Mind over body.

If someone had told me 3 years ago I'd be working out 5/6 times a week and wearing size 6 clothes I probably would have laughed in their face, laughed, carried on eating a Greggs pasty whilst telling myself that looks didn't matter anyway.

I can honestly say this isn't all about looks for me. Of course a proportion of leading a healthy life is for aesthetic reasons, but mine was more about regaining the control I had lost as a teenager when I started to let food rule my life.

We all have goals and ambitions that drive us to work out or make changes. Whether that be in a competitive sense or not, ultimately we all share the same mentality of wanting to be the best we can be.

In an past argument with my parent's I found myself at the brunt of comments like 'you're so obsessed with how you look now," and "you've got so arrogant." Most who know me well enough will know this definitely isn't the case. In fact I would probably go as far as saying I am a lot less confident than I when I was bigger.

Being a big girl was me. It was what I was used to. I was what you would call the 'fat and funny one.'

People noticed me because I cracked jokes and was bubbly, and quite frankly didn't care. I saw comfort in knowing that I wasn't on a competitive level with girls my age and didn't feel the need to dress provocatively or 'sexy' because I didn't have the figure to do so.

Although my body has dramatically changed for the better in terms of size, I now find myself on a level with girls on nights out etc and suddenly I'm judged by men who wouldn't have looked at me twice before.

I am most confident in the gym because I love the feeling of knowing I'm working hard and doing something I am passionate about. As soon as I leave however, suddenly I realise I am a lot more exposed than I used to be when I was a bigger girl fading into the background.

I'd rather people respect me for my mind over my body and I don't think that will ever change. I read books, write poetry and I am a bit of a geek at heart.

I'll always be the fat girl inside that doesn't need to hide behind looks in order to get noticed, but I will continue to work hard in training because the feeling of hitting targets is too good to miss.  I just want people to realise that although I may look like I am completely confident, inside I am constantly craving improvements and I know that perfection is very far away.