The story behind Foxtailsfitness.

Hello and welcome

Here's a bit more about me and how Foxtailsfitness came to be

(It's an in-depth read)

Before I created Foxtailsfitness, I didn't know I wanted too,

I never seen myself as a personal trainer, back then I don't think I knew what one was either!

(Here's a recent photo of me)

(Old photo me)

I knew about athletes of course and didn't realise there was someone who also trained them too,

i.e. personal trainers

As soon as 2nd year was over and you didn't have to take P.E I dropped it,

I was absolutely not interested in sports,

I enjoyed doing it and played netball in primary too, but I didn't want to learn about athletes or anything to do with that cup of tea!

When I was at school I absolutely loved biology mainly the part where we learned about the anatomy of animals and plants and nature

However when I came to learning about the human body I really dreaded it, and absolutely hated doing it, because I always thought why on earth would I need to know about it

(I was only 12)

On a quick note, my high school nickname became foxy!

Which stayed with me where ever I went, because I genuinely liked it and it was it had fox in it, and I used to draw lots animals in art, sometimes times foxes or wolves and dragon's, of course and we all had nicknames when we were around that age.

I was intrigued about animals and I actually wanted to be an archaeologist and then it changed to a zoologist,

Back then if I wanted to do something I was so driven I made a plan at around 8 years old (oh I just realised I made a vision board that early!) And I still have it!

made on the back of a calendar because that was the biggest bit of paper I could find at home!

(My vision board)

I wanted to travel the world learning about wildlife, discovering new species around the world especially working with big cats, particularly black and white tigers

I did a small project on them, and thought is was the best project ever!

*please note I'm very sentimental and keep lots of things

(So I still have this primary school project too)

I really wanted to go to Madagascar in Africa and the Amazon rainforest I was obsessed with immersing myself in nature its all I wanted and dreamed of.

So in my head I decided I need to go to school, stay at high school till 6th year get my Highers and go to university to become a Zoologist,

I read everything I could about the course and what I needed to do to get in I even printed like 100 pages of what being a Zoologist was and read all of it, even though I had no idea what some of the stuff meant.

Now unfortunately there was a change to my well layed out plan,

I just didn’t seem to be smart enough to get these Highers

I did well in the test in class, and repeatedly failed the main exam (I needed around 3 As to get in)

I kept getting Cs

I failed in 5th year

I failed in 6th year, while other around me were passing no problems, but I carried on anyway and thought what next,

I need to do this!

So I weighed in my options and discovered Oatridge college and if I got my NC in animal care and continued to level 2 and level 3 which would have taken a few years I would be able to get to uni!

That would of been 6 years just trying to get the correct qualification to get in before I even went there for an additional 4 years

Now until recently I just found out that I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was younger,

However my parents didn't want me medicated (everyone had their own view on this topic)

and they just let be a child, and do what I wanted to do, and develop my own personality without the use of meds.

I also couldn't speak words correctly,

So I spent a while at speech therapy learning how to talk,

And I was absolutely crazy at school ...

At primary I was so bad I used to get sent home at 12noon as I wasn't allowed to stay the whole day because I was so disruptive..

I couldn't pay attention properly and refused to learn anything if I didn't want too, or thought I wouldn't use in my adult life

So certain subjects were really tough if I didn't like them, and others I was amazing at and excelled in, got certificates and won things too.

Went I went to high school, I always got extra time on Exams, I also got a scribe to help me in Italian because I also couldn't spell let alone write in Italian!

And there was also a special class that I went to instead of another subject, where I basically did my homework got a type writer thing, and learned basic tasks (I can’t remember what this class was but it was mainly a class for special needs, or students that needed more help academically.

(this was because I got so many positive referrals for also being really good, and excelling in stuff I like doing)

So I was also a bit hinged at college you might say ...

And immaturity got the best of me and even tho I passed my NC in animal care,

Below is foxy's notes ♡♡♡♡

The college said I was not mature enough to do my level 2 and had to go to Edinburgh college and get some Highers for the 3rd time ...

And, well I had media studies, English, maths, biology and chemistry and maybe art .. and my brain literally couldn't learn because I didn't like what I was learning and I had already done these subjects twice before! and I only wanted to learn stuff that I enjoyed learning about not because I had too, so about 3 months in I decided I'd had enough and quite.

I just left and never showed up to class again,

However I loved my English college teacher she was great!

Whilst at Oatridge college I had to do a placement at something to do with wildlife it could have been anywhere, the Zoo, Deepsea world,

I found a place called Hessilhead.

