For those who know me, know I am a huge advocate for mental health. Yes, a lot of the content and posts that I do points in the direction of physical health and while that is just as important, it always coincides with mental health. I know many people who make the mistake of only working on their physical health, often neglecting their mental health and the importance of it. I always say that you can work on your physical health and fitness as much as you like, you can go to the gym 7 days a week and do cardio 5 times a week but if you aren’t addressing the demons you have going on in your mind, you’ll still be unhealthy. 

When I talk about mental health, I am talking about the WHOLE spectrum. You don’t necessarily need to be suffering from depression or be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, even things such as every day stress affects your mental health. The longer you leave it, the more detrimental it can become. That’s why from high school, I have always made a conscious effort to ensure that not only am I constantly working to improve my physical health and fitness, but my mental health too. 

Don’t get me wrong, the suggestions following below are not ways to cure mental health illnesses or the stresses you may experience from day to day. Regardless of the things you do, you will have days where you don’t feel so great and all you really want to do is lie in bed, eat ice cream and binge Spinning Out for the third time this year. And that is OK! But what I do wish to encourage you to do is be proactive, conscious and respectful towards yourself. Being sad and then purposefully watching something sad or listening to sad music will ultimately make you more sad. DUH. But don’t do that, don’t allow it to consume you and let you waste valuable time that you could be spending working on yourself. Our Egos are big ugly things that are typically the “Devil on your shoulder”. The Ego is something that is often spoken about in Psychology, I have recently been reading (and loving) Jen Sincero’s book “You are a badass” and she likes to refer to the Ego as the “Big Snooze” or “BS” (conveniently) because that is exactly what it is. She goes on further to state that the Ego is, “The shadow self, the false self or the self that makes us act like a weenie, it is the part of us that is driving the bus when we do things to sabotage our happiness”  It is what stops you from going out and doing things your better self wants to do, the self that has no fear and enjoys learning and experiencing new things regardless of the terrifying outcome. It stops you from GROWTH! You just need to have the self-discipline to push past the Devil’s words, and create the happiness and the life you know you can have.

I may seem like I am rambling but stick with me, it is all valid. All too often I see friends and family members, friends of family members, family members of friends allowing the negatives of their lives to consume them. Heck, even I have done it before. We all do. This is because it is easier to wallow in self pity than it is to go out and make a change. There is something intoxicating about feeling low because you feel like it gives you a sort of “leeway” to not do anything. It is assumed that it’s a valid excuse because you’re sad, you don’t have to make your bed because you’re sad or you don’t have to eat healthy today because you’re too busy and stressed. It gives you a reason to not move forward in a positive direction because it’ll take lots of hard work and practice.

I think us, as humans enjoy finding excuses to not deal with the internal struggles we have going on because it is easier. But if there is one thing I have learned over the past few months is that finding distractions, people to fill the voids and unhealthy habits to waste time is only going to extend your healing process and pain for a lot longer. You are only damaging yourself more.

“Feeling the need to be busy all the time is a trauma response and a fear-based distraction from what you’d be forced to acknowledge and feel if you slowed down”

What I am ultimately trying to get at is that as difficult as it is to face what hides below the triggers, you need to do it in order to allow yourself to heal and to grow. You need to have the discipline, respect and love for yourself to be able to face the ugly head on to work on and create the beautiful for yourself. (You can see this lockdown has given me time to think, lol!)

With that said, use these next 2 weeks as an opportunity for growth. Work on the parts of you that you have been so busy ignoring, do things that you’ve always found excuses to not complete and do it for you. That is what I am doing and I am so much happier for it. Let the pity parties stop here, let the Big Snooze sleep & stay sleeping and let yourself receive the things you deserve to receive. 

Here are 6 things I have recently added to my self-isolation routine to improve my mental health:

Reading self-development books 

You are never going to learn to grow if you don’t open yourself to new ideas, opinions and perspectives. Reading motivational, self-development, self-help books all offer you a new perspective on how to live a healthier, happier and more fulfilled life (if you follow what they say). For the past week I have been reading Jen Sincero’s “You are a Badass” self-development/help book and I love it. It is easy to follow, witty and all round helpful. 10/10 recommend. 

There are plenty of options online on what books to read. Decide where you are at in your life, what you want to work on and then narrow your options down to the books that relate and interest you currently. 

