Incorporating fitness into my life

As many of you probably know from following me on my various social media accounts and from previous blog posts, lately I’ve been obsessed with fitness. Some friends have joked that I’ve hit a phase that will go away soon, but I like to think of this to be more of a lifestyle change which I’d like to continue for the rest of my life, instead of just after I hit my goal. Because who doesn’t love feeling great, right?

So what made me get into this active lifestyle? Well, I have been meaning to get back on track with exercise this year by taking small steps like joining my university’s Zumba society because I thought that going to the gym and working out, in general, isn’t fun at all (plus I get bored easily!)

During my holiday to Spain, I felt very sluggish, lacking energy when I was walking around and didn’t feel confident in my bikinis – I was unhappy and self-conscious so I half-heartedly decided to start working out when I got back to England.

When I got back from my holiday, I didn’t start working out, surprise! I was further unmotivated to after several personal events causing me to, instead, emotionally binge-eat, binge-drink all the unhealthy, fatty good bad stuff which of course, resulted in feeling more sluggish and lacking more energy.

I decided mid-August change how I was feeling about myself and a friend had told me that I might be able to out-run the negative emotions I was facing. That’s where it started.

Running around the neighbourhood, every day with my parents (perfect bonding time, I must say!) turned into running then going to the gym every weekend which now turned to a more structured workout routine and a happier, fitter, healthier version of myself!

My routine

Monday – Friday

5/6AM – Morning workout, right now I’m working with the FBabs program by Fitness Blender.5:30PM/6PM – Evening workout, usually HIIT/some sort of cardio mixed in with weighed toning (switch it up between upper body and lower body) with Fitness Blender.

Saturday – Sunday

Early morning – Gym session where I usually run on the treadmill or ride the stationary bikes in an HIIT format and weights either upper or lower body depending on how sore I am from the previous days. ?Evening – Yoga/Full body stretch

It may seem like a lot but for me, it doesn’t only keep me physically fit but also, lifts my mood from any negative emotions that creep up so it’s personally worth the effort.

If you haven’t heard of FitnessBlender before, I recommend you check them out. They’re a couple who post free (and VERY effective) home workouts on YouTube. You might have come across millions of fitness channels on YouTube and so have I, but these two come across so genuine and themselves that I can’t recommend them enough – workouts have been fun with these two virtual personal trainers.

Truthfully, I prefer home workouts to going to the gym mainly because I don’t get self-conscious when certain people stare look and personally, feel like I get more out (e.g. a whole range of exercises) of my home workouts with Fitness Blender. With that said, though I still like to mix it up a bit by going to the gym.

Diet & Nutrition

I’ve learned so much in terms of fitness and food these past few weeks and still learning every day, but main points are:

• You can’t just eat as much as whatever you want e.g. Junk food and exercise and expect to hit your target or see results (like I did before)
• Eating clean doesn’t mean “going on a strict diet where you can’t eat anything”, it means changing your lifestyle to eating a healthy amount of clean food so none of the processed junk!
• Starving yourself or eating less than 1000 calories a day, ISN’T GOING TO HELP YOU. I admit that this is one that I did myself, it’s energy draining and makes you go backwards rather than forwards.
• Don’t get me wrong – I still eat some chocolate and fries during my “cheat days” but my body has started craving healthier alternatives. ?
• Nutrition is 80% of what determines if you’ll be successful in recomposing your body. Fitness is 20%. You can’t out train a bad diet.

The last point was one I learned recently, I’ve started eating clean for about 2 weeks now and it has made such a huge difference in my body. Admittedly, faster than I expected it to! I am now a true believer of that saying, “Abs are made in the kitchen”

Motivation

What keeps me motivated?

• Progress pictures because the scale doesn’t tell you everything!
• My new Fitbit – thank you for reminding all the time that I need to workout, get up and stretch my legs and that I’m killin’ it. More details in a future blog post~
• Workout clothes – I’m starting to live in them, how can they be so cute, comfortable and motivational at the same time? Magic, I tell you.
• Workout playlist, Fitness Blender, and of course, my main source of inspo – Instagram.
• The fact that working out has tired me out so much to the point that I go to sleep at 9 pm on the dot! For a low-key grandma like myself, this will always be a motivating factor.

I love how I’m feeling since I started incorporating fitness into my life and really prioritising that very important “me-time” I hope this post has somewhat inspired you in some way ✨