Hello all. I've been absent of late, it was a combination of exams and a tad of a lack of inspiration (quelle horreur!) but I'm back, and with something a little different.
I don't know about you, but everyone seems to be on a fitness kick recently. Well guess what, I am too! It all started around January time for me, I decided I wanted to change my life: my diet, my exercise regime, the lot. And I can't say it's been easy..
I've always had a thing about my weight/the way I look. I have never been thin. Ever. Blessed (lol) with a slow metabolism, huge hips, huge ass. Over the years I've tried again and again to really sort myself out and do something about the way I look but never really stuck to any of it. Until now (kinda).
This is a little intro post, so I thought I'd start off with the exercise I've been doing and what I think about how it's worked for me. I love reading health/fitness posts that don't come from experts - this sounds strange but it's true. I don't know how many "omg healthy brownies" recipes I've read, how many health blogs giving the promise of good tasting healthy food where the ingredients are all bizarre and hard to get a hold of. And don't even get me started on all that tumblr "fitspiration" nonsense. Let's be serious, sometimes it's nice to hear from someone just like you how they have been getting healthier.
First up, some stats.
I'm 18.
Size 10 (averagely, can go either up or down 1 size)
5ft5"
It is important to consider your "stats" when comparing yourself to others, because everyone is different and when it comes to health and fitness, you really need to alter some aspects to suit you. What I want to gain from exercise is mainly fat burning. Hellllls yeah. So I'm into anything that is gonna boost my heart rate, make me sweat. Secondly, I'm wanting toning. That is, exercises that are body-part specific to sculpt and shape that certain area. Other than that, I wanted to boost my general fitness, stamina and strength.
Not asking for much am I?
I've done figure skating for around 5 years now, it's a great way to exercise and really does burn a hell of a lot of calories. However, I unfortunately do not have access to an ice rink everyday so it wasn't enough for me to simply continue skating. Therefore, I decided to exercise every single day.
Running shoes: Nike Lunar Glides
Sounds extreme, but hear me out. It doesn't have to be much, but I want to do at least 30mins of exercise everyday. I've kept to this for about a month or two now, with only the occasional hangover stopping me (naughty, I know).
I took the (at the time) crazy decision to start running. Now, I have not had a good relationship with running in the past. I was that girl in school who used to either "forget" my PE kit on cross country lessons or simply walk the whole way. However, running is great cardiovascular exercise and I swore to myself that I'd get better at it. When I started, I could run for around 5 mins at a time, do maybe 10-15 mins in total. It took me around 45 mins to do 5K. Now? I can run for around 15mins at a time, and can do 5K in 30mins. It's taken me around 3 months, but that's still a big achievement for me to go from not being able to run at all, to completing a 5K.
I entered the Race for Life and it was such an inspiring experience. I highly recommend entering a charity run to motivate you, it certainly worked for me! I now love running. Seriously. It's so freeing, I feel amazing afterwards and I love taking in all the scenery while I'm running.
I've noticed a profound difference in my stamina since I started running. I feel more energised and actually more confident just from being able to conquer this fear that I had of running. Next up, I'm gonna find a 10K event to train for.
Other than running, I swim and cycle once a week. I do this with my best friend and it is such a fun thing to do, really. It's great to mix up the exercise I think, I'd hate to do the exact same thing every single day. We also go to a few fitness classes together which are difficult but good to do now and then to use different muscle groups and generally mix things up!
As for results.. I'm not interested in "losing weight". I'm not concerned about that number. All I want is to feel confident and comfortable in my own skin. But my body has changed a lot since January when I started this whole thing, and while I wish I had been strict with myself the entire time (I'd be sooo much further by now) it is a struggle to change your life that drastically and I know I will get there eventually.
I'm now embarking on a 3 day juice cleanse.. partly for the mental challenge but mostly for the alleged health benefits. I'll let you know how that goes and my next health post will be about my diet.
I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has, because I'm sure this post is pretty shabby (apologies..) but I will get more concise with this type of thing, I wanted to do this simply as an introduction.
So to anyone else out there trying to change their life, good luck and I feel your pain ;) !
