LEARNING HOW TO BE HEALTHY

Why did I start, what have I done and where do I want to be?

After a long-term relationship and a habit of eating everything I could get my hands on (mainly stress related but also it just became a habit), I found myself fitting into a size 16 better than I did my usual size 12. 

In January 2017 I weighed myself for the first time in years, this came in at 71.4kg. This is when realisation began and I really wanted something to change but didn't really know where to start.

A few months went past, and I kept thinking about losing weight but took no action except from trying to better my diet but with no action plan. In July 2017 I weighed myself again and was now 67.5kg. I decided it was time to do something. 

I took up a local gym membership and was put in touch with an in house PT, I did 10 sessions with them hoping to feel more confident and to prove that the gym could make a difference to my physique and outlook on exercise. Although PT sessions really helped me and showed me what results you can achieve from hardwork I still didn’t leave feeling confident to head into the gym by myself

I trained a lot with a friend throughout august and then my commitment to the gym really trailed off in September to December. A lot of this came down to starting university, going part time at work and learning how to my balance my new routine. However I consciously stopped tracking food in December which really wasn't a good idea looking back as I went straight back into eating anything I could, but I have learnt from this and if I do have a treat meal I make sure my next snack / meal is right back on track.

Although living a healthier lifestyle has become important to me I don’t wish to miss out on any opportunities by prioritising the gym or stress myself out by cramming it into my day.

Come to the end of December and I felt ready to bring the gym back into my life. I weighed myself in at 6.5kg and seeing this instantly made me want to focus again. I learnt about macros and have started to focus on a well balanced diet as well as learning about the gym and new exercises as much as possible.

It's now the end of December and I'm back at 61.5kg, I'm currently still focusing on my macros and I'm learning to schedule and plan my gym sessions around the rest of my life. For me the gym is a massive outlet and something that gives me goal and targets to hit that solely rely on my hardwork alone. 

My next goals are to lower my fat percentage and raise my muscle percentage. I also want to perfect my form with squats & deadlifts and to be able to do 10 push ups (nose to floor with good form). 

The hardest part

I personally find the motivation hard to keep up but once I have goals set in place I want to achieve them and will try everything to do so.

A diet change is also difficult, especially when it is a big switch from constant takeaways and chocolate bars to a slight calorie deficit and lots of home cooked dinners. Changing your perspective from 'good' and 'bad' foods to all good in proportion and learning about macros has been a life saver for me.

What inspires me

My best friend is a total fitness babe and she helped me learn how to fitness (both in the gym and expanding my knowledge) and still does every day. She puts up with all my questions and will happily help me out with gym sessions if needed. Find yourself a friend that you can help you no matter how many times you have a question. 

Find your local fitness babe,Vanya, on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/vanya.louisa/ 

Instagram

Instagram is a great tool if you use it in the right way. Don’t follow people who make you compare yourself to them in a negative light, but follow people who make you want to work on yourself and your achieving own goals. 

There is also now a ‘save’ button so if there is a workout I like the look of I can put them there and follow them later.

These are just a few of the amazing fitness accounts I follow -

Please share your favourite fitness accounts below! 

Thanks for reading,

Poppy x

Peanut Butter & Banana Porridge

Hello again,

Making a yummy breakfast that will fill me up to lunch time is something I struggle with. I've been sticking to peanut butter and banana on toast. But then I thought, why not chuck it in a bowl of porridge?

So I did, I used 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 whole banana (sliced).

This is super yummy and I did actually stay pretty full until my lunch!

What is your favourite breakfast?

Thanks for reading,

Avocado and Egg On Toast

Hello,

I just wanted to pop up a quick post about a new breakfast discovery I've been loving!

Grab bread of your choice (toast it if you fancy), mash up half an avocado on top. Poach, fry or scramble your eggs. Chop up a handful of cherry tomatoes and a handful of spinach, plop them on top. Then you're ready to tuck in.

It super easy, super quick and super yummy.

Thanks for reading,

Baked Banana, Raisin and Summer Fruit Oatmeal

I'm back after a rather long unexpected break, but hello again!

For Christmas I received the Deliciously Ella cookbook, as one of my new year resolutions is to eat more of a plant based diet. This cookbook has immediately made me so passionate about eating healthier and cooking/baking for myself.

So here I've interpreted a recipe from the cookbook and made it my own by changing up a few of the ingredients. I took the recipe which serves 2 and halved it, but I think this could still serve 2 as you will see later.

Ingredients;

- 1/2 a cup of oats

- 1/2 a cup of summer fruits (I used frozen ones. Which were a mix of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry)

- 1 ripe banana (1/2 for in the oatmeal 1/2 for the topping)

- 1/4 cup of raisins

- 1/4 cup of almond milk

- 1/2 a handful of pecans

- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon

- 1/2 a tablespoon of honey (optional plus there are so many alternatives)

Preheat the oven to 190C

I put the 1/2 cup of oats in a bowl and covered with boiling water, then let them sit for around 10 minutes. By the end of this time the water should be almost or completely soaked up.

Whilst waiting for the oats to soak I chopped up the bananas and put 1/2 aside. I also chopped up the pecans, I like quite big chunks but this is really down to personal preference. Then I measured out the rest of the ingredients

When the oats are completely soaked add all of the ingredients together and mix.

Then pour into your baking dish and place a few bananas on top for decoration.

Then bake for 20 minutes or until the top has browned.

EAT!

This is honestly the yummiest oatmeal. It is so warming, especially for a typical British winter morning.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post as it is something a little different.

Thank you for reading,