About

Who am I?

My name is Sabi and I am Fitlass. I am a freelance journalist and have written and worked for the Sunday Mirror, The Sun, Mail on Sunday, Daily Express, Sunday Times,  Metro, Daily Mail, BBC, ITV Meridian and Daybreak – formerly known as GMTV, and a number of national magazines.  Recently I have started to focus my writing towards keeping fit and healthy. Having had a weight problem in the past myself, I kind of know what I’m writing about!
The low down……
Like a lot of  women (and men) out there , I had a HUGE weight problem.  I had no idea what healthy eating was or what hunger was at that. And by the time I got massive, I certainly hadn’t even heard of exercise let alone take part in it. I was the “big girl with the big personality”. But then came a turning point in my life, when I decided to shed my lardy image and become a fitness fanatic. I’ve started this blog to share my tips on how you CAN be fit and healthy and STILL have a life. The big girl may have gone but the big personality is certainly here to stay.
You got fat because…….?
I have to face it, I was fat because I ate too much but let me elaborate a bit. For me, money really was the root of all evil. I began my first part-time job when I was 16 as a supermarket cashier and all of a sudden I had cash and I was rich. Because I wasn’t a girly girl and had no interest in boys (my my how times have changed?!!!)  I was hardly going to spend  my money on shoes and clothes. Instead I regularly eyed up all the chocolates, cakes and crisps that were displayed so temptingly in front of my cash till. At the end of my shift, I would pick up what I fancied and chomp on it as I walked home. We’re not talking about one or two chocolate bars here but the whole family pack size of chocolates.  As for cake, I wasn’t content with a slice of it, I literally wanted the whole cake and eat it!  And eat it I did. The result? I became fatty.
You got rid of the fat by……..?
Over the years, I’ve learnt that there really is no secret to losing weight. It’s a simple case of eating well and exercising. However, as most of us know it’s easier said than done and therefore changing what’s in our heads is very important. That was the biggest change for me – I had to change my whole attitude to food.  I had no structure to my eating pattern and ate what I wanted when I wanted. I never even knew what hunger was as I always had something in my mouth. So first I started to eat three square meals a day. I didn’t care what those meals were at this stage as I wanted my body to get used to eating regularly. Next I started to read up on nutrition and learning about what foods were good for me and gave me tons of energy.
The next step was to fall in love with exercise. Luckily for me, I’ve always loved walking so I would walk to work 40 minutes each way. But I knew that to lose weight faster, I needed to take up some form of cardiovascular exercise that would speed up the weight loss. So I took up running. At first I started off by running a minute and walking a minute until I gradually built up to running 30 mins non-stop.  I was so chuffed with myself because during cross country at school I was always last. It was a case of “what’s that coming over the hill is it a monster? No it’s Sabi!” I now run half marathons as well as do body combat, body pump, spinning, yoga, pilates, and belly dancing.
Nowadays I eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I can and excercise most days a week. There are NO forbidden foods in my diet because there is no way I am going to give up my vices – Stella and chocolate! However I tend to stick to the 80/20 rule. I eat well 80 per cent of the time and 20 per cent I will eat what I want.

Ok, so you’ve lost the weight and kept it off for years, why the blog?
I often get told “it’s ok for you you’re skinny!” At first this used to bug me. I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am today and continue to so and I didn’t like it when people used to think being slim came to me easy. Looking after ourselves is the biggest gift we can give ourselves and others, so I am dedicated to help as many people as possible reach a level where they are content with their body shape and size whatever that may be. I am very good at motivating and inspiring people so what better way to share my tips and innovations that led to my successful weight loss via this blog! Being fit and healthy is a lifelong commitment and as I continue to learn, I will carry on passing my tips on to you. I am an extremely busy person and live my life to the full and I want to show that you CAN lead a fit and healthy lifestyle and STILL have a life.
Got any questions? Ask away.