“Up until the age of 40, I never did any form of sustained exercise. I would join an exercise class but tail off after a month. I have always been overweight since I was at school and found exercise difficult. If I saw people running, I would always think they were crazy – ‘why would you do that to yourself?!’

When I turned 40, I realised that I was the only one who could change how I felt about diet and exercise and having met Gaynor and seen Fitfish represented at Spring Harvest, I decided to book onto a retreat in March 2014.

At Goodlake Barns, I was so impressed with how nobody was made to feel guilty about their lifestyle choices and how diet and exercise were viewed through a biblical lens. Everyone was so encouraging and helpful and normal! When I saw there was a Beginners Running session, with some trepidation I went along. Dave made the class really fun and with a lot of laughs and to my amazement I realised that I was actually enjoying myself! He encouraged us to find a good running club at home who looked after beginners. I was able to do this and signed up for a 10 week beginner course based on couch to 5k.

That beginner’s course was not easy and the first week when we had to run for 10 lots of 1 minute, I thought I was probably going to die! However, I persevered, prayed a lot (!) and began to gain confidence in myself.

Well, to cut a long story short, I have lost weight and managed to keep it off without doing any crazy diets and the picture below is of me (on the right) completing my first half-marathon (doing my Fitfish advertising!).

I would wholeheartedly recommend that you try a Fitfish weekend. It has definitely made a huge difference in my life!”