Look after myself more (Do more things for me)

I am definitely one of those people to put other people’s needs and wants ahead of mine, it is one of the traits I value in myself – especially when it comes to people I care about because heck, they deserve it. But often that leaves me forgetting about my needs and my wants, so I have really been practicing looking after myself even in the slightest ways which in turn makes the biggest difference to how I feel. Examples of this would be doing a face mask every Sunday, lying in the sun and reading a book or listening to music and using a facial roller every day, twice a day (Gotta keep that skin looking youthful). The more you do these things, the quicker they will become habits and the sooner you’ll start to feel better. 

Doing at least one active thing a day 

Like I said at the beginning of this post, physical health and mental health coincide with one another. ESPECIALLY during lockdown where all we can pretty much do is sit on your butt and watch tv, it is important to move. Get the heart rate going, blood circulating and body groovin’. (Was hoping that would rhyme, poor attempt). Even if it’s something small. One of the major advantages of Social Media is the convenience, there are plenty of at home workout videos to follow on YouTube and Instagram. If working out isn’t your thing, trying some Yoga or Pilates. I just deeply encourage you to try and move about for even the smallest fraction of your day, I know it makes me feel good and productive and it is bound to do the same for you!

Social Media declutter 

Sounds weird, sounds unnecessary but what you surround yourself with and the things you follow are the things your subconscious “manifests” for you. If you constantly follow negative pages or read sad quotes, chances are you aren’t going to ever really be happy because you’re always relating to the dimmer side of things.  So I did a Social Media “decluttering”. Anything that was no longer serving me any positivity and inspiration I unfollowed, whether that be meme pages or quotes, people I knew or didn’t know – what’s the point? Get rid of it if you feel no sort of value coming from it. If you aren’t too keen on the unfollow bit which I admit, I was to a certain extent, the mute button is a great tool and one I take real advantage of and NOT sorry for it! You gotta be thinking about yourself when you do this, not how they might feel. 

Meditate

This one is still a bit new to me. I still find it a bit strange learning how to empty my thoughts and just be in the now. But I have been doing this very casually every night for 5 minutes before I go to bed and I find it really calms me and my thoughts. Meditation is also really lovely for those who suffer from anxiety and stress. It allows you to not think of the future but to remain present, focus on your breathing, learn to relax and relieve you of any stresses you’ve been holding onto for the day. You don’t need to know how to do it off the bat, if you ask me I don’t really think there is a right or wrong way to do it. You just start off small, a few minutes every day and if you want to, you can expand from there. 

“You spend your entire life in your head, make sure it’s a comfortable place”

If there is one other thing I can ask you to do, is check on your friends during this time, even the ones that seem the strongest. You know how the saying goes, ‘Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about’. During this lockdown, it is easy to over think and to over feel, knowing that there is someone there for you can go a long way. Let’s try make this world a little softer for those who need it, including ourselves.

I am both shocked and appalled by how quickly these last six months have gone! I feel as though January was just the other day and now I am writing my first blog post for December! Holiday Season is just about in full swing for almost everyone (and if it’s not for you, let’s pretend it is cause lets be real, you deserve the break too!) and what a better way to start it then by kicking it off with some healthy habits!? 

I’m a firm believer that you determine how your day is going to be from the minute you wake up, the thoughts in your mind and how you allow yourself to feel about the day ahead. Let’s be honest, we all know of someone that wakes up 10 minutes before they have to leave the house causing them to be rushed, late and a little damn frazzled – I wouldn’t say it’s the best way to start the day and sometimes we just need to be exposed to new ways on how to do something. Here are 3 things I do to start my day off;

Wake up early

Now, I know what you are thinking “I am on holiday, the last thing I feel like doing is waking up early” and thats completely fair. Allow yourself a week to recharge, sleep in, mosey around the house and do things that will give your body the break it deserves and when you feel it is right – you can implement this step into your routine. I have never been the type of person to wake up late, even if I tried! So if you are like me, this step may be a bit easier but if you love your sleep and you aren’t so much a morning person then inevitably it will be a little more difficult. However, once you get into the habit of it – it is a game changer! Waking up early allows you to have time to wake up, breathe and think about what you want to achieve for the day and the things you need to do – if you know that you often rush and don’t have time to have breakfast because you wake up late and just jump out of bed, chuck on some clothes so you can get to your next destination on time – maybe it’s time to re-evaluate and try something new! 

I always find that your morning determines how the rest of your day is going to be. I’ve gotten into the habit of waking up earlier then I need to and I find that it really helps set up a productive day for myself. We all love to sleep, but we also love not feeling rushed. Sometimes compromises have to be made, even if that means waking up 15 minutes earlier then what your alarm is set – it’ll make a world of difference. 

