Motivation

The biggest problem with a lack of motivation is that it has the tendency to develop into a self-perpetuating cycle: the more demotivated you become the further this feeling demotivates you, until you find yourself so overcome with apathy that it becomes harder than ever to pull yourself out of your rut. The downward spiral of demotivation can attack any area of life, but the one I have struggled with the most in the past is the lack of motivation to take control of my diet and exercise routine. I know that this is a problem faced by many other people too, so I thought I’d share what I have learned about motivation and how to dig yourself out of even the deepest of ruts.

It can be tempting to put off taking action because you don’t feel ready to tackle your situation, but in my experience you won’t ever feel 100% ready to do something that is going to take you out of your comfort zone. You need to stop making excuses and kidding yourself that these are legitimate reasons for your delay in getting started. Sooner or later you’re going to have to take the plunge and muster up the courage to throw yourself into the deep-end head first, and you’ll be glad you did. Procrastination is just avoidance sugar-coated by the pretence that there is a legitimate reason for not getting started.

If you are fortunate enough to be in good health, the only person who has control over the shape you are in is yourself. YOU have the power to fulfil your potential, to lose weight and to achieve optimum fitness, and the best part is that it doesn’t have to cost you anything. Once you can truly grasp that you are the person who holds all the power to take control of your situation, you can start to make changes. There aren’t many areas of our lives that we have complete control over, but our diet and exercise routine is one of them – so take charge of it! The word “empowerment” is so overused these days that it is has started to become stigmatised, but I really do believe that taking full control of your health can be empowering. Make the decision today to start making changes for the better.

In order to stay motivated and harness your desire to keep on bettering yourself it is absolutely vital that you set yourself clear goals and keep track of your progress. The best analogy I can come up with is when I spend days on end working on an assignment and try my absolute hardest to produce my best possible work, I need to see results in order to ensure that I’ll feel motivated to continue with my studies. When I get a good mark it makes all the hard work worth it, but if my marks were never returned to me I’d feel as though all my hard work and focus had just disappeared off into the ether and I’d have nothing to show for it. This is why it is so important that you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, and check in with yourself regularly to monitor your advancement towards your goals. How you choose to do this is up to you, and if you’re a member of a gym the staff there should be able to help you develop a plan that will allow you to track your progression.

It may seem like I’m stating the obvious, but it actually only occurred to me quite recently that the reason I was having difficulty sticking to my diet and fitness goals is that I wasn’t paying enough attention to how well they were actually working. It’s tempting to avoid weighing yourself, or testing how quickly you can complete a circuit compared to a week or a month ago, in case the results aren’t what you were hoping for. The fact is that sometimes they won’t be, but instead of getting disheartened just make sure you use this as a tool to motivate yourself further and do better next time. All that will happen if you avoid checking up on your progress is that you’ll lose track of what you’ve achieved and eventually stop trying.

Go on, start today. A month from now you’ll wish you had.

Why you should be drinking green tea

Photo: Twinings Mango & Lychee, my green tea of choice

I have been trying to increase my green tea intake recently, because of its magical detoxing properties and because it helps me ensure that I drink enough water to stay hydrated (which is increasingly important as the weather gets warmer) and that I don’t mistake thirst for hunger and snack unnecessarily.

It also stops me drinking endless cups of sugary builders’ tea, one of my biggest weaknesses.

The British Journal of Nutrition has reported that drinking more than three cups of green tea a day was found to protect against cell deterioration as we age. In fact, DNA tests showed the equivalent of FIVE extra years on the tea drinkers’ lives. So it’s official – drinking green tea helps you live longer! Not only that, it is also thought to speed up the metabolism and reduce cholesterol levels; in a much-cited interview with Heat magazine, Sophie Dahl attributed the weight loss that saw her drop from a size 16 to a size 12 due to her insatiable green tea habit. A quick search on Google reveals that the internet is stuffed with websites extolling the miraculous calorie-burning virtues of the stuff (many of them also selling it. Coincidently.)

My new favourite variety of green tea is Twinings Mango & Lychee, which I chose recently when faced with about 30 different varieties in Sainsbury’s. The sweet taste of the lychee helps to counteract the slightly bitter taste of the tea, and combined with the mango it has a lovely subtle exotic fruit flavour. I’ve found that the tea tastes best when brewed for 30 second and no longer, as green tea gets very bitter if left to brew for too long. When I first started drinking it I made the mistake of leaving the bag in my cup while I attempted to drink it and simply couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drink anything so disgusting! Fortunately someone pointed out to me the error of my ways.

