As is the case for many, Olivia found that the national lockdown freed up her time and gave her the opportunity to shed excess weight. She spoke exclusively to Express.co.uk about her journey to become her healthiest, happiest self.
She told Express.co.uk: “Before lockdown I didn’t really have time to exercise.”
She started off “really, really small”, with 15 minute workouts in her lunch break, simply because she needed “something to do”.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was just kind of aimlessly jumping around my living room.”
Nevertheless, Olivia quickly “caught the fitness bug” and decided to employ a personal trainer in May 2020 to give her some direction.
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She joined Melissa at Wild Training, and has been seeing her twice a week for one year now.
Because restrictions allowed for outdoor sessions, she was able to work out with Melissa outside, doing a range of exercises from “basketball” to “aerial silks”.
Olivia said that Melissa kept her “on her toes”, as she “never knew” what their sessions were going to entail.
“I wouldn’t ever want to do the same workout twice.”
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Having a trainer helped her to stay motivated, as when she felt unbothered or “hungover”, she didn’t want to let Melissa down.
“Having her held me accountable and forced me to go.”
On the days she didn’t train with her personal trainer, she tried to stay active and used her peloton two to five times per week.
Before she started focussing on fitness, Olivia “hated” her body; her weight would yo-yo depending on what “fad diet” she was doing.
At university, she would eat “whatever I wanted”, including late-night kebabs after nights out.
Then, after trying “terrible” diets that made her “starve” herself, finding a personal trainer and eating healthily was a huge turning point.
Olivia made healthy swaps to her diet such as replacing white carbs with brown carbs, but didn’t want to restrict herself, so she still allowed herself the occasional treat of chips or chocolate.
“I still want to have a happy life; I’m a big foodie.”
Since being more mindful with her eating and adding exercise into her life, Olivia is feeling happier and stronger than ever.
She stated proudly: “I’ve started seeing muscles I didn’t even know I had.”
The first time she tried on her wedding dress was a difficult moment for Olivia, and she admitted that the tailer had to “tuck my back fat in”.
She has gone from 12.5 stone and a size 14, to 10 stone and a size 10.
The bride-to-be is hoping to get tie the knot in May 2022, and feels “a lot more confident” in her dress.