Kirsty Zammit, @kirstyzammit

1. How and when did you start your health journey?

I started my health journey about 5 years ago but my goals were completely different to what they are now. It first started when I desperately wanted to start gaining weight but I was doing this in the wrong way. I was trying to eat everything in sight thinking that I would feel better about myself if I was 'heavier'. I was 7 Stone 11 pounds and felt very unhealthy. It was July 2016 when I realised that it would not matter how much I ate, my metabolism would burn everything off too quickly and I was not able to maintain a healthy weight. From going to the gym and researching online about healthy weight gain, I started to see my body shape changing in ways which I liked. What I was searching for the whole time was not to gain body weight but to gain body muscle. This meant I was able to begin changing my body shape in the places I trained. That's when my real health journey began.

2.  Why have you decided to change your previous way of living and eating?

The main reason for wanting to change was because my own confidence was sacrificed because I always felt like the 'skinny girl'. The one with no shape and the one that looked unhealthy. I would have comments made to me about my appearance asking me 'if I eat'... 'if i have eating an disorder' and it made me feel so low. I wanted to change the shape of my body for my own confidence. 

3.  What role does sport play in your life?

Sport has always played a huge part in my life throughout school, college and also University. After university I played in the Birmingham Netball league for two seasons. Since then the only sport as such I take part in is the gym. The gym allows me to de-stress, feel good, set and meets goals regularly and constantly become stronger both mentally and psychically.

4. What sport activities do you prefer and how often do you exercise?

I now prefer to weight train as I'm in control of when I can go the gym and how long for. I currently weight train 5-6 times a week, alternating the muscle groups I train within every session to continuously build my strength within the body areas I wish.

5. Does you have a person who inspires you?

I used to follow many people on social media who inspired me to look a certain way but over the past year I have began to look more at the 'old me' for inspiration. I feel that comparing yourself to others is never going to end well because everyone's body is different and we can never be identical to others. I now look at old pictures of myself and always remember where I started. Saying this, I would also suggest that the sooner you begin taking pictures/measurements of yourself, the sooner you can begin to measure and see changes in yourself. Weight scales are never a good way to measure your progress. 

6. What do you usually eat for breakfast?

My usual breakfast consists of a protein shake with 1 scoop of protein, 200ml of skimmed milk with some form of carbohydrate (mainly cereal) and some fruit. Before 12 noon everyday I always try to drink at least 1 Litre of water.

7. What would you advice others to eliminate from their diet to get healthier and fitter?

I would suggest to limit the amount of saturated fats you eat everyday and to get yourself up and about daily. Whether that is starting to go to the gym or just increase the amounts of steps you do on a daily basis. All fats, carbs and proteins are needed within our bodies daily and to begin diets which eliminate carbs and fats are never long term ways to become healthier or reach your goals. Everything you eat must be in moderation along with exercise but a good thing to limit is saturated fats. A great thing to eliminate is your own conscious telling you that you're not able to reach your goals.

8.  What Bodyfit supplements do you take? 

Protein twice a day, Omega 369 and Multivitamins both once a day.

9. How would you spend your perfect healthy day?

My perfect healthy day would consist of reaching my macro nutrient and calorie goals that I have set for myself. I use a food tracking app to make sure I'm eating the correct amounts and portions of the right foods that I want within my food daily intake. It would consist of taking my supplements, drinking minimum of 3 litres of water within the day and going to the gym for 90 minutes to weight train.