What you do today for yourself both mentally, physically and physiologically has a huge impact on your life tomorrow.

In the wise words of Zac Efron from his new series, Down to Earth he says; “We don’t like to think we are growing older even though we are constantly doing it”. When we are in our twenties and even thirties, we often feel a little too invincible to the real world and the happenings within us. We often neglect to remind ourselves of the importance of healthy aging which begins while we are young. Although our metabolisms are in it’s prime and we may not pick up weight as quickly or feel the effects of what we put into our body immediately, it is important to remember what we put into our body today will have an impact on it tomorrow. 

This is a topic that resonates with me and has been on my mind for a while now, too often I see friends or people I know of neglecting their health for which I can assume 4 reasons; 1. They are unaware of the importance in healthy eating and living 2. They are somewhat too lazy to try and make an effort on doing so 3. They think just one more won’t hurt (200 times over) 4. They don’t really believe the impact it will have on their life in a few years time.

In just over three months, I will officially be a qualified Sport Scientist and with that comes all the amazing knowledge I’ve learned over the years about health and wellness, the importance of exercise, eating well and the disadvantages of doing the opposite. Although it would be nice, we youngsters unfortunately don’t have a free diet pass, a healthy diet is so crucial at every age and if there was one thing I want this post to do, it is to to urge you to be mindful of the food you put into your body and maybe think twice before you have to decide between a cheesy pizza or a chicken salad! Living a disease free life is what the goal should be and this is how its done..

Your future self will thank you for it

This is probably the most important point I want to get across to you. We all know the saying  ‘prevention is better than cure’, If you are mindful of being healthy both mentally and physically now, you’ll be putting your body at less risk for health problems and diseases later on. Working out and eating healthy is more than just losing weight and ‘looking’ a certain way, if you are purposefully introducing healthier habits into your life your body will be able to function at it’s best and in turn, it will feel so much better in the long run. 

Eat right to have more energy

I am sure somewhere along the road you have heard of the term ‘brain food’. The brain is an organ that uses energy and takes about 20% of the body’s calories in order to function, that’s why it is so essential to ensure you are fueling it with the necessary foods. It also needs good whole foods to remain healthy, just like the rest of our body. 

Consuming foods that are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is vital in ensuring health whether it be brain health, gut health, heart health – it is all relevant and they are all interdependent, meaning they influence one another. Eating the right kinds of carbohydrates, fats and proteins will provide you with more energy throughout the day, you will be able to function for longer periods of time before feeling fatigued and your overall mental health will improve too.

You’ll feel better about yourself and attract healthier habits and people

It is no doubt that when you eat healthy, you feel healthy. When you are putting the right nutrients into your body and working out a bit more often than usual, you will begin to notice that your body will be able to perform efficiently and function a bit more adequately then usual.

Another part of your body that will thank you for it is your skin, remember what you put inside your body will show on the outside. If you are eating wholefoods and saying no to extra greasy and cheesy foods, your skin will start to relish. You will glow and in a few years time, your skin will reflect the healthy habits you began when you were younger.

Stretching

I don’t want to limit looking after yourself to just the foods you consume, simple things such as moisturising after the shower or doing 5 minutes of stretching every morning will all have a huge impact on you in the years to come.

Stretching has a wide variety of benefits for both the younger generations and older populations. Stretching when you are young can help prevent many injuries from occurring as you get older, and is also known to help prevent or minimise the risk of certain diseases such as arthritis. It helps maintain mobility and balance which are crucial the older you get, as it’ll prevent you from falling.

So as you can see, there are so many important reasons as to why you should look after yourself from a young age. Don’t do it for me, or your friends, you should do it for you because you love your body and you want to look after it so it can look after you the older you get.

In todays world, health is a term that is heavily controversial. There are so many debates as to what constitutes itself as ‘health’ and it is an ever changing phenomenon due to new discoveries, experiments, scientific evidence and own personal opinion.

Thats why I want to ask you, what is health to YOU? I know what it means to me, but that may not necessarily be the same as what it means to you. So, this is where we begin – it is so important to remember that there is no rule book to health, there is no road that takes us to the final destination. Health is, and will always be something that is acquired to ones own beliefs, morals, values and where they are at, in their life at the time. The meaning of health will constantly change as you go through the different phases of your life, when you are in your teenage years it may mean something completely different to you as to when you would be pregnant or fighting an illness.