Drink warm lemon water

Whenever my body is feeling a bit run down and in need of a good boost, I often turn to warm lemon water. I usually make it 20 minutes before I eat which will help kick start your metabolism and digestive system. Lemon water also has so many other health benefits such as keeping your immune system strong, ridding the body of toxins and luckily for us, it doesn’t taste half bad either! 

Read and take time for yourself

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is get up, make myself some herbal tea and breakfast and sit down and read my book – I enjoy reading self development books, especially before the day has started. I find that it is a motivational and encouraging way to start the day. You don’t even have to read a book, I know many people don’t enjoy reading but luckily we live in an age where we can easily have access to audio books or even podcasts, you find what works for you and do that. Another thing is that you could go out onto the balcony or garden and have a cup of tea or coffee. Just something to give time to yourself, focus on you and be mindful of the present, away from your phone and chaos of the day ahead.

As you can see, it is the small changes in your routine that will make the biggest difference. Often people thing that you have to make the most drastic changed in order to be productive but in fact, it is quite the opposite actually. Do one small thing each day and it will lead to big results!

Before I started going to uni, exercise was a huge factor in my life. I worked out at least 5-6 times a week and thrived off it, but with uni comes sacrifices. Adjusting to the workload and the demands that were apparent made it difficult for me to try and balance my life accordingly, making time for things that I enjoyed such as working out. Luckily, I have found a routine that works for me that allows me to have time to fit in a sufficient workout, but I do know how difficult it can be to try and find time which is why I want to share with you what I do/did to remain active even when I can’t workout. With that said, this post isn’t just for those who are in university or school. This post is for everyone who lives a busy life too!

Walk

Walking really is a great way to burn a few extra calories and bring that heart rate up if you do a good amount of distance. Being a student we are basically stuck to our chairs at home or the seats in lecture halls, so I would highly recommend getting up and walking when you have a moment, even if it means walking to class rather than driving! Not only will it help in getting those limbs moving and circulation going, it also helps with your mental health. I find that being stuck inside the whole day really makes me go a bit crazy and often leaves me feeling overwhelmed, so going for a walk outside, getting some fresh air and taking in the surroundings is just as important to me along with getting a little sweat in!

Make the time

As a full time student, I know your time is limited and you may be shouting at me through your device saying “BUT I HAVE NO TIME” and although that may seem like a valid argument, it’s not. There is always time, you just have to make the time – not find it. If that means you have to wake up an hour earlier to get a 45 minute workout in, then that’s what you have to do. If it means having to sacrifice getting home an hour earlier, then what’s what has to be done. It’s difficult and there will be days where it’s easier to just sleep in or go straight home after a full day of uni but you’ll feel so much more productive once you’ve gone to gym and it’ll set you up on a positive note for the day ahead. I’ve personally never heard someone say they’ve regretted going to the gym even if it was difficult getting there! Always remember that you don’t even have to get yourself to the gym, some of the best workouts I do are home workouts that only take me 20 minutes. It’s important to move your body in any way!

Improvise

If you’re at home and have enough time to fit in a workout but don’t have enough time to get to the gym and back, improvise! Find something heavy, such as a rock and do some weighted squats, lunges – obviously be careful, we don’t want any broken toes in the process but instead of finding excuses, find ways to make it easier for yourself to get a workout in. Another thing I like to do is use dish clothes as gliders for my ab workouts. Simply place them on the tiles, making sure there is nothing in the way and do some mountain climbers, ab skaters etc. Simple yet effective and that’s what we go for when our time is limited as a student!

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.

HAPPY MARCH!!

During second year sport science, Fitness is a compulsory sport that we partake in – both theory and practical classes which excites me (as we all know, very well) because of my love for both health and fitness. This subject is currently helping me expand my knowledge on the topic drastically which can help me inform you better regarding my fitness related posts!

With that said, what’s a better way to bless the new month off other than with a good old top 4 favourite booty exercises? I know, I couldn’t think of any either!

Hip thrusts

There are many variations of this exercise to tone it up or down, my favourite at the moment is just adding a resistance band whilst my upper back is on the floor. This exercise is great as an activation exercise to wake up those glutes but also to target those hammy’s, lower back and even your core!

