My diet and fitness
One of my passions in life is health and fitness, it is a
subject that I can talk about for hours and I love giving advice and helping to
educate people on how to be healthier. As I have grown older my attitude to diet
and lifestyle has completely changed. I remember the days of being a teenager
and eating literally whatever I liked. My daily diet consisted of things like
chips, pizza and chocolate and when I think of the amount of junk food I ate
now it is shocking!
I love fruit and veg. I am pescetarian (I don’t eat meat
just fish) and have never eaten meat, so a lot of my diet is made up of fruit,
veg and dairy.
Just like many other people at that age I chose to ignore my
parents and those that told me to ‘eat my 5 a day’ and ‘make healthier food
choices’- I believed they were just
nagging me and being annoying - but now I am an adult myself I understand the
importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and given the choice I would
actually choose a salad over junk food any day!
I love working out - I go to the gym/for a
run around 3 times a week and do alot of walking.
I like to work out and exercise regularly – it’s just part
of my lifestyle and I cannot imagine going about my day to day life without it.
I tend to live by the 80-20 rule which means I eat clean and healthily 80% of
the time and the other 20% is for treats and indulgence. I am not strict and I
never deprive myself of anything. My key advice to anyone is ‘everything in
moderation’. You can allow yourself a little of anything and it will do no
harm, however too much of one thing – whether it’s healthy or not – is going to
be bad for you, balance and variety are key!
Bananas and oat granola are two of my favourite things, I
cannot start my day without them.
I feel so lucky in the sense that I have a good knowledge of
healthy eating, I LOVE healthy food and I know what works for me, I understand it is very hard for
some people and food and fitness are areas where they really struggle. Either
way I thought I’d share some tips that I use on those days when I feel less
enthusiastic about going out in the cold to work out or when I am really craving something unhealthy, but
should opt for the healthy option.
Fitness
I always feel sooo much better after a good work out.
Sometimes I feel less than enthusiastic before I get to the gym but I just try
and think of how good I feel afterwards and keep an image in my head of what I
want to achieve by going and this motivates me to get my butt there sharpish.
Having a good work-out wardrobe is also a great motivator. Working out doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym either if that’s not your
kinda thing, sometimes I enjoy going for a run around my local park –
especially in summer – or perhaps a bike ride with a friend or a swim. Some of my friends enjoy work out
classes such as boxing and zumba and I know this works for them and is
something more fun which they enjoy. Personally I like to go hard in the gym
alone with my music as I like there to be no distractions, but everyone is
different so find out what works best for you and do it! If you are thinking of
introducing exercise in to your weekly routine or joining the gym, don’t just
say ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ because it will be the same story again then, do it
now, today! There’s no time like the present and I can guarantee you won’t
regret it!
Food
So you want to lose a few pounds, feel good and have more
energy or just improve your diet in general? First things first you must
educate yourself on the basic rules and understand that the changes you are making
to your diet are not temporary – they are lifestyle changes. The important
rules to follow are; Everything in moderation, Balance and variety is key, Eat
clean – avoid processed food and enjoy honest, good food and lastly DO NOT cut
out anything completely. Depriving yourself of one food group (except for
medical reasons) is not a long term solution for better health or weight loss -
It may work as a quick fix and perhaps you will lose weight at first - but as
soon as you return to your old eating habits and introduce the food back into
your diet the weight will pile straight back on. There are so many fad diets
around these days and many encourage you to cut out certain foods such as
carbs, sugar and fat, but as previously mentioned; Rule number one - everything
in moderation! A little of everything is good for you and plays an important part
in maintaining a balanced diet. While cutting
back on certain things like carbs and un-healthy fats is wise, just don’t
cut anything out completely.
Try and eat clean most of the time and allow yourself
occasional indulgences and treats. If you know you’re going out for a meal at
the weekend, then eat healthily during the week and feel free to eat what you
like when you go out (obviously don’t go mad) or if it’s a work colleagues
birthday and they bring in cake, have a slice if you want it! Just don’t do it
every day! You get my drift…
Blogilates
One of my favourite health and fitness blogs is blogilates. The owner Cassey is a fitness instructor and always uploads great, easy-to-follow work out videos loads of healthy eating recipes and tips and she is such a cool, fun girl! She also offers some fab giveaways!
Inspiration
To finish, here are some pictures that I find inspiring and motivating,
who can deny that the VS models are not inspiration enough to get yourself to
the gym?!
Holly xx
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