February is the month of love and we are celebrating it in all its guises starting with loving yourself.

Meet this month’s inspiring person Emma Varley.

Emma, thank you so much for being this month’s inspiring woman.

Your journey to loving yourself is so inspiring, can you tell us about how you changed your world for better health and happiness...

I had felt lost with my fitness for a few years tried to love running but just couldn’t, I wanted something that I could work on as an all rounder I needed to get strong. I fell for weights and thought the girls on stage looked incredible. I

’d spent most of my life having low confidence and was so envious that these girls could get on stage in front of all those people so I decided to set myself the most terrifying goal that would hopefully cure my confidence issues - four shows later I’m a very different woman these days.

That period of my life was a huge personal journey for me just an incredible experience

What was your turning point?

I felt like I had a massive wake up call when I lost my mum. I started to try to change a few things got back into exercising, but the biggest one was after having my daughter my back got worse and I lost a lot of feeling in my left foot, I couldn’t think about life not doing things so I went against advice and made myself strong.

How do you stay disciplined?

I think my back pain dictated that. It’s very simple if I don’t keep myself strong the aches and pains come back. I am now so in love with my journey it’s just an everyday life for me to look after myself.

What lessons have you learnt along the way?

Oh many! Firstly you need to learn the art of patience, weight training is slow results but over the course of time in my opinion it produces the best results. You can’t change everything at once if you try you will be setting yourself up to fail. Baby steps will get you to your goals. Instagram bodies are not the be all and end all your happiness is so do what works for you.

You started by mending yourself – what was the lightbulb moment when you decided you wanted to train other women?

I could see how much healing I had done through lifting and was sick at the way particularly middle aged women get lost and we really shouldn’t because I believe we are at our most powerful so I wanted to design a safe place and business idea where women felt they could express themself and start to feel confident again about the way they looked. I hope I’ve achieved that.

What is the hardest bit about running your own business?

That’s is very full on, you don’t just close the door at the end of the day. There are messages, mentoring chats, programs to write, orders in the beauty room, but I love it and it’s about setting boundaries which I’m trying really hard to do so that I feel refreshed and can give my best.

What are the misconceptions of weight training?

That you will get huge, hurt yourself and look manly! It’s entirely the opposite I have managed to build a beautiful feminine shape with strength thrown in and I eat more food than I did in my 30s.

Why is it so good for us?

As we age we lose bone density and muscle mass this is not good if we want to prevent injury and keep mobile in our old age. Weight training helps to keep the bones strong protecting against osteoporosis, increases muscle mass not in a bulky way but will improve your body composition and make you feel great. It’s a very empowering sport and I’ve helped many women gain a new found confidence with their bodies.

What do you find inspiring about the women you train?

My business has basically grown with my clients. Working with such a varied range of ages I’ve learned so much from them to be able to really develop the business into something very special, I’ll be working with a client and they’ll say something that will then give me a brilliant idea for a post or a new development to the business. I’m forever learning and adapting to always give 100 per cent to the service I provide. Watching them transform before your eyes is the biggest reward, they literally turn into butterflies and spread their wings in all areas of their lives it’s really very beautiful. 

Favourite snack?

I actually don’t snack a lot these days I try to eat larger meals as I prefer this. I try to buy mostly whole foods and the best quality I can afford. But if I had to snack it would be some nuts I love salted peanuts or cashews.

Favourite brands to train in?

I love Yogaleggs for training and my workwear. I buy a lot of sweatshirts and joggers current favourites are Rotate Sunday, Sporty and Rich and Isabel Marant. Converse and New Balance for footwear at the moment, I like to change it up regularly.

Favourite Sarah Verity adjustable rings?

One of the first I got was a labradorite gem gold ring absolutely stunning. I love the charm rings too.

Get the look:

Labradorite Atomic Midi Adjustable Ring. Shop here

Charm adjustable ring stack. 

Rio Amazonite. Shop here

Rio Labradorite. Shop here

Atomic Mini in Labradorite. Shop here

Want to train with Emma? She offers one-to-one coaching virtually and in person. Contact here here. 

@emma_kemptlifestyle