A wildlife rescue centre outside Glasgow,

And they had little huts you could rent for a week for only £15 and work 5 days volunteering and get 2 days off, so I thought it sounded amazing and I did my placement there,

And this is when my love of foxes began, I helped look after soo many animals from seals, deer, owls, birds of prey, hedgehogs and of course foxes

I have may animal story's I'd love to share but here is the main one

I met a fox called Fergus who had been found as a cub and rescued, however as he was growing up and getting looked after, he became imprinted on humans, unfortunately when the people who did their best to look after him and reintroduce him to the wild, with the best intentions at heart they didn't realise what they had done,

And when Fergus was released ( I think someone was having a BBQ and he just walked up and asked for food)

I don’t think he learned to hunt correctly, so the people who he approached realised something wasn't right so they took him to Hessilhead, where he became a permanent member,

One of my jobs was to clean his cage and feed him, and of course play with him,

And we developed a bond,

I loved him sooo much!

He was so affectionate and I just wanted to spend my time with him, so in my free time I did, because he liked to get attention and loved to play, because he was now confined to that one space, it was a big space, and we would change it round for him, and put tree branches in and new wood for him, and he had a very shy girlfriend, who never came out, but I would get out of bed late, at night just go hang about with them, at night, she would come see me too

(I maybe wasn't supposed to go in at night but its where I felt at peace and where I needed to be, I had a lot going on since I was trying to be a zoologist and every turn I had taken kept sending me further away from my dreams)

and just being there in nature, alone at night it was just where I wanted to be away from the chaos of everyday life.

Look how cute he is!

A wee paw from my furry friend 🧡

(This is the first time I went, yes I look very different)

I had found my place, so I decided I'd go there every year and help,

I loved it,

I did also get a job offer to work there, and I did really think about it but it was to far away from home, and I'd have to leave everything, friends, family and go get a house on my own,

Sadly it was never going to work,

So after I dropped out of college I was still thinking right how am I going to get a job working with animals abroad? so I started researching just about wildlife rescue centres

I have a huge love for cats and I adored them, and I really wanted to go work in a sanctuary abroad that worked closely with them, but in my mind I still had to get a qualification to get a job further down the line, I couldn't afford to just volunteer all my life,

I met a woman, at Hessilhead, who was also there volunteering, and I told her my dream, she wrote me a note and gave me the name of a company called Frontier

And this was the turning point because I could sign up with them travel abroad, they had loads of different places and I could get and advanced diploma in wildlife Conservation and a COPE - Certificate of Personal Effectiveness

And I could use that to become a Zoologist!

I know your wondering so how did you go from this, no interest in sport or fitness to become a personal trainer?

(The above will be continued after the background story of my weight struggles so you understand how the transition happened)

Just to break the story down a bit I did also struggle with being anorexic at one point which then changed to bulimia and a whole can of something else, anyway

I struggled badly with my weight, got bullied for my very large legs at around 11,

Yes only 11 years old,

I stopped eating and went on the cuppa soup diet for weeks over the summer once and lost alot of weight, but I thought I still looked and felt overweight, even tho you could easily see my collar bones, but my legs were still larger in comparison to the rest of me.

Sometimes it was so bad, my friend tried to force feed me at lunch, because I refused to eat,

I started exercising around 13/14 years old, not because I wanted to, but because I felt I had too, as I was sick of the way my legs were, sick of getting called thunder thighs, and that was from primary too, not just high school and it followed me through to college and through of course now to ex boyfriends who also didn't particularly like the look of my legs, (heart breaking) - I know

It cause me emotional stress, and caused me even more pain, about the way I felt and looked

I tired absolutely everything you can imagine to shift weight through years of under eating 1,200 cals and fainting in places because I was so determined to have normal legs and I just never understood what the hell was wrong, (now I have been formally been diagnosed with stage one lipoedema) which now explains my leg situation.

I went to gym 6 times a week running, cycling, walking, and swimming, because well I didn't know how to lift weights and didn't want to get bulky, and just never ate much,

I went from not eating anything to binge eating,

It was cycle after cycle, my mind was you must lose weight to be happy

I then started using appetite suppressants to help keep me at 1,200 because i

I'd been eating that low for soo many years that if I ate over that I'd gain weight, I know crazy,

I spent my life in the gym, as I started hitting my early 20s I was even more determined, when I was working and everyone else were having drinks after work I wanted to go to the gym, and if I didn't I'd feel depressed, I'd go to work in my gym stuff so it was easier to go,

And then sometimes I'd get roped in to go for a drinks, which was great fun, and I don't regret it,

I would always wonder did I push hard enough all time then I was attending bootcamp classes,

I actually did classes back-to-back, I'd sometimes do 3 classes back-to-back, then stretch then go swim 100 laps in the pool and work 10-12 hours day, and try to hit 10k steps

And oh did I mention I would also cycle to work!

