How I'm Getting Fitter & Healthier

At the start of March I decided to try and be kinder to myself and wrote about giving up being my own worst enemy, this turned into something of a lifestyle overhaul. At least it's in the process of being a lifestyle overhaul; I have been working on focusing on the positives through doing the #100happydays challenge, doing good deeds for myself and others, and also improving my diet and fitness regime. To be honest while I am an active/busy person up until turning over this new leaf I had no specific exercise regime. I wanted to try and improve my exercise regime for it's health and stress management benefits. I thought I would share my health and fitness journey with you so far and what's working for me. I'm not a heath or fitness expert, this is just what is working for me but everyone's different. 

My Simple Rules:

1. Be active everyday; be it a light walk to the shop, moving the lawn, yoga, a run or full on cardio
2. Get out in nature as often as I can: I love walking in the woods to get some peace and quiet
3. Try different workouts every week: mixing it up makes it more fun
4. Do some yoga during the working week: even if it's only for 10 mins
5. Eat lots of different colour fruit and vegetables daily; enjoy some raw
6. Get plenty of sleep: Chamomile tea helps me
7. Moisturize
8. Replace some treats with dark chocolate as it has more benefits
9. Replace fizzy drinks and tea with herbal tea like peppermint and green tea
10. Don't stress over how much exercise I do or how many sweets I eat; every good change I make is progress I don't have to be perfect.

Motivation & Inspiration:

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To get motivated or find new ideas for workouts and healthy recipes pinterest and instagram are gold mines. Just type in anything from yoga, to workout routines to fitness inspiration into pinterest and you'll be entertained for hours. Some Instagram accounts that inspire me to be fit and healthy are: andiclausen, camillamackintosh, freepeople, lindsayperry, yoga_girl, billabongwomens, girlslove2run andmuffintopless, activeyogi. For more see my following list on Instagram.

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My Workout Routine:

My routine is not strict, the only routine part is I try to exercise most days for an hour after work. Weekdays my exercise consists of Youtube workouts or running outdoors. I'm also trying exercise classes to add variety and challenge, so far I've tried boxfit or boxercise. In these classes we do a mix of boxing with a partner and different exercises such as squats and burpees at a fast pace for an hour. At the weekend my exercise takes the more relaxed form of yoga or hiking/walking in nature with family.

My yoga kit from Aldi

For all workout routines I use Youtube videos I can do in the comfort of my own home: my favorite Youtube channel for workout videos is popsugartvfit. A example of a workout for me goes like this: Victoria's Secret Model Workout: 10-Minute Fat-Blasting Circuit, next 10 Minutes to Leaner, Longer Looking Legs, Jennifer Aniston Yoga Workout | Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy, then for some relaxing yoga Yoga Workout For Happiness | Mandy Ingber Fitness and finally to stretch and prevent injury Full Body Stretching Exercises | Flexibility Workout. All these videos are from popsugarfitness and are really easy to follow and don't require any expensive kit. Some other good fitness Youtube channels include: Fitness Blender, XFitDaily and blogilates but there are loads out there. I just make a playlist of my favorite workout videos, put on some comfy workout clothes and away I go. The best part is that it's free and I can do it whenever I want.

My Workout Wardrobe:

I like to wear pretty and bright clothes when I exercise but I don't spend a fortune on them. Apart from one pair of Nike leggings and one pair of Adidas leggings everything else I wear is from Primark or Aldi and Lidl. It's important to have a comfortable pair of runners, I got my New Balance pair that feel like your walking on sponges (so comfy) on sale in Elverys Sports. Alot of Elverys stores offer gait analysis for free to help you find the best pair for you, I used this service as I didn't want to wear the wrong pair for me when I'm running. I remember reading that Camilla Mackintosh sometimes wears her exercise clothes on her days off to keep her focused on the goal. I really like this idea so I buy clothes that I would equally like to exercise and relax in.    

Healthy Diet:

As well as exercise I've been trying to clean up my diet a little as I'm quite the sweet addict. I never ever get tired of eating sweets. I'm trying to incorporate as many different colored fruit and veg as I can into my meals, I usually do this in a salad as I prefer my veggies raw. Instead of normal salad bags I been using spinach leafs as my lettuce leafs lately which I love. I've been replacing some of my red meat with fish. Instead of having fizzy drink everyday I'm only drinking it when I go out for meals as a treat and am just having water instead. Bringing a cute water bottle around with me encourages me to drink more water and use less plastic. I've also been replacing caffeinated tea with herbal ones like peppermint and green tea during the day and chamomile at night. I'm also learning to bake more things myself instead of just buying cakes and biscuits all the time as you know what's going into your food then. Having said all that I still love sweets and greasy food and I still treat myself but I'm trying to be healthier overall.

It's been around 6 weeks since I've started making changes and I'm starting to see some progress. I'm sleeping better, my body feels stronger and looks more toned. I definitely feel the stress relieving benefits of exercise every time I workout and the yoga moves are becoming a little bit more natural. It's a process though and I have so much change to still do and hopefully lots more benefits to see. If you'd like to follow my journey see my instagram and twitter. If your trying to get fitter and healthier I'd love to know how you're getting on!

xox