So, most of you will know that I've been away for the last few days and will be away for most of next week too. I absolutely love going away, but I hate that feeling when I come home and I'm back to square one, feeling crappy and craving fresh, healthy food. So this time round, I'm trying to lessen the damage. Here's my tips to help anybody else who may be away, or heading away in the next couple of weeks.
So you've all heard the phrase - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day - and really, it is true! I was one of those people - no time for breakfast, couldn't eat that early in the morning, not hungry, excuses, excuses! But I'm here to inform you, and provide some ideas for healthy, filling, and most importantly, easy breakfasts!
Eating breakfast every morning has tonnes of health and well-being benefits. Breakfast really is your fuel and energy for the day. You wouldn't try run a car with no petrol or diesel, so don't try start your body off with no food either. Not only does it give you fuel, eating the correct kind of breakfast is a source of so many vital nutrients that your body needs to function correctly. Studies show that people who eat breakfast regularly, have a smaller waistline compared to those who don't. The reasons being, that if your body isn't fueled correctly early in the morning, you are more likely to snack on unhealthy things throughout the day to get the much-needed energy. These snacks are often high in sugar, or salt, and low in nutritional value. Lots have studies have shown the link between eating breakfasts and brain function. I know myself, the rare (very rare!!) morning that I skip breakfast, I am like a headless chicken!!! Your brain needs the fuel every bit as much as your body does. Now, enough scientific mumbo jumbo!! You want to know what to eat, and how to do it. Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is any movement that gets your heart rate up and increases blood circulation throughout the body. Cardio can include anything from walking, running, sprinting, jogging, cycling, rowing, skipping, to name but a few! So, lately there has been so many people bashing cardio. And you can absolutely see why! People hate it, it's boring, you'll lose your 'gainz', it's hard, you look very attractive while doing it, and you don't see many 'results' from it. But recently, I've fallen out of love with the gym a little bit, my routine is all over the shop and with the half-decent weather, I've been upping my cardio. I find it brilliant for clearing my head and some days, I feel like I could run or walk forever. Other days, I have to drag myself out and really struggle with a couple of kilometers. But for the most part, I'm enjoying the increased fitness and the feeling that I get from doing cardio. There are so many benefits to cardio - as can be seen on the link below: So, while I'm all for lifting weights and incorporating them into my exercise routine, I'm not bashing cardio. A mix of both is healthy. And realistically, what is the point in having lots of muscles and looking so fit and lean, being able to lift twice your body weight - and not being able to run 3 kilometers without collapsing into a hot, sweaty mess?!
I loved my gym time and in January 2015, I really began to take it more seriously. I started going to gym classes, such as Kai Bho, Kettlebells, TRX, Circuits, etc and by the time my birthday came around in April, I was very happy with how my body looked and felt. I went to Portugal over Easter and never felt better.
During the summer of 2015, I began to relax a little and wasn't in the gym every day. I had a life to live too!! I began Yoga at home and was doing lots more cardio - running and walking. I found I was getting fitter - in that I could run for longer, but I also felt I lost definition that I had built up through using weights. During the summer, I hadn't much motivation or 'want' to be strong and in the gym a lot, which was fine. I had worked very hard for almost a year to achieve what I had, and my body needed some down time. I relaxed my schedule, took some well-earned rest, which was brilliant for my both my physical and mental health. I met friends for lunches, dinners, coffee, afternoon tea, spent time with family and really just took my foot off the pedal, hoping I could prepare myself for the craziness that is September. I knew changing schools was going to be tough. And lo and behold, it was! I took some time out, just going running and walking when I felt I could. October, I began to ease myself back into things with some home workouts, etc. and since November, I am back in the gym full time (four+ times a week) and have gotten my 'mojo' back! These pictures were taken in November when I started in Westpark Fitness. As you can see, there was a noticeable difference in my shape here, as to my shape above in July. The toned, defined look had gone - the result of not lifting weights. I hadn't put on extra weight, as such. All the muscle I had build had turned into fat stores and thus, making me feel fluffier and heavier. But I still wasn't totally unhappy with how I looked. I wasn't in bad shape, considering! Fast forward to March/April 2016, now, and I've been working hard under the watchful eye of the Westpark Fitness lads, and I've definitely regained my muscles! I feel strong again, I can see muscle groups pumped when I'm training, I have lots of definition, in all the right places. Things are going in the right direction, being lifted and firmed, defined and I feel healthy, I feel happy! The two most important things to me - health and happiness. Not abs, not glutes, not macros, not counting calories, not obsessing over what I eat, not guilting myself over a couple of Lidl cookies, not over-training because I had some pizza yesterday.
Am I healthy? Yes! Am I happy? Hell yes!!! And I have to admit, even if it does sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet - I reckon I look fairly good! For somebody who trains at least five times a week, eats well the majority of the time, eats chocolate most days, has a good balanced lifestyle, has a healthy attitude towards health and fitness (without being obsessive or neurotic about it!) and has a positive outlook on life - I reckon I'm doing pretty well :) |
AuthorLorraine O'Connell is a 25 year old primary school teacher, interested in health and fitness. Archives
January 2016
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