Not only do you have the challenge of trying to eat well and exercise more...

Now you’re fending off the opinions of others who aren’t on board or don’t fully understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

That’s why its so important to have a supportive environment.

The right people, the right surroundings.

Sean and Sam are a perfect example of that.

Over the last 3 years they have supported each other in the changes they were making in order for them to lose weight and live the lives they want to live.

Encouraging each other to get to the gym or go for a walk.
Calling each other out when the other is making excuses.
Celebrating their wins together.

Without that support I’m sure Sam and Sean would have found it 10x harder to achieve what they’ve managed to achieve.

So wherever you can, try to make your environment work for you.

You want your environment to help you as much as possible - not cause friction and hold you back.

I’m not saying you have to bin off your partner if they’re not supportive of you (that’s a whole different rabbit hole to go down), but you should definitely find a group of people who share your interests.

And if I could leave you with one more bit of advice it would be this:

Show your loves ones how much this means to you.

Often, a person being unsupportive comes from a lack of understanding and/or a lack of conviction on your part.

Maybe you half arse things.
Maybe you say you’re going to do things for your health but never follow through.

I find that when you show people the importance of your goals and that you mean business...

The ones that love you will show their support in any way you need.

You might think that I don’t understand what it feels like to lose weight and regain it

Back in 2021 I did a photo shoot and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

Foolishly, I thought that once I’d lost the weight the hard work had been done.

I’d look like this forever.

My coach at the time encouraged me to stay on with him so we could go through a period of maintenance but I declined. I knew what I was doing, right?

Wrong.

I remember eating everything in sight for about a month.

Chocolate bars, pizzas, protein bars, wine gums... the lot.

I couldn’t stop myself.

I gained a stone in that month and I totally lost my head.

I felt ashamed, guilty and angry at myself for letting myself slip into bad habits after working so hard for months on end.

What sort of coach/PT was I to go through such an impressive transformation only to go back to square one? This was the exact same thing I was trying to teach my clients!

And I know that even though I’d regained a stone, I didn’t look terrible.

But I still gave myself a hard time.

When a friend commented that I was looking fat as a joke, I snapped at him.

Here’s what I’d misunderstood:

Weight loss is only half the journey.

There’s a whole raft of challenges on the other side that need to be addressed.

Being comfortable with eating more food.
The mental challenges of seeing the scales change.
The realisation that you need to have sustainable habits in place that last longer than 12 weeks.
What to focus on when weight loss isn’t the goal anymore.

I did something extreme with my body but the things I struggled with are the same things that a lot of others struggle with after losing weight too.

And if someone with as much expertise as myself was struggling to maintain after a period of weight loss, imagine how hard it must be for others who don’t have the same knowledge.

That’s why it’s a heavy focus in my coaching.

I’m not interested in helping people lose loads of weight if a person ultimately puts it all back on afterwards.

I’m interested in helping people make positive changes that they can maintain and be proud of.

Because what’s the point in losing weight if you can’t keep it off?

It’s amazing how much more organised you become when you’re forced into it.

I won’t sit here and tell you that you’ll find it as easy as Leigh and I to fit exercise into a change of routine because we’ve been in the routine of exercise for a long time now.

But it doesn’t mean we’re able to get things done easily when things change.

We still need to plan and organise, otherwise it’ll get missed.

I’m eternally grateful that I’m with someone who values exercise like I do and is willing to have conversations to help us prioritise ourselves and set a good example to Harry.