The meaning of health should always be relevant to what you are wanting to achieve out of life. Whether that be to lose a few kgs or to prevent yourself from developing diseases as you get older and maintaining who you are now.

Health is NOT only based around fitness and intense activity. Health is so much more then that and thats what I want to talk about today; health but not in relation to exercise. I want to talk about health in relation to the inner workings of the body because you can assume fit and healthy on the outside but you have to understand that it all begins on the inside.

Gut health

I am almost sure you have heard the word ‘gut health’ been thrown around somewhere in this cyber world. You may have a good understanding of what it is or you may not, either way one of the main things you need to know is that it is important!

Good gut health impacts many things such as; gastrointestinal fitness, immune fitness, emotional health, cognitive functioning and your energy thus it is crucial in maintaining overall good body health. A healthy gut contains bacteria and immune cells that ward off many infectious diseases, help fight illness and even fungi. A healthy gut = a healthy digestive system. Good gut health helps to keep a balance between organs and hormones inside your body, which in turn will affect your health and well-being. So it is clear to say that your gut health influences your mental health and vice versa. When you have a balanced gut it is known as something called ‘equilibrium’, this is where the poor bacteria don’t have space to grow and and the good bacteria pave the way for them to do their jobs, ie. digest foods and ward off the evil.

The sad reality though, is that because we have easy access to fast food chains and that there is economic and pandemic stress it is easier and more common to find those living an unbalanced and sedentary life. Thus, in turn poor gut health is becoming more and more common in people.

Everything in your body is interdependent, meaning that everything influences each other one way or another. Thats why it is important to look after your inner-self just as much as your outer-self. So if your gut health is out of whack, so will how you feel, your well-being, mental health. You’ll feel lethargic and have digestive issues, maybe even symptoms of abdominal pain and bloating. These are all signs of an unhealthy gut. I would encourage you to be aware of how your body feels after eating food, pay attention to what you put into your body, notice if you are eating whole foods that are full of anti-oxidants, taking your daily vitamin C and omegas to look after your gut or are you eating greasy food that is cheap, mass produced and gives you temporary satisfaction which in turn contributes to the discomfort you may be experiencing. What you put into your body plays a major role in how your body functions which in turn will affect how you feel mentally and physically.

Mental health

I am an avid contender of mental health, as someone who has been into health and fitness for many years – I will always tell you that mental health should always become before physical health. Yes, there are known benefits of physical health improving your mental health but mental health is so much more then just dropping some squats, getting a jog in and calling it a day. Mental health is where you live, its the voice inside of your head constantly telling you, you can or can’t do it. Mental health is all about inner healing and constant self-development. It is wanting to work on you for the respect and love you have for yourself and your mind, to live a life where you never feel like you can’t achieve something.

Working on your mind is one of the most powerful and healthiest things you could do for yourself and I strongly encourage you to do it. There is no better feeling then waking up in the morning excited and inspired for the day to come, trust me because I have felt the opposite many of a time.

When I experienced one of the darker times of my life; I dwelled on everything, I felt sorry for myself, I threw many pity parties where the only person who showed up was myself. Until one day I realised that was just it, It is always going to be me at the end of the day, I am the only one who knows how I feel exactly, what I am going though intently and I am the only one in control of how I am going to change MY life for MYself. Other people are going to carry on with their lives, yes, if you are lucky you have incredible people supporting you and backing you but they are also living their own life and going through their own tribulations – they aren’t fixated on how you are feeling 110% of the time so YOU need to for yourself. After everything, you owe it to yourself to do such a thing. You just need to believe that you are worthy of so much more, because you are. And if you think that there is nothing ‘more’ then I can tell you my friend, you are wrong and thats where self-development comes in.

Self-development is a whole other world. It opens your mind to new perspectives and opinions, it helps you to see things in a light you never thought possible, it reminds you to focus on the things that are truly worth focusing on and in the midst of it all, you tend to see how you created mountains out of molehills. It truly is an incredible hobby to begin and its never too late, no matter how old or how young – you know how the saying goes, better late than never.

So I encourage you to focus on your health. Determine what it is exactly that health means to you and stick with it, make it your own. Work on that mindset, create amazing goals and get excited about life. It can only go up from here!

