I had an awful experience yesterday in the changing room of my local clothes shop. For years, I’ve managed to get away with the “smash-and-grab” style of clothes shopping – buy what I think and then take back whatever doesn’t look good/ doesn’t fit/ is completely the wrong size, even when the label tells me it’s the size I’ve been wearing for years. It’s served me well over the past 10 or so years, but it was all thrown on its head when I actually had to try something on.

I was on the lookout for a dress for my cousin’s wedding in September and, in a moment of weakness, I was torn between 2 dresses so decided to try them both on. I won’t be doing that again in a hurry.

The changing rooms had those bright spotlights, which show up all sorts of lumps, bumps and wobbles that you’ve been trying to keep under wraps; it was all cramped so there wasn’t enough room to get a full-view; and the mirror was so low and I ended up looking like I had a double chin – not a great confidence boost!

Over the past few months, I’ve changed my style of training, I’ve increased my overall activity levels, and I’ve noticed a change in how my body looks and feels. I’ve never had the greatest body confidence, and I’m always the first one to put myself down (get in there, before anyone else does), so this just feels like a massive step backwards.

We all have areas of our bodies that we’re not happy with – you can probably count on your one had the amount of people (male and female) that are 100% happy with the way their body looks or moves. Countless times I have questions and requests from people wanting to get rid of their bingo wings, help them get a six pack or a backside like Beyoncé.

We’re surrounded on social media of people who look amazing. They seem to have everything body-wise that I want, but can never seem to quite get. In my mind, I know most of them have been photo-shopped to within an inch of their life, but I just can’t shake off the feeling that they look better than I do. I also know that it takes a huge amount of hard work to get your nutrition bang on-point and your training to the right level, especially if you work full-time and have other commitments as well.

Like I say, I know my body is responding to the new training I’ve been doing and I know it will continue to do so I the future, I just have to continue to work as hard as I can whilst keeping things in perspective. I like to let my hair down, and I’ll continue to do that too.

Let me know if you have any issues with body confidence, I’m always keen to hear another person’s perspective.