If you remember a few months back I wrote about an online gym  that I had signed up to and promised to do a follow-up. If I’m honest my diet was all over the place between June and August due to personal issues and the typical summer pub lunches and spending time with family in Scotland. Forward a month later and I decided I needed to get serious. Now the hardest part of sticking to a lifestyle change is the support. If you’re having a bad day it’s easy to grab a sugary chocolate bar or alcohol. However if you aren’t held accountable this could easily turn into a week or weeks of making unhealthy choices.

So Gym Cube offer members the chance to join a private Facebook group. The group is run by owner Kevin and his team. Kevin is literally available 24/7 to answer questions, motivate us and does regular live Q&A’s during the day. He is also very approachable (as is the lovely Stacey), so you never feel stupid for asking them anything. As well as this side of the group, there are two live workouts a day. One at 06.30 for the early birds and another at around 19.30/19.45. Usually the night before the members motivate each other to set alarms and join in the morning class. It’s like texting a friend and arranging to meet at the gym. You’re more likely to stick to it this way.  Another great thing about the group is the honesty. The GC Lifestyle is flexible, it’s all about being organised, being accountable and making the right choices. Ben Coomber supplies the expert nutrition knowledge and recipes, however you aren’t forced to stick to the recipes, but they a fantastic guide if you are new to eating healthy. The recipes range from enchiladas, sweet potato hash, healthy chilli and healthy beetroot brownies.

Now we all have birthdays, weddings or an event where our eating might go off track for a day and I get fed up of seeing this being referred to as #cheatmeal or #cheatday on social media. Your diet shouldn’t be that restrictive that you have to feel the need to justify having a treat.

On the members group everyone is very honest, we no there’s no shame in food and that we just need to make better choices the next day. However Kevin is a tough PT and I’m sure if we were making bad choices everyday he would crack the whip.

The last month has been fantastic for me. After a pretty rubbish few months I have found the group motivating and love reading about everyone’s progress. And I had a great Skype meeting with Kevin where we discussed my pelvic pregnancy issue that they affected my fitness levels and confidence, we then discussed nutrition and how exercise should be scheduled in the same way you would a GP appointment so that you stick to it.

I actually look forward to exercising now and will do one workout a day along with walking to Amber’s nursery and back twice a day. If I can’t manage a workout for whatever reason I still make sure to get my walks in and adapt my macros.  In the last month I have gone down a dress size, simply from making these small changes. Kevin and I discussed mindset and now if I’m feeling stressed or anxious about anything I’ll distract myself by reading, going for a walk or make a healthy snack. Where before I would let emotional eating take over. Aesthetics aside this has been the biggest success personally for me. And I don’t think I would have achieved it without having an amazing supportive group and team behind the scenes. I am definitely one of those people who reads everything in the group but don’t always ask many questions, but whenever I’ve had a query it’s been answered right away. The service is much more personal than just having a trainer at the gym who gives you a generic eating plan and who has no personal relationship with you once your session is over.

I personally haven’t found any negatives. However as with any online programme there can sometimes be technical hitches, however on the two occasions that I have heard about the team have been very quick to get it resolved. Also there are so many workout videos and the live workouts, which you can still access anytime if you can’t do it live, so there is always a back up.

Going forward I am looking to starting the Little Black Dress workouts to lose some more lbs and tone up in time for Christmas. This is a Level 2 workout which requires no equipment. So I’ll let you know my thoughts once I’ve started. Now that the colder mornings are kicking in motivating yourself to go the gym can be hard, so being able to keep fit in the comfort of your living room is definitely a plus!

*My membership to Gym Cube is complimentary but opinions are my own.