In a new weekly feature, Her.ie's Liz is going to share her weight loss journey. She’ll be filling you in on fighting temptation, her willpower struggles with the cocktail menu and taking painfully slow steps towards regular exercise. All in the name of a dress. _____________________________________ Hanging on the wall at the end of my bed is the constant reminder I plan on shedding nearly two stone this year. I also plan on marking the trials and tribulations of ‘trying to be good’ – the favourite saying we all tout, and quickly replace when a cake is put in front of us. Week 64:Never skip the gym... If I learned one thing this week, it is definitely to never skip a session when you have a personal trainer working with you. The reasons are three-fold:

• One – You’ll be in PIECES the first time you start back on your programme
• Two – The level of guilt is unimaginable. I felt like I was letting down more than just myself. It’s not the most pleasant of feelings
• Three – When you do return, you can expect a certain level of punishment. All with a smile of course

They could sense my weakness... I’ll hold my hands up and admit that I missed two planned sessions in the gym. One due to sickness (I passed out en-route – not exactly the picture of health they’re going for) and the second from pure exhaustion. I had spent the previous weekend in Edinburgh for some family fun time with my sister and family, but it resulted in exhaustion. Pure, flop in my bed, can’t even muster the strength to turn on Netflix lethargy. I figured rather than struggle through a workout that might send me over the edge, I needed to sleep-in on Tuesday morning. But with great goals come great responsibility. And the need to inject some effort… So with Wednesday dawning, and a desperate need to re-introduce myself to a weights section, I sheepishly returned to the gym. Think the Prodigal Son but with a neon sports bra and a crease from my pillow still marked across my cheek. I had made up my mind to head on Wednesday evening, but as the lunch hour bled into the evening struggle to stay preppy, I had a slow realisation. I am 100% NOT a night-time gym goer. I’m not a morning person either, but at least I can muster some feigned enthusiasm and prepare myself to the fact that I’ve been resting for seven hours. It’s not putting myself through pure torture if I attempt to stretch my limbs for an hour before heading into work. After a long day in the office though… well that was another matter. I know that cardio is a double-edged sword. Yes, it burns fat, but it also leaves you gasping for breath (at least with HIIT training it does). I was shattered but there was no point in going in with a half-assed attitude if I wanted to beat my whole ass into shape. What should have taken my one hour took me an hour and a half and I knew that for future reference, I was going to be heading along in the morning. So, when Thursday rocked around, I was tired (and a little sore), when I had my first session back with my trainer Philip. Philip, who had been away on holidays, decided he had plenty of energy post his holiday getaway. Energy which he would use to put my through my punishment that was half self-induced from skipping out on a few extra cardio sessions, and half torture to make me realise a personal trainer is not there to be my friend. Motivate me to sweat like a pig. Yes. Tell me it’s ok, to take a break and come back tomorrow… well I didn’t even bother asking. I knew what response I’d get, and I had no intention of enraging the same man who was choosing my circuits… My one-on-one included boxing which I personally loved even if I was nervous for Philip’s sake. My aim is horrendous, and I was more likely to knock his face than the glove. (I should point out that I gave fair warning) I was pretty excited to try out the rest of the exercises in store - mainly 'cause I live my life on Instagram and recognised most of the circuit from Millie Mackintosh's daily routine. We then moved onto a step block, followed by squats, kettlebells, and weight ropes (which I’m sure have a more impressive name, but all I know is that they’re a LOT harder than they look…) I did not manage to get anything close to this kind of rhythm, but I didn't give up either. I was also given a home circuits workout to complete at home. There was no escape, but I was happy to take on the challenge. It meant that on days where I couldn’t get to the gym (or was tempted by a jar of Nutella), that I still had something to work on in my downtime. In fairness my washing load might have doubled in the last few weeks, (two outfits a day are now the norm), but I was seriously noticing a slimdown. So when I stepped onto the scales this week, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Yes, I’d been neglecting elements of my diet, but I was also training really hard when I did make it into the weights room. I needn’t have worried. Stepping onto the scales I was down 2lbs. Yes, I did a Chandler dance and it felt amazing. I’m now 6lbs down in just over one month. Not bad for someone who was never a ‘gym person’.