“You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move“

Becoming a HIIT FIT Stellies coach [Find out more about that here] has been one of the highlights of my year so far. I’ve learned and grown so much in such a short amount of time that I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned and come across with you!

Stay soft on the knees.

It is important always be conscious about how you land when you are doing a squat jump, tuck jump or any other type of explosive movement. You want to aim for and focus on executing a soft landing. This is because the harder you land, the more pressure you put on your knees and this type of shock cannot be absorbed accordingly to protect your joints. If you aren’t aware of what you are doing or how it can damage your joints, it can result in injury in which prevention is always better then cure.

Engage your core when doing a push up.

Push ups are difficult and easy to make errors in, when you are in a push up position whether it’s military style or with the knees bent you want to keep your whole body aligned. The same could be said for a plank – suck your stomach towards your spine, engage and tuck your tailbone in. If you feel your t-shirt slipping up, it generally means your bottom is too high!

If it burns, it means it’s working!

I always say to my girls that as long as they’re moving i’m happy. Don’t be ashamed to step it down a notch and switch to an alternative move, that’s why we have them. Sometimes slower is better and there isn’t much use performing an advanced version of an exercise if you don’t know how to execute the simpler version first. It’s you against you, so work on your weaknesses and you’ll reap the rewards!

Wear the right shoes.

This one may seem a bit absurd but is definitely valid. I injured my knee towards the end of last year because I pushed myself during a high intensity workout, floors were slippery and I had no grip on my shoes so it was basically a disaster waiting to happen. When you need to jump forwards, do sprints or anything that requires you to move to a new space, it’s so important to have shoes that support your ankles and have grip to avoid slipping or tweaking anything. If you don’t have shoes that have the best grip and don’t want to purchase a new pair – you can use a yoga mat as extra prevention from injury!

Ensure good form.

Lastly, remember that when you are doing a high intensity workout, it’s easy to let go of good form and so it is important to be mindful and conscious about the movements while performing them to ensure optimal performance while keeping your muscles and joints protected!

All too often we feel as though it’s the end when we are stuck in a mental rut, we feel as though there’s no way of getting out of this feeling and that we are stuck in this experience forever. Well, I have good news for you – that’s not the case. I am constantly preaching about how important it is to look after your body, keep yourself healthy to allow a better quality of life for yourself and although I have integrated it in a few blog posts here and there, I want to put greater emphasis on how important it is to look after your mental health in this blog post.

I was recently in a bit of a mental rut – Allowing the smallest of things get to me, uni to get the best of me and instead of actively trying to fix it, I allowed it to consume me which in turn it affected different aspects of my life. After really being sick of feeling like this I started brainstorming ways to improve how I feel and take control, here’s how I helped myself get unstuck.

Youtube Videos

I was at the point where I was willing to do and watch anything that could possibly spark some sort of inspiration inside of myself – the first thing I did was search for motivational videos. This lead me to the worm hole of Tedx Talks by many incredible psychologists and their different ways of approaching these slumps and bumps in life.

Pride is such a big thing when it comes to people being right and wrong. A person would rather not admit that they were wrong and find ways to actively fix their behaviour then admit it and find solutions to create a better quality of life for themselves both physically and mentally. It lead me to realise that although there were so many external things affecting how I felt there and then and waiting for those to change, I needed to get up and change what I have control over, realising this was a game changer for me.

Podcasts

I get very tired of being on my phone or looking at a screen so a podcast was the next best thing for me – although it’s on my phone, I can set up a playlist, put my phone aside and take it all in without the distraction of social media and the internet. I like to just get up in the morning, whilst I get ready for the day pop on a podcast of interest whether it’s motivational or about nutrition, it’s a great way to learn and get different perspectives on similar topics.

The first two things are easy to do, right? Just hop onto your phone and laptop and watch/listen to people talking, however this next thing has to be the most difficult of all because it requires the most effort – Practice.

Practice

One thing that kept coming up from every podcast and every video I watched was persistence. Persistence is the key to everything. Put it this way; it’s better to eat well for 5 out of 7 days of the week for the entire year rather than perfectly for two full weeks out of the year. The same applies for your mental health, practicing what you preach for one or two day’s won’t make a difference for the rest of your life. It’s something that you need to consciously make an effort to do every single day and hopefully, it’ll become second nature for you.

