New year... NEW ME

Meet the women whose New Year’s resolutions changed their lives

- GILLIAN HARVEY

‘Now I’m fitter than ever’

Alison Edgar MBE, 54, is a speaker and author, and lives with her husband Neil, 51, in Chippenham.

I’ve always been body confident – despite being ‘big-boned’, as my mum used to put it! I live a busy life, but have never really exercised. Then, in summer 2019, I developed joint pain.

‘You’ve got arthritis,’ the doctor said. I was shocked – if I felt this bad in my early 50s, it would surely get worse as I aged.

‘Can I do anything?’ I asked, but the answer was simply to lose weight and get fitter. At first, I procrastinated, but as New Year loomed, I had a ‘now or never’ moment.

‘2020 will be my year for fitness!’ I declared. Friends recommended the NHS Couch to 5K app, and I shared my intentions on Facebook to keep myself accountable. However, my first jog was a disaster, and after just one minute I was sitting on the pavement in tears.

Still, I’m no quitter, so I decided that I’d repeat Week One for as long as it took. I worked through the programme at my own pace, and, to my own amazement, could jog 5km after nine weeks.

Not wishing to lose momentum, I signed up for a 10K race at Castle Coombe, Wiltshire, that June. I must have been the last person round, but I did it, and I felt fitter than ever.

‘I’ll climb Snowdon next,’ I decided, wanting to push myself. My sister-in-law Elizabeth agreed to climb with me and we made it to the summit in September 2020. It was exhilarating, and now, I’ve well and truly got the fitness bug. I attend Bootcamp UK in Chippenham three times a week, I’ve lost 3st, and no longer suffer joint pain.