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NAME:
STEPHEN BUMFREY
DOB:
29/10/59
JOB
:
BROADCASTER
FACT
:
I will never be skinny. No matter how strict the diet, my sternum will
maintain its current distance from my vertebrae.
FACT
:
12 months before
I was introduced to Lee Ashford, the first thing you might have noticed about
me was my blubber.
FACT
:
I now enjoy above
average fitness for a man of my age.
FACT
: This
isn’t a quick fix – it’s a change of lifestyle.
NOVEMBER 2007 UPDATE:
Well, to be honest, weight-wise I have reached a plateau. However, that’s
down to me disregarding good nutritional advice, and a succession of
boisterous moments in the personal diary. But the running and jogging has
REALLY come on.
November 2005 and a mile was pushing me to my
limits. Today I think nothing of my regular five-mile route around the
Norwich
suburbs – I go for it two or three times a week. I
can really belt round it if I want to. It’s a great way to level out the
mind.
Ten miles are now manageable. Beyond that I do
start to feel the challenge, but I can do it. I took part in the 10k Great
East Anglian Run, which rather got the better of me – I just wasn’t quite
up to scratch on the day. But more recently I completed a 10k course with the
Coltishall Jaguars and knocked seven minutes off my previous time.
I’m down for the 2007 Norwich Half Marathon –
I’m okay with that. What is worrying is being a potential contender for the
2008 London Marathon. Now, that is scary! I’ll have my work cut out for me
there.
As for the boxersize and light sparring, I’m
still doing one session most weeks. Again, this is a good way to burn off any
excess calories, and the punch bags are an ideal way of getting your own back
on a difficult day at the office. I do have to work on my concentration when
Lee holds up the focus pads – the tricky stuff like remembering my left from
my right!
AUTUMN
2006: A year
later and my blood pressure is now normal, my body fat is down, energy levels
up, and I’ve gone from an unfit maximum of 11 push-ups to 58 at the last
count. And get this - I actually look forward to a work out! My local gym is
just down the road from me. I go there four or five times a week, and every
Tuesday I spend an hour at L. A. Personal Training. That’s a total of just
five or six hours out of 168.
I don’t think I’m quite ready for a spandex Spiderman outfit. But these
days, when the alarm clock rings at
3am
, I can leap out of bed and confront myself in the shaving
mirror without wincing. Lee has introduced me to boxercise, even a little
light sparring, which has given me a feeling of confidence I’ve never had
before.
AUTUMN 2005: I
was in a bit of a mess. But before we go any further, I should mention that I
still have some way to go until I’m where I want to be. But it is an
achievable goal. And that’s how Lee operates – No false promises, no short
cuts. But no dreadful sacrifices either! It has been a gradual and realistic
regime.
I front
BBC
Radio
Norfolk’s breakfast programme, co-present The Cox & Bumfrey Show on
British Forces station BFBS Radio One, and occasionally report for ‘Inside
Out’ on
BBC
1
(East). Although my work demands a high degree of mental agility, it seldom
requires me to work up a sweat. I was fat. So why had I allowed myself to grow
outward and old before my time?
WHY
BOTHER?: Suddenly
I was in my forties – a little too late to start keeping fit. Did I really
want to show myself up at my local gym? Could I be bothered? In any case,
I’d always been a bit podgy – apart from my late teens, and a few months
in 1990. Then in May 2003, I came home from work one evening to discover that
my partner of nine years had died from an epileptic seizure. What was the
point of anything anymore? I had ticked all the boxes on the ‘Let Yourself
Go’ sheet.
But how can you turn down the call of
BBC
Children In Need when they ask you to participate in an
obstacle race? Three weeks ahead of the event the organisers insisted I at
least tried to get into shape. They persuaded me to visit L.A. Personal
Training for an assessment with Lee. I will always remember his impeccable
diplomacy as he delivered the bad news.
The
obstacle race came and went with some surprising results, not least of which
being that I could barely handle ten minutes of energetic fun. Post race, I
found Lee among the spectators and, once I had returned to my usual colour,
asked if I could sign up for an hour session once a week for a couple of
months. Why? Because I’d had enough of making excuses for myself!
FOOD
FOR THOUGHT: Lee
knows all about nutrition. Of course, we all have a reasonable idea of
what’s good and what’s bad. But there are hidden calorie hotspots. For
example, many products boasting a low fat content actually contain heaps of
added sugar.
Lee
talked me through what I ought to be eating, and gave me a list of foods types
- ranging from green for healthy, through amber for okay in moderation, to red
for danger. The good news is that the choice of nosh in the green category
makes for a tasty menu. And now if I know something is loaded with calories it
rather puts me off wanting to buy it – even chocolate!
LONG-TERM
PLAN
: L.
A. Personal Training isn’t a boot camp. You won’t be limping home with
pulled muscles and torn ligaments. It’s all about you, your aims, your
ability, your potential. Lee is a qualified professional. He’ll keep tabs on
your body fat, blood pressure, heart rate and, of course, your weight. All you
have to do is put in some time and effort.
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