Here are some simple tips to practicing a healthier mentality:

1. Don’t worry about things you can’t control, other people’s actions and other people’s responses, their negativity, anger has nothing to do with you so don’t concern yourself with it.
2. Wake up with a proactive mindset instead of saying ‘what does today have in store for me’ say ‘What can I give the world today’?’ From the minute you wake up, you set the tone for your day. YOU have control over how you’re going to handle the stresses and the obstacle that need to be overcome and in summary, ou determine how your day is going to be, not anyone else unless you allow them to.
3. Be selfish. Ask yourself, ‘What can you do selfishly, to be selfless?’ It sounds a bit counter productive but hear me out, I heard a great example that went like this; if a plane was going down you need to put your gas mask on first, why? Because you can’t help someone else put their mask on if you’re dead. Now think of that in life terms, you can’t pour from an empty cup so look after yourself first so you can fill yourself up and begin to share with others.

I know how difficult it can be to try and pull yourself out of these mental ruts and i’m nowhere near to perfecting it but we all have to start somewhere. You have to WANT to start somewhere to make a change in your life. When I was going through this all I wanted was to read something like this blog post that could set me on the right path and that’s why I am making this for you – in the hopes to inspire you to actively change your mental path for the better.

Always remember that any step that you take to change your life for the better is a step in the right direction, even if it is just making your bed in the morning or watching a motivational video!

If you have some tips that you use to help you get out of these funks, please comment them below! I believe that every person has some ideas and ways that we could benefit from.

2018 has come and it has gone. I can’t say that i’m sad to say goodbye to the year but I am thankful for everything it taught me!

First of all, I want to say hello and welcome to my blog – whether you are new here or have come to visit my site before, I hope 2019 brings all the success and luck you deserve! I quickly want to say a personal thank you to my readers, those people that like, share, comment & read my blogs. I’m forever grateful for all the support you guys have shown me over the last year – I absolutely love writing these posts and seeing any kind of response from you guys just makes it all the more enjoyable! So thank YOU!

With starting university in 2018, I didn’t write as many posts as id have liked but when I got a chance – I loved it. Let’s have a look at some of my favourite posts from 2018!

Swimming my way through the ocean exhibit | Two Oceans Aquarium

This day has definitely got to be one of my favourites of the year, swimming with turtles & snorkeling around the edge of the ocean exhibit was the ultimate highlight for me!

Towards the end of the year I started getting a feel for what I wanted my blog to be about & how I wanted to present it to you guys – I think most of my favourite posts from 2018 definitely come from December.

5 Ways to an Environmentally Friendly Christmas | Gift Wrapping Ideas

This post has got to be my most loved of the year – It made me so happy to see people interested in wanting to find ways to be more eco friendly for our environment!

Lessons I’ve Learned in 12 Months | 2018 in Review

I’ve always enjoyed reflecting on the things i’ve gone through and learned at the end of the year. I felt that, although personal this post was one of the most insightful one’s I had written!

I really hope to only grow my blog this year and continue to inspire you all. I’m so excited to see where we can go from here!

For some reason, I have this habit of writing out my New Year resolutions. Whether it be in a journal or a blog post so this year, I thought a blog post was fitting. I find that if I’ve written it down somewhere, I can go back to it and I keep myself accountable for the things I want to achieve throughout the year but also in the hopes to spark some inspiration for those reading this.

Usually at the start if every year I have my plans and goals set out but this year is different, it just feels different. I have this new fire in my belly, this excitement and curiosity for what 2019 has in store for myself. I havent gone into the year putting the pressure on myself to achieve certain fitness goals and to eat clean for a certain amount of days and to be honest, I think that’s why I feel so good about this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have resolutions and goals to achieve but I feel comfortable with them. I don’t feel the pressures coming from different directions, it’s just me and my goals in my own time. I’ve been thinking about what I want my resolutions to be, for a few days now and I had the same thing pop into my head repeatedly – I want to improve who I was in 2018.

2018 was a huge learning curve for me, I grew a lot and I want to grow on that. I want to do better and be better, I want to be kinder to myself for myself. I know we can all get a little lost trying to see the bigger picture, including myself – I want to allow myself to enjoy the little things without worrying about the big things.

I like to think I am a pretty organised person and i’m sure a few family and friends would vouch for that, however sometimes my organisation gets lost amidst the chaos of university. I want to practice keeping things and areas clutter free to avoid a cluttered mind!

