Hi! I’m Sam and I have been on a weight loss and well being journey since February this year.

I have so far lost 5 stone and am feeling amazing and very proud of myself.

I chose to take this journey after I had my youngest daughter Lizzie in October 2019. I had many health complications during my pregnancy, a lot of which were related to my obesity.

I developed gestational diabetes, SPD (pelvic girdle pain), raised liver enzymes which caused intense itching all over my body.

Lizzie was a larger baby due to the gestational diabetes and was in an unusual position when it came to giving birth. Labour was intense and long. It ended up in an emergency situation as she got stuck. I was rushed to theatre where the amazing staff at the JR Hospital calmly and professionally guided me through a forceps delivery. This
procedure left my hips out of alignment for months resulting in problems with my mobility. The months following were painful and difficult but I was determined to be a better version of myself, for my child.

As a single mum, I had to make sure I could function well for her, so I could give her the best start in life.

I started watching fitness and weight loss videos on YouTube while taking care of Lizzie. Researching what the best options were for me with my limited mobility. I vowed to begin my weight loss journey once I stopped breast feeding.

I began walking, slowly to start as the pain was awful. Starting with 3000 steps a day, then slowly increased the steps until I hit 10,000 steps a day, which is what I do now, easily and pain free. It took months for the pain to go completely.

I still have not finished this journey as I would like to get as healthy as possible! I really want to help as many people as I can along the way, so I created my own YouTube channel, that way I could reach out to people who need advice, motivation or a good laugh as I try to make my videos funny too.

With all the walking I do now it makes sense to do a sponsored walk, a challenge! I spoke to Tania from Guideposts Trust and we came up with the 100 mile challenge. I intend to walk 10 miles a day for 10 consecutive days. Which will be an achievement for me as this time last year I could barely walk.

I chose Guideposts trust as the charity I’d like to represent as the help they give is very close to my heart. I have suffered with mental health issues since I was a teenager, resulting in some very bad life choices which exacerbated my situation. I used to drink excessively due to the panic attacks I experienced daily. Of course the alcohol made it worse while sobering up, so I chose not to most of the time. Life became a drunken haze for a very long time in an attempt to forget my problems. I isolated myself from my family and friends. Had dysfunctional relationships with similar people, so we then became a bad influence on each other. I got myself into many sticky situations through being so drunk that I couldn’t control myself. My life was a total mess and I didn’t much care either.

Then I found I was pregnant with my youngest and my life changed overnight. Lizzie gave me the chance of a new start and I wholeheartedly took it!

I’m the healthiest and happiest I’ve been
for over 15 years and now I want to help others improve their lives, to be the best they can be too.

I would be so grateful for any and all support. Please donate and share on social media. Another lock down is looming and its charities like Guideposts Trust that are going to be helping people get through it.

Follow my journey on YouTube @ youtube.com/sfsemtex

Guideposts’ exists to provide services to meet individual needs so that each person has the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and maximize their potential.Their vision? A society where all people are valued and have equality of opportunity.The charity achieves it's mission by delivering a range of information, advice and guidance and community based services which are person centered and designed to promote independence, well-being, quality of life and delay the need for intensive interventions.