I’d never been particularly sporty or fit, even at school I didn’t play much sport or have much interest in fitness. Growing up in East Fife in the 1980’s, there wasn’t much sporting or fitness inspiration around unless you count Jocky Wilson the darts player as Fife’s only notable sportsman of the day.

I continued with little or no interest in fitness until in my late 20’s. For a couple of years I was a slave to the carpet, telly screens and mind-numbingly dull atmosphere in a local gym. I’d arrive, mark my attendance card and wandered around trying the odd machine while watching the clock until I hit 40 mins. Sometimes I’d make it to 45 mins, depending what was on the TV!

Anyway, I gave that up and saved myself a lot of time and money for a decade or so until I hit my early forties and almost 110kg. My knees hurt, my ankles hurt, my clothes didn’t fit but that was fine as I was still young enough and thought I was invincible. However, while I have always kept well three friends fell ill. One had cancer, another had a heart attack and another had a stroke. So if it happened to them in their forties, it could happen to me.

That jolted a reaction from me so I started to diet. I lost four stone really quickly and while I was smaller I didn’t feel much better as I had lost all my strength and it was a struggle to keep the weight off. Prompted by a mental health workshop I attended, after watching a video called “I had a black dog”, I realised that regular physical activity was worth a try and an opportunity to rebuild my strength, help me control my weight and give me space away from my stressful job.

At that point I stumbled across Burn It. I can’t even remember how I found the website. I liked what I saw people of all different shapes, sizes, ages and capabilities enjoying fitness and getting results.

I had my first class at Beecraigs on a cold and damp November morning. I couldn’t jog, didn’t know how to do any of the ‘moves’ and struggled with burpees, press-ups and especially hills. The day after Marcella put me through my paces I ached so badly… but that didn’t stop me going to my next class on Monday night. From then I was hooked.

Since then I have made so much progress. I can’t describe how important the supportive and helpful team have been to that progress – and ‘the team’ includes all the members as well as the instructors – always ready to chat, offer support and give encouragement. I’ve been out in all weathers (which I really enjoy) and run up and down hills in Livingston, Bathgate and Linlithgow I didn’t even know existed.

Thanks to Burn It I am fitter now than I’ve ever been, feel great and have my weight under control too. So lucky to have such an innovative and supportive group on my doorstep with a team of people totally committed to helping me get the most from my efforts.