Health and fitness is and always will be a goal of mine, but it’s a consistent goal that i’m constantly working on – one I don’t think will ever be fully complete because there is always room for improvement. That’s why this year, although focusing on those aspects, there are other parts of my life that I was to focus more on. Self-care is a high priority for this year, we can all get carried away by life doing it’s thing, I know I do. Many times last year did it lead me to exhaustion and being burned out, getting i’ll a lot quicker then usual and having no energy for anything but to sleep. We all work best when we are feeling our best so here’s where I am at with this. I had this bad habit of studying for something ridiculous like 8 hours a time and if I wrote an exam every second or third day I would go into complete hibernation and not leave my apartment (how am I not a crazy lady yet? I’m not sure) so I’ve realised that this year I need to practice taking some more time off as well as some me time.

I have many goals for my blog, I want to post more often and inspire those during the most difficult times. Uni is my number one priority however, my blog literally keeps me sane so I want to work on balancing those two things without the added pressure of deadlines.

As selfish as you may think this sounds, 2019 is all about me and contentment, with that said I think it’s the year to make it all about you, too. Without shame, without guilt but with pure love and kindness for yourself. You deserve it just as much as I know I do.

So what about you? What are you doing in your life to make 2019 your best year yet? I’m looking forward to being one step closer to being fully content and if you’re there already, kudos to you, you’re an inspiration to us all!

Rolling over into the new year has got to be one of my favourite feelings. There is so much hope and opportunity for what’s to come, for what you can create. If things didn’t pan out the previous year, you get another chance to achieve whatever you want!

I don’t know about you but I’m definitely guilty for writing out a whole long list of New Year resolutions and not getting past the first one. When writing out a full list of goals and resolutions, it can seem quite daunting and overwhelming and could quite possibly be why most of them don’t see the light of day. That’s why I want to help you create measurable New Year Resolutions for yourself (and myself, let’s be real!) We all know the aim of these resolutions is to carry them out throughout the year and in turn, hopefully start a new healthier lifestyle for ourselves, here are four simple steps you can follow to guide you into the right path for the New Year!

It starts with you.

No goal will begin or end if you aren’t in it 110%. When creating your resolutions you have to be inspired about it, when you are motivated and excited to start doing something it’s going to be a lot easier to continue them instead of it feeling like a chore. You can take a goal that has been lingering at the back of your mind for months if not years and use that to your advantage – if it has been there and it’s something you still think about then it’s something you need to go and grab (sounds like something I say to myself when I see a cute bag at the shop) and use that motivation. It’ll manifest itself into greater things!

Make sure your goals are realistic and measurable.

This is something I live by, whenever I create goals for myself throughout the year I try my utmost best to make sure they are realistically achievable within my specific timeframe. The goals you want to create can be as big or as small as you want them to be, just make sure that they aren’t so overwhelming that you don’t want to try at all! (I’ve been there all too many times). I like to create a main goal for myself and then break it up into smaller segments, I find this helps not only to make things seem less cluttered but also helps me stay accountable to my goals.

Find an accountability partner, whatever the goal.

There are going to be many moments throughout that you are going to feel uninspired and unmotivated, as though you’re getting nowhere so you may as well quit – don’t worry, that’s normal! That’s why on days where you’re finding it difficult to get yourself out of the house, knowing that someone on the other side is also counting on you to help achieve their goals makes it a lot easier! Plus; once you’re there you’ll be thanking yourself for it. With that said, it’s important to be kind to yourself and remember that slow progress is still progress. Although it sometimes seems easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, every small step counts towards your goals and still makes a difference. Keep going, you got this! You’re capable of great things, believe it.

Start small.

Success doesn’t happen overnight and neither does progress. It’s something you have to work on every day, little by little. Easing yourself into achieving your goals, doing one small change every day and practicing those changes will make the whole process a lot easier and a lot more maintainable for the rest of the year. Eventually it’ll become second nature, just persevere and have patience!

I know this isn’t me telling you exactly how to achieve your goals and make them realistic but if you take your inspirations, follow these steps and trust yourself – I promise you, you’ll reap the rewards you just need to be mindful and also remember that it is a lot easier to write 10 goals down on a piece of paper than go out and make them happen. You’re only human, don’t set yourself up with disappointment, it’s not fair on you!

With that said, I hope that you all have had a Merry Christmas and that you have the best start to the New Year!