IN the second part of an account of her fundraising journey to help beat myeloma – a blood cancer which can hit anyone at anytime – Jennifer Waller outlines her exercise and diet regime.

“Losing Fat for Myeloma. Current stats 28 per cent body fat; 75kg. Goal 18 per cent body fat, 66kg.

“When I first had this idea of training for a bikini show as my way of raising funds for myeloma I was so excited – six months is so much time, I was going to sail through the preparation. After all I am a regular at the gym, I don’t eat fast food that often, and not too much beer..

“It took just five days to realise this wasn’t going to be the case. Exercise classes every other day is not even a drop in the ocean – this is a whole new ball game.

"It’s not just lifting weights but really heavy ones. Running is a thing of the past, now it’s high intensity interval training, or HIIT. It sounds harsh and punchy – and it is.

“This is only 20 per cent of the challenge, the rest of it is all about diet. No more cakes, sneaking in the odd chocolate biscuit and forgetting it ever happened. Now it’s all about macros – protein is king, carbohydrates okay-ish depending on gym days, and sugar is just the devil.

“Day six of the challenge and I’d scoured the internet searching for the ideal diet which allows fat loss without any muscle disappearing. I’ve set myself a limit of 1,200 calories a day, plus a daily dose of cardio and weights. And with my gym in Darlington with their weird and wonderful machines and superb coaches, I can feel a growing sense of optimism.

“Next time with a bit of luck and hard work the first of the progress pictures will be posted.

"With your help we can defeat this incurable disease. Thank you for your support.”

l Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/jennifer-waller2020. All funds raised go towards www.myeloma.org.uk.

You can find the first blog post in our initial story here