My preferred time to drink green tea is late in the afternoon before a gym session, as the caffeine it contains can increase endurance or help with short intense exercise. Also, it’s tasty and it makes me feel like I’m being super healthy.

I’d be really interested to hear your green tea recommendations as I’m racing through my box of Mango & Lychee and would love to try something new. What’s your favourite flavour?

Review: a skeptic goes to Zumba

Photo: a collection of bafflingly-dressed Zumba dancers

Zumba fitness has risen to towering levels of popularity in the last year or so. Described by Zumba themselves as “an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party” (catchy), the brand has classes running in over 125 countries with more than 12 million people in attendance. If attending a weekly class just isn’t enough to satisfy your Zumba addiction, or you’d rather exercise in the comfort of your living room, you can also purchase Zumba dance games for the Wii and Xbox Kinect. It’s safe to say that a lot of people have been bitten by the Zumba bug.

Since I started working on my fitness, I have always been wary and sceptical of exercise fads. I know that novelty workouts like Zumba have the potential to get people to exercise who otherwise wouldn’t be doing any at all, and I think that’s great. However, incorporating an exercise routine into your daily life long-term is a challenge and I think faddy workouts carry the danger of the initial novelty wearing off before you have maximised your fitness potential. Additionally, I find the fact that Zumba is a money-spinning brand a little off-putting. If your priority is marketing and selling a brand, how do I know you have my best (fitness) interests at heart?

(I’ll also freely admit that my reluctance to explore novelty exercise classes like Zumba has a lot to do with the fact that I tend to steer clear of anything that everyone is doing/watching/reading/listening to because I’m stubborn and don’t like feeling pressured to get involved in something just because of hype! Yes, I know that’s a silly reason.)

So, with all that in mind, I’ve been quite content with the cardio/resistance workout I have developed for myself and attending the odd cardio or toning class (spin and BLT are two of my favourites, or circuits if I really want to punish myself) and have never felt the urge to branch out into the field of “dance fitness parties”. However, my gym recently announced that it would be holding a couple of Zumba taster sessions with the potential to run a full course, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to get over my initial reluctance and try it out.

My class was an hour long and there were six or seven of us, led by an enthusiastic barefoot instructor who launched into the first routine immediately without any introduction or demonstration of the moves. I don’t know whether this is typical of Zumba having never attended classes elsewhere, but the idea seemed to be to simply throw yourself in and follow the instructor as best you could. I think everyone felt a bit silly at first and I’d say it’s fairly essential if you’re thinking of trying it that you are capable of laughing at yourself and not getting embarrassed, because you WILL look a bit stupid. Fortunately so will everyone else.

If I’m honest, I didn’t really take to it, and I think part of the reason for that is that the class was so small it was impossible to get lost in a big crowd of other people dancing (like in the adverts), and in a group as small as that you tend to feel a bit exposed. Which wouldn’t have been such an issue if I hadn’t spent a great deal of the class sort of suspended mid-movement with a look of bafflement on my face as I tried to keep up with the instructor and master dance moves I had no idea how to perform. Let me tell you, standing around looking confused isn’t the best calorie-burner. I wasn’t alone, either – with the exception of one or two seasoned Zumba-goers everyone was in the same boat.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important to push yourself when exercising and I like classes that challenge me, but when they’re SO challenging that I spend a lot of time doing nothing at all while I try and figure out what the hell is going on, I feel a bit like I’ve wasted my time. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the class if the instructor had spent some time at the beginning outlining a few of the moves and building up the pace slowly. I was not born with an innate ability to salsa dance, I need to be shown how to move my feet so I don’t end up shuffling unsteadily sideways like a camp, uncoordinated crab. Was it fun? Yes, and with a few more people in attendance I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more. Would I go again? Possibly, but only if I felt like I had spent a reasonable amount of time that week doing some decent cardio, because I didn’t feel like I got that from my first Zumba experience.


Have you ever tried Zumba? Or do you go regularly? What do you think of it?

Choosing a gym

As a former sport-phobic I never thought I’d say these words, but I’m a huge advocate for going to the gym. Aside from helping you maintain a healthy weight and keeping you fit, regular exercise is good for stress, improves concentration levels, gives you energy and helps you sleep better. When I leave the gym, I feel happy, positive and revitalised. I just wish I could bottle that feeling to motivate me to go in the first place because dragging myself there is tough, especially when I’m tired after work and just want to go home and relax. I read recently that the hardest part of going for a run is putting your trainers on and I think that can also be applied to the gym – the hardest part of going is picking up your kit, pointing yourself at one and walking there.

