Hello, my name is Gemma and I am a big girl, there I said it, I've admitted it.
I haven't been to a theme park for 5 years due to a bad experience on a ride at Scarborough where I had to change seats due to my thighs being too big. This just really put me off and gave me a phobia of theme parks, what if I get on the ride and the harness doesn't fit? The walk of shame would be mortifying and embarrassing to say the least.
When my friend got free tickets with The Sun newspaper due to their yearly promotion she asked me to go, I will admit I procrastinated for months. While we were on a night out she asked me again and on the spur of the moment I said yes.
That left 3 months of freaking out, trawling the website to see what the restrictions were. When I found out about the girth restrictions of 52" on the rides and then 54" on Oblivion and Nemesis I freaked out. I worried myself ill that I would not fit onto the rides, I measured myself so much that it became obsessive. I now know extensively that my chest is 47" and my stomach is 54", I'm also pear shaped I carry a lot of weight in the stomach then I do up top.
I went to Alton Towers on Thursday with my friend and I was nervous, in every queue I had my fingers crossed that I would fit, if I didn't I would take it and I would come back and beat it. What surprised me is that I fitted into all of the thrill rides, the only one that I did have a problem with was Air, the over the shoulder harness just would not lock. I then had to do a walk of shame, and to be honest it was not as shameful as I thought it would be, I wasn't upset by it but it did give me some dread when it came to Nemesis and Nemesis Sub-Terra (I did get on these by the way). I think if I hadn't be able to get on a load of the other thrill rides I think it would have been a larger blow then it was. I walked out of the ride station for Air with my head held high and said to myself that I would loose some weight and next time I would be on there.
I wanted to write this as I thought it might give a tiny shred of hope to any larger sized women that are starting to worry about a trip to Alton Towers. I will admit that after yesterday it gave me a goal to reach for me to actually make myself lose some weight and start being more active rather then procrastinating about it.
After all the worrying I had a great time with my friend and when I did get on the rides it made it that more special.
I hope this does help larger women like me who are worrying over a trip to Alton Towers or to any theme park, it is not the end of the world if you aren't able to fit onto the rides, enjoy the time with the person that you are spending it with, that is more important.
I also realised what a really good friend I do have, her words to me were that it didn't seem right on Air without me there, and if I hadn't have gotten on The Smiler, she would have got off as well.
As I said the worrying has made me realise if I want to stop the worrying then I do need to lose some weight, and now I have a reason. I just have to push myself to do this. From August I am joining the gym to become more active, and I am cutting down on what I eat and replacing it with healthier options (that means chocolate NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO).
I may start to document my story on the blog so you can see how I go and if I can make myself stick to this (I have my fingers crossed for myself).
Thanks for tuning in
Gemma
xxxx
I went to Alton Towers on Thursday with my friend and I was nervous, in every queue I had my fingers crossed that I would fit, if I didn't I would take it and I would come back and beat it. What surprised me is that I fitted into all of the thrill rides, the only one that I did have a problem with was Air, the over the shoulder harness just would not lock. I then had to do a walk of shame, and to be honest it was not as shameful as I thought it would be, I wasn't upset by it but it did give me some dread when it came to Nemesis and Nemesis Sub-Terra (I did get on these by the way). I think if I hadn't be able to get on a load of the other thrill rides I think it would have been a larger blow then it was. I walked out of the ride station for Air with my head held high and said to myself that I would loose some weight and next time I would be on there.
I wanted to write this as I thought it might give a tiny shred of hope to any larger sized women that are starting to worry about a trip to Alton Towers. I will admit that after yesterday it gave me a goal to reach for me to actually make myself lose some weight and start being more active rather then procrastinating about it.
After all the worrying I had a great time with my friend and when I did get on the rides it made it that more special.
 |
| Alton Towers Ride Photo - Oblivion |
I also realised what a really good friend I do have, her words to me were that it didn't seem right on Air without me there, and if I hadn't have gotten on The Smiler, she would have got off as well.
As I said the worrying has made me realise if I want to stop the worrying then I do need to lose some weight, and now I have a reason. I just have to push myself to do this. From August I am joining the gym to become more active, and I am cutting down on what I eat and replacing it with healthier options (that means chocolate NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO).
I may start to document my story on the blog so you can see how I go and if I can make myself stick to this (I have my fingers crossed for myself).
Thanks for tuning in
Gemma
xxxx
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