FAQs

Who are you?

I'm Emma, and I live in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Around two years ago I decided I didn't want to die of a heart attack at 50, so I started watching what I ate and doing some gentle exercise.

I ended up losing 20% of my body weight, and now spend each day trying to keep it off and being the healthiest I can be. It can be a pain sometimes (quite literally), but most of the time it is hella fun! :)

ULTRA SERIOUS DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor, nurse, or any other medical professional, nor do I claim to be. Any medical / dietary advice I put on here comes from my own personal experience and may not be suitable for everyone. You should seek medical advice before blindly following any of it.

What's your secret?

Eat less, move more. That's it, I'm afraid.

What's your fitness routine?

I like to dabble in a lot of stuff. I do pilates, yoga (very badly), swimming, hillwalking, running and weight circuit training. My favourite activity is definitely running, though.

What's your favourite food?

My Mum's baking.

I'm just starting out losing weight - where do I begin?

Okay, first of all, don't take on too much at once. If you try to focus on restricting your calorie intake, training to run 5k, and strength training six times a week right away, something's gonna give. Especially if you haven't done anything like this before.

So take on each part one bit at a time. Habits don't stick overnight, so give each new element of your new routine a month before adding something else. For example: start with just running three times a week. After a month, if you are still doing it, start thinking about what you are eating and consider tracking your calorie intake. If you are still going strong after another month, think about adding in weight training, and so on and so forth. That way, you won't be so overwhelmed.

What tools do you recommend?

These resources are absolutely invaluable, and they are all free:

MyFitnessPal - For tracking calorie intake
Couch to 5k - A great beginners running program
DoYogaWithMe - Free online yoga classes
Pop Pilates - Free online pilates classes

Do you accept guest posts?

I take pride of the fact that everything on this blog is written by me (albeit quite badly), so I won't take any guest posts. However, if there is something cool that you think I should write about, then please get in touch at shesmadefromconcentrate AT gmail DOT com.