Ahh exercise and healthy eating... I have missed you my old friend! To be honest I feel like a bit of a hypocrite sitting writing this post when I've just had an ice lolly for dinner, but my time back on the wagon had been great until I came down with the cold at the weekend (and ironically feel like my whole body is on fire) I also got my inner arm tattooed on sunday, so these two combined are leaving me feeling a little worse for wear. But hopefully by this weekend I'll be on top form again and can continue with my best of intentions.
After all the luxuries and laziness of Christmas and New Year were well out the way I was determined to start again with the healthy lifestyle I seemed to live for the bulk of last year. I struggled for weeks to find the motivation, and wish it had been as easy as pushing a 'start' button. One morning I decided to weigh myself, and saw that I had put on the half a stone that I worked so hard to loose last year. That was it! Enough to flip me into action and get the ball rolling.
I was approached by Quorn to become one of their new Ambassadors, which was a lovely surprise as I have been using their meat free products a lot in my cooking over the past 6 months in an aim to get more protein in my diet (and also take a break each week from real meat which is slightly more fatty and calorific) I am by no means a vegetarian, but I will pop a link up to my first post for Quorn once it is live over on their blog, so you can have a read and see some of my reasons for using a meat free alternative at least once a week.
After all the luxuries and laziness of Christmas and New Year were well out the way I was determined to start again with the healthy lifestyle I seemed to live for the bulk of last year. I struggled for weeks to find the motivation, and wish it had been as easy as pushing a 'start' button. One morning I decided to weigh myself, and saw that I had put on the half a stone that I worked so hard to loose last year. That was it! Enough to flip me into action and get the ball rolling.
I was approached by Quorn to become one of their new Ambassadors, which was a lovely surprise as I have been using their meat free products a lot in my cooking over the past 6 months in an aim to get more protein in my diet (and also take a break each week from real meat which is slightly more fatty and calorific) I am by no means a vegetarian, but I will pop a link up to my first post for Quorn once it is live over on their blog, so you can have a read and see some of my reasons for using a meat free alternative at least once a week.
Quorn very kindly gave me a donation towards my fitness goals, which meant I could finally take the plunge and join my loyal gym! This is the first time I have been a gym member in over 3 years, but went to boot camp and did a bit of running in between. I joined the Glasgow Life Gym which means I have access to classes and the swimming pool as well as the gym for £31 a month. Managed to bag a cheeky wee BBC discount on my membership too. I got a colourful new Ripcurl bag from Spartoo to use as my new gym bag, and next on the list is to update my sports attire as my current stuff is looking a bit sad. Where can I buy some pretty new work out gear from you guyssss?
The Ripcurl bag is pretty big and comfortably fits my whole gym kit (which is handy if I'm coming straight from work) plus a towel, deodorant, water bottle and protein shaker. I have been using the chocolate impact whey protein from Myprotein mixed with milk straight after my workout. It is genuinely the nicest and most drinkable of all protein shakes I've tried so far, and tastes just like chocolate milkshake! I'm not normally too adventurous with this sort of thing but would quite like to try some of the other flavours which they do. I'm a bit clueless at the moment when it comes to protein shakes and post workout juices so would love to hear your experiences and advice!
You may have heard me mention about my Jawbone UP on the blog before. It was out of action for ages because I lost the charger (doh) and only recently discovered you could buy a replacement on the website for £6! So my old faithful has returned, and I literally wear this little gadget morning, noon and through the night.
This clever little piece of kit plugs into your phone via the headphone jack and sync's up with its very own app.
The motion sensors inside the band track your sleeping patterns during the night, your movement throughout the day, and can also sync up with other apps such as My Fitness Pal to track your food. A closer look at the daily steps shows me how far I have walked each day, calories burned, and a steps goal (which you can set to whatever you please but I am currently at the recommended level for my age, weight etc)
I bought the Jawbone from the Apple Store, but I think Nike also do a similar band. It is quite addictive to use once you get into it, and the band vibrates if I have been sitting idle for too long so it is a good reminder for me to get up and about during the day and stretch my legs - even if I have been sitting in front of the computer all day.
Everything I have mentioned above has helped to kick start me back into a healthy lifestyle. I don't want any more fad diets or obsessing unhealthily over my weight. I want to make sensible and long term goals that are actually achievable, with the aim of feeling happy and healthy. If I loose some weight in the process then that would be great, but I am finished with letting the scales ruin my mood! I love food and hope that I can have a positive relationship with it, along with the addition of some regular exercise to keep my anxiety levels at bay too.
I'd love to hear your current fitness/food goals, stories or woes! It's reassuring to know that I'm not alone in my journey.