It was causing me pure chaos in my head,

I then thought maybe I should go to a fitness retreat?

But there was none at time in Scotland!

I know there's loads now though, in the last few years it became very popular

The closest one was in Dorset

Down in England,

I really wanted to go so bad, and it was quite expensive and I cried because I wanted to go so bad, and that it said I would get fitter and lose weight and I thought this is it,

I'm finally going to fix my legs, I went and I absolutely loved it!

(It was a busy fitness retreat! I loved it)

(Relaxing in the hot tub after a full day of exercising!)

I was already very fit when I went, I got on with the personal trainers exceptionally well, because I was chef I even helped cook dinner for the other 30 people there',

Although I did lose weight, still never off my legs, I felt better, and I thought I'd keep it off,

I did ever only put on around half a stone to 1 stone heavier in the years after going, just due to normal weight fluctuations.

I just never stopped trying,

After I came back, all I could think about was how much I loved the retreat, thinking I could go there all the time I loved it so much, it was a shame that it was so far away!

Then it hit me, me and Steve were talking about it, and the future and what we wanted to do, and I suddenly decided I wanted a fitness retreat, all these ideas started flooding in to my mind, about how I could do it, and why there were none in Scotland! Because if there had been I would have went to one closer! Not the bottom of England, because that was certainly a journey in a half

So I started to think about of course how to I set up a fitness retreat in Scotland, why is there none here, thinking I would be the first to open one, but I had to become a PT before I could just open on up, I couldn’t just open one up and not be trained!

So then I started to devise a plan in my head, on how to structure it, how to get there

Thinking I will need to become a fitness instructor and work in a gym first, gain knowledge and learn about human anatomy oh my god (the one thing I hated!) get a venue, advertise, structure it, but none of this could be done until I learned how to teach people how to exercise correctly and be qualified to do so.

I then became obsessed with eating healthy and sticking to my calories another crazy pitfall because it just ended up in binge eating and the year after booking yet another book camp and a personal trainer too ..

And thinking dam, I need to work even harder I’m just not doing enough!

I was never interested in getting stronger, or even fitter, all I actually wanted to do was lose weight, and once I'd lose weight so I could focus in my life, I did this for years and years

Its sad to look back and think there’s lots of things I didn't do, genuinely because of my weight, things like water sports, because I felt uncomfortable in a swimsuit, or a wetsuit,

Going abroad even .. because it was hot and I'd need to wear shorts!

I would not wear shorts without tights

(Just to name a few)

I'd had enough of magazines, adverts, people saying one week eggs are good for you the next they are not,

Unimaginable hoards of information to read and most of it was mainly just crap or trying to sell you the next best diet .. or a summer body...

This exercise is better than this, or you should do this diet or that diet the information load was killing me

I was severely getting sick of it the older I was getting,

And board of having misinformation drilled through my ears constantly,

I just cried because I didn't know what to do.

So just while looking at courses online I came across a stepping stone

A diploma in personal training and I thought ohhh, and it wasn't that expensive maybe like £100 and I thought to myself why don’t I actually learn how this nonsense works and teach myself how to get fit and lose weight, and use it to help me potentially set up a fitness retreat.

At the start I never really started it to make it a successful business, I just for once wanted to learn what to do. But in my head the fitness retreat was calling to me

Ahhhh - you were probably thinking it would be quite simple next and one step would lead to the next

However

It wasn't easy

I did the diploma and it was good, informative short and to the point, and I thought wow that was easy I'm qualified, and I genuinely thought I was!

During this it had me do some course work on friends I started taking all my friends, co workers, to gym and practicing on them,

I was writing consultations showing then how to do exercises correctly for form, and get the heart racing,

I really started to enjoy it rather than go because I had to, it changed in to "because I wanted too",

I was making a difference in peoples life's and helping people get fit and healthy and explaining about nutrition,

I even created the Facebook page which I still have that I created in 2016, but it was under a different name until a few year ago!

My friends started saying you could do this as job your really good at it, and I didn't think I could.

I never seen myself as a personal trainer! Because I always thought I didn't look the part and my legs were to big, so people would judge me and not want me to be their PT if I can't even shape my own legs so I politely said thanks to friends for thinking that,

but I was on a different path as I was working for wetherspoons in the kitchen and I'd worked my way up from associate to kitchen manager and that’s where I sort of seen myself but that’s whole another story

(Maybe I write might a blog/article one day about it)

( Me ready to clean the bloody grill ... absolute nightmare of a task)

It was definitely stressful and mental!