I don’t want to sound like a smug gym bunny (really, I just want to encourage others to try it because it’s done so much for me!), but I don’t think I ever realised how drained and lethargic I was all the time until I started going regularly. It can make a huge difference to how you feel, and the more you go, the more you’ll want to go. If your aim is to lose weight, the most important thing to do is to stick at it enough at first to see some results. This won’t take long, and once you start to see the inches and pounds disappear it will motivate you to keep going. It’s just getting over that hurdle that requires some real willpower, because if you don’t see instant results it’s tempting to write the whole thing off as a waste of time. Don’t give up! With a bit of time, you’ll be glad you didn’t, I promise.

When choosing a gym to join, there are a few things to bear in mind to determine whether it’s the right one for you. Firstly, you need to consider what kind of gym you want to be a member of. My gym is pretty basic; it’s the Easyjet of gyms. It’s not flashy but it’s got everything I need and the membership fees are cheap. However, you might want to fork out for something a bit more upmarket. Is a swimming pool important to you? A sauna? Pine-scented changing rooms with complementary body lotion? Spend some time thinking about what it is you’re looking for. If you’re a first-time gym-goer, I’d recommend exploring the budget options first. You can always upgrade if you want to once you’ve settled into a routine.

Another important factor to consider is location. I think the ideal location is somewhere between where you work and where you live (or close to one or the other), so it’s easy to fit into your schedule and you aren’t put off by having to go far out of your way. Make it as easy as possible for yourself to get there and you’ll be less likely to make excuses and sack it off. If you work close enough to a gym to visit during your breaks, even better!

Once you’ve identified a gym or two that might be suitable then go and visit them. Chat to the staff, have a look around, get a feel for the place. If you’re interested in attending exercise classes, find out what kind of programmes they run. It’s also worth enquiring about the different types of memberships they offer; they might have reduced membership fees for students, or people who want to visit during off-peak hours. My gym is women-only, which I like because I find the idea of working out next to massive burly men quite off-putting! When you visit, get a feel for the type of people who go there so you can be sure you’ll be comfortable. It might be popular with uber-fit athletes, or perhaps more of an “all shapes and sizes” kind of place (my preference).

Finally, if you’re on a budget or just hunting for a good deal, it’s worth having a look at Martin Lewis’s article on cheap gym memberships. It’s regularly updated with the best offers and gives information on how to get your hands on free passes.

I hope someone somewhere finds this helpful! I will follow up soon with a post on my tips for getting started once you’ve joined.

Introduction

Hello, I’m Sophie. I’m 27 and live, work and study in Canterbury in Kent. I’m completely new to blogging so I thought I’d use my first post to tell you a little bit about me, and talk about the kind of things I plan to post so you know what to expect from this blog.

I've always been quite health-conscious, but my interest in health and fitness really kicked in when I left full-time education and started working in an office. The transition from being fairly active to sitting on my bum at a desk all day within easy reach of several vending machines, combined with the inevitable slowing-down of my metabolism as I crept into my 20s resulted in me gaining more than two stone before I had even really realised it was happening. I went from a size 10 to a size 14, which is hardly obese, but as I’m only 5’4” it made quite a bit of difference to my shape. People who knew me at the time tell me that it wasn't that bad, that they barely noticed the weight gain (or didn't notice it at all) but I just didn't feel like myself and wanted my old figure back. I joined a gym but was pretty lazy about going and often only managed to drag myself there about once a week.

Eventually, something in my brain snapped and I stepped it up. I started forcing myself to the gym two or three times a week and made an effort to eat less rubbish and stop snacking. Slowly but surely, over a period of about a year, I lost the weight I had gained and managed to tone up and boost my metabolism in the process, finally dropping back down to a size 10. Since then, I've had my ups and downs. My weight still fluctuates and I have unhealthy days, weeks, even months. However, now that I have experienced first-hand the difference that a good diet and a bit of exercise can make, I'm a complete advocate for trying to live healthily.

I don’t want this to be a weight-loss blog. I think weight-loss (IF you want it) is a happy side-effect of healthy living, which has benefits that go way beyond just slimming down. I hope to use this blog to share what I’ve found out about for myself (and am still discovering) about healthy eating and fitness techniques, to talk about my experiences and offer tips for people who don’t really know where to start.

I am by no means a fitness or nutrition expert, and I hope this blog will serve as a motivational tool for me just as much as for anyone who happens to find it helpful. I’ve got a few ideas, but please let me know if there is anything in particular you’d like to read about and I’ll do my best to include it.

Thanks for reading!