Leg press

This is one of my most beloved exercises to incorporate into my workouts. I’ve been using this for years and years now and still don’t get tired of it! The primary muscle targeted here is your quads but it does still work the overall muscles within the leg. Adding a resistance band is a good progression method to spice things up!

Resistance band clam shells

This is a a newly found fav of mine which is almost always supersetted with the hip thrust. OH. MY. GOSH. Will they make you gasp for air? Probably!! I’ve been incorporating in the beginning of my workouts to really activate the muscles of the targeted area. This is great at targeting those hip abductors and your glute medius!

Barbell Squats

This may seem like an obvious one but I haven’t been able to do these for the past few months due to an injured knee so you bet that i’m going to do these when I can, now that i’ve recovered!! This is a great exercise to target those glutes, hamstrings and your lower back. Just make sure you look up, keep your back straight and that those knees stay in line with your toes. (You can add a resistance band if you want more of a push or add extra weight!)

One thing many people forget to do during exercising is breathe, Breathing is so important to the execution of an exercise. My brother once told me that ‘your legs know what to do, focus on your breathing’ and after all these years, it’s still something I practice and preach to people who ask for advice or our HIITFIT members.

I am a little obsessed with using a resistance band when training booty, one I would really recommend is the GraceFitUK extra heavy – https://gracefitguide.com/products, but of course choose according to your fitness level and you can increase the difficulty of band when necessary for that extra challenge!

If you enjoy blog posts like that, please leave a comment and I will be happy to do similar one’s!

Disclaimer: The images in this blog post are not my own, I found them on google. Click on the images and you’ll be directed to the page where the images originate from.

We have all been at a stage in our lives where we haven’t been able to workout or what we like to think is a valid reason but is actually an excuse, right? There have been many moments throughout 2018 where the last thing I ever felt like doing was going to the gym or for a jog because I was drowning in tests and assignments! Well, I can tell you that this year is going to be no different, although I want to make more of an effort to be active – when I cannot go to the gym or if I just run out of hours in my day, I want to ensure that I’m still helping myself remain healthy and fit the best way possible. Here are 5 tips I have found help me!

Take the stairs not the elevator, walk or cycle to your destination don’t drive. We live in world where convenience really is at our fingertips, it’s easy to just hop onto a lift whilst on your phone or to drive to get there a bit quicker – however, it’s definitely not the healthiest way to go about your day. Instead leave a few minutes earlier, look on maps and see how long it will take you to walk or cycle to your lectures or your meetings and plan your day around that. You’ll be getting some fresh air and keeping active while going to the places you need to be at!

It starts in the kitchen. If you know you’re about to have a crazy week where you’re not sure you’re going to have time to breathe ned alone go to the gym, clear your kitchen of all the foods you know aren’t going to help you reach your health and fitness goals. Keep foods that are wholesome, organic and colourful – keep it clean and you’ll feel a difference sooner than you think! Of course you can treat yourself here and there but do it all within moderation.

Stay hydrated. Whenever I am feeling a bit hungry, I always have a glass of water beforehand. Many people always mistake their hunger for thirst, so drink a glass of water before every meal and make sure to drink 1L of water for every 25KG’s that you weigh, that way you can ensure you are keeping your body hydrated and drinking the right amount of water for yourself! If you struggle to drink water, put some lemons in or fruit to make it taste a little less like nothing. You’ll probably find that drinking a glass of water before eating will result in you eating a little less too which helps keep large food portions to the minimum.

Look after yourself. Get a good night’s rest, when you are busy from morning to night your body needs some time to rejuvenate and reset. If you are feeling stressed, take a few moments to try and destress, it’s known that your body tends to hold onto extra weight when you are stressed – so do some things that you know work for you in order to feel relaxed whether that be kicking your feet up with a good book or putting on a face mask. Looking after yourself and your body are key aspects to your fitness and health journey!

Give up the excuses of why you shouldn’t and find reasons to why you should. Although these points are all valid and can help lead you to a better and healthier life, you do need to make the time to fit in some workouts. They don’t have to be for hours on end, some of the best workouts are only 20-30 minutes you just have to change your mindset! If you go in with a negative mindset, you won’t come out feeling fulfilled. Ask yourself why you can’t gym at the moment, plan and structure your weeks and days ahead so you can do any sort of activity you love to help you get to your goals a lot faster. Give yourself some well deserved ‘me-time’ amidst the chaos of work, uni and life! There is no race, it’s you against you – even if you just do something active on the weekend, that’s fine! It’s a start and we all start somewhere, just don’t put pressure on yourself.