Where I started:
It’s fair to say that before Studio Twenty 3, I was not someone who enjoyed exercise. I knew other
people who saw personal trainers and did not understand it when they said they found it ‘addictive’, or when they said that it gave them more energy. I tended to think of people who enjoyed the gym as boring! Although I had started enjoying yoga classes, I had no interest in lifting weights or working towards any fitness goals. I did short YouTube workouts at home, which allowed me to mentally ‘tick off’ doing exercise, but deep down I knew I was not really trying enough. Coupled with this apathy towards exercise was the fact that I had managed to lose weight in the past through short term crash dieting. I kidded myself that I could do this again any time I wanted and that being fit and healthy with muscle tone wasn’t as important as being slim. To be honest I still occasionally battle with the urge to go on a crash diet but through the nutritional advice I’ve had from Studio Twenty 3, I’m able to think about the bigger picture and realise what my body needs to look and feel better. What’s nice is that they’re always happy to listen to my dieting dilemmas and talk through any nutritional issues with me.

Why Studio Twenty 3:
The simple answer is that my partner (now my husband!) was already training there and he always
had a lot of positive things to say about it. And when he started shaping up, I thought I better get in
on the action too! I was initially fairly sceptical, I’d always sort of mistrusted people who love
exercise and felt I wouldn’t fit in. After a taster session, I found that I didn’t feel judged or bad about
myself and I got along well with my trainer. It was a relaxed environment and it’s hard to explain but
I started to feel really positive each time after leaving. The team were encouraging about my
progress and I just started to feel better and better about myself. It was at this point that I began to
understand what people meant about finding training ‘addictive’. I had a great time in the sessions
and increasingly found myself wanting to improve. Far from dreading a training session, I actually
looked forward to it. I had quite a stressful freelance career and was constantly thinking about work,
so I really enjoyed the hour away from my emails doing something positive for myself.

My big day:
I was never obsessed about getting married and prided myself on being quite relaxed about it all.
Nevertheless, the thought of the photos lasting forever and everyone’s eyes being on me did make
me feel I wanted to look my best. It was certainly a good motivator! I didn’t want to wear anything
traditional and had my eye on bridal separates. For our evening reception, I planned to change in
into a tastefully cropped white sequinned top with my long flowing skirt. The top being cropped
really put the pressure on to shape up! I worked with my trainer Ellie on lots of ab exercises and
arms too and by the big day I felt good about everything. I loved changing into my party outfit in the
evening and danced the night away feeling confident and happy.

My learning's and achievements:

• I’m so much wiser about diet and nutrition now – I used to be purely obsessed with calories

counting but now I have a healthier attitude to food

• I learnt that exercise really does give you more energy, it sets you up for the day!
• Nothing beats the feeling of making progress and seeing how far you’ve come
• I couldn’t lift anything before Studio Twenty 3 but now I’m so much stronger which feels

amazing!

• Going to the gym or working out at home doesn’t compare to a Studio Twenty 3 session, the

trainers focus on you the entire time so you really get maximum benefits

• I looked just the way I wanted to on my wedding day and love looking back at the photos!

My advice for other brides-to- be:
Go beyond wedding goals: A wedding is an amazing goal but you can also take it as an opportunity
to bring about real, lasting change to the way you look and feel. If you’ve always wanted to ‘get
healthy’ or really commit to improving your fitness, now’s the perfect chance. Use the build up to
the wedding as your focus on stay on track and by the time the big day comes you’ll have cracked it
and won’t want to stop.

Talk to Studio Twenty 3:
Talk to the team about what you want to achieve, what you struggle with,
what your insecurities are and I promise you – they’ll listen and be understanding. Not only that,
they’ll come up with a tailored plan of action to help you meet your goals. The team always go above
and beyond to help you stay on track, my trainer once created a personalised work out plan that I
could do while I was away on holiday.
I can honestly say that going to Studio Twenty 3 twice a week has really made a difference to my life.

If you need any advice or have any questions on how to get in great shape like Fran, feel free to get in touch!

​In recent years, going vegan has become a trend. Having spoken to a few people who have been vegans for over 5-10 years, I found there is a major difference between “conservative” and “new wave” vegans. Are you considering eating only plant based foods for a period? Read on to see what benefits you might experience when doing so, but make sure you do research on the risks too.