Good and bad,

On the best note I met Steve my partner there and we have been together for 13 years now

But it gently started pushing me out because it was becoming ridiculous, this was before covid happened,

So I had a membership at the Sheraton hotel (Onespa) and I used to go to the gym and spa everyday of course ..

I know fancy,

But gym was my life,

(My fave room at one spa the relaxation room)

And I made friends with the spa/gym manager and she was just saying they were looking for staff, a (personal trainer) and I told her everything I had done, And was doing based on the diploma I did, and she invited me in for an interview,

I passed the first interview with flying colours, it was just how would I would show someone a gym induction and how to use the gym equipment correctly and safely, and because I used the gym and she was my personal trainer, just a handful of times I felt comfortable there.

Part 2 a more formal interview, with her and one of the hotel managers, which was held in the one square restaurant

I was so nervous I actually knew I had the job but I knew there was something...

Dramatic ohhh no!

It wasn't this bit that stopped me but I had to be able to go under water if where was an emergency and I had to save someone,

But I couldn't put my head under water I had completely honest and knew this could kill my chance but she was kind enough to say she would teach me how too,

As to pass part 3 I had to swim to bottom of the pool and retrieve an item,

For me this was genuinely frightening and I didn't think I would be able to do it (I never did)

So I had the job in the bag, she was just sorting out some paperwork and everything was going great, until .. until

We found out that the diploma I did didn't meet the criteria and it wasn't a real certification, it was real but not enough to get insurance and teach and to get the job I would actually need to do a proper level 2 fitness instructor course and then level 3 personal trainer too,

And then I looked at the prices for courses and my heart sank inside 💔

Heart broken

Back to the kitchen it was, but something was telling me maybe I should do it, and she said if I do it even tho it may take a while I can still get the job, in the future.

Decisions decisions

So I decided to take the plunge and I signed up for a whole package deal

To become a personal trainer

And I studied

level 2 fitness instructor

Level 3 personal trainer

And I'm working on level 4 GP referral

I finished my level 2 just before covid had caused chaos in everyone's lives

And I was working on my level 3, mostly working on it on my own, and completing all the modules, I had finished all the online course work, and I just had my in person training and exams to do in Glasgow, however it wasn't easy to book due to high demand,

But I finally got in! Passed my exam even tho I was soo nervous

I was finally a qualified personal trainer!

Whilst learning my course it said that personal trainers have a Facebook page, and a name that they are known by, and I didn't know exactly what would come of it, but for fun my and Steve were thinking of names to call my business, as I wanted to open a fitness retreat, that was the dream, and we were just putting ideas together because I didn’t just want to be known as Danielle, and I still used my nickname sometimes so we made a few names up and foxtailsfitness came in to our heads and we decided it sounded amazing !

And foxtailsfitness was in the making

I met a friend and she said she would design my logo for me too, and she did, better than I could have imagined it was absolutely perfect!

Now all I needed to do was find a new job or something part time,

I was mainly looking to become a fitness instructor first,

I of course applied for a few jobs never heard back, but I did get a response, but it was straight for a personal trainer job and the interview went incredible and I got the job right there and then! (Part time) in south Queensferry with future gym

And me and Steve had also quit Wetherspoons and started working at Greeneking

This was a huge change For us, because I had been there for 10 years and Steve had been there for 24 years! So it was life changing leaving and scary!

(here’s me getting ready to clean the grill at work1 the worst job, I’m not sure why I look so happy)

I started working for future gym in south Queensferry

As well as this had been great at the time .. it well didn't work out unfortunately.

So I quit due to many different reasons...

Many ...

So there I was

Self employed, with a tax return to do and my logo and name trademarked

I felt a bit deflated and defeated and tired,

I had been working 3 months at 2 different jobs around 70hours a week,

I just needed a break

But we had just had a shed built in the garden which was going to be for bikes and for me exercising, so I had the smallest amount of stuff in it,

Then out of the blue one of my friends messaged me saying her friend was looking for PT and she had recommended me!

She contacted me and asked me to book in!

My first ever real client!

I wasn't quite sure what to do!

Do I go to her house?

do I bring her round to mine!

What do I do?

And I quickly realised I can use the newly built shed as a base, luckily it was in the summer, so I didn't need electric at the time!

And the journey of the Foxtailsfitness Shed began

And little by little, a couple more recommendations a few more pieces of equipment and here am I today,

More knowledgeable more equipped

Ready to help you achieve your goals,

Increase your own movement and feel free in your body

Thanks for taking the time to read!

I mean I could have put way more information in!

Much love

Foxtailsfitness