It is no secret to those who know even just a little bit about me that one of the things that help keep me sane is exercise or more specifically, HIIT workouts. One of my best ways to blow off some steam is to smash out a High Intensity Interval Training Workout! So you can understand my excitement when HIIT Fit Stellies contacted me and very generously offered me a month free of charge to try out their classes.

I started going to their HIIT classes 4 weeks ago, I didn’t think I was that unfit until I was pretty much heaving at the end of the first workout (bearing in mind I have been recovering from a chest infection, but I think i’m just saying this to make myself feel better). It was honestly nothing like I had ever done before – I like to think i’m pretty good at creating killer hiit workouts but there was just something about doing a hiit workout with other people and having the coaches constantly motivating you to push harder that made it 100 times more difficult, in the best type of difficult there is.

Before the class begun, I got chatting to one of the members of HIIT fit, she was telling me how she started seeing a difference in her fitness levels and in her body after going to the classes just 3 times in one week! What’s nice about this is that the coaches were not inexperienced, they were extremely friendly and knew exactly what they were saying. One of the greater things I noticed is that they often corrected your form if you were doing it incorrectly and they also give alternative options to an exercise if you’re feeling a little too fatigued or if you have an injury of some sort.

During my first workout, I felt pretty good and fresh in the beginning but as the workout progressed, I became very tired and my body hurt, A LOT! Because this was the first HIIT workout I had done in over a month, I was exhausted when it came to the end. I definitely felt like it was a good kick in the butt and a good wake up call to get my behind back into gear this semester! One thing I really did appreciate was how the coaches explained why we need to do certain exercises in a specific way instead of them just showing us and getting on with it.

Waking up the next day was, let’s just say an easy challenge. When i’m sussing out whether a workout worked for me or didn’t i don’t only go by how sore my body is, i also go by how i feel mentally. Yes, I was stiff from my feet to my shoulders (which is always a good sign of a good workout) I woke up and got up without hesitation, which is a rare for me – usually takes me a few minutes to get up and at it. I’ve always found that a good workout the day before sets me up for a good day the next day!

As the weeks progressed I found that I was starting to get a lot fitter doing these workouts, I noticed I was doing more reps and had more endurance for those last few seconds of the exercise – don’t get me wrong, I was definitely still struggling but I could see results even after two weeks which is almost always the aim, to progress!

HIIT Fit is an amazing way to do a good workout in a short amount of time, their memberships are crazy good so if you are in stellenbosch and are wanting to try it out – all of the information is on their instagram or you can just dm them, @hiitfit.stellies

Some things to take note when you do try it out; I made the mistake of not taking a towel to my first class so when we did exercises on the floor my little knees got a bit sore and I ended up using my jersey. So make a mental reminder that water and a sweat towel are essential and some of the floors are wooden and get polished so make sure you wear shoes that have grips or else you’ll find your lower back will start to pain because it’s slippery! Lastly, push yourself. If it burns, it means it’s working!

The HIIT Fit workouts didn’t only push me mentally but also physically. I learned some pretty cool new exercises, realised I embarrassingly have no coordination whatsoever and that you can get a sufficient amount of exercise in 30-35 minutes! I’ve absolutely loved every minute with the HIIT Fit fam and I know you will too! 

I just want to say a little thank you to HIIT Fit Stellies for allowing me to come into their space and experience the magic they project and offer the beautiful women in and around Stellenbosch! 

Disclaimer: HIIT FIT Stellies did offer me a month free trial with them and asked me to write about my experience. I want to make it clear that I would not promote or encourage something I do not believe in but with my love for health and fitness, I felt right at home with the HIIT FIT fam and believe you will too! 

You’ll know from reading my previous blog post; “Week 4 progress update & tips for you!” I tell you all about my 8 week journey to a better me, the struggles I overcame and the triumphs I celebrated.

By week 4 I was feeling so good again, couldn’t wait to get back into the swing of things after not feeling so great and having no appetite. Well, week 8 has come and gone and let me tell you – it’s not the happy ending I hoped for.

During week 5 I was put on my first course of antibiotics to overcome an internal mouth infection and if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I absolutely hate pills or anything of sort. My medication made me feel so awful that every time I tried to exercise, I would become dizzy/light headed/faint and would have to cut my workout short so yes, I haven’t trained in 3 weeks (since the end of week 4). As soon as my first set of medication finished, I went to the doctor for a checkup and was told that I need to get my wisdoms taken out sooner than later because they are the main reason I have been having such terrible headaches, toothaches and earaches as well as the fact that there was no space for them. Needless to say, I was put on another set of antibiotics, and that was me – man down. I got my wisdoms removed on Wednesday, in the chair, AWAKE (I know, I clearly got the wrong end of the conversation because I was sure I was going to be sleeping. Nope, wide awake!!!) but I made it, HALLELUJAH!

If i’m honest with you, the worst part about all of this was the constant nausea I was experiencing from my medication, not even the pain matched up to it. Luckily my second set of antibiotics are complete and I am officially on the mend. Few painkillers every now and then for my mouth but that’s about it and I am SO HAPPY cause of it! I’ve definitely taken this as a sign to be more aware of what’s going on inside of my body and have realised how important it is to have your necessary check ups whether it be with a doctor or a dentist because although you may feel 100%, you might not actually be – which was my case.

So yes, I literally did go for hero to zero in a few weeks but I suppose it’s all part of life and if your body is tired, it will make you stop overworking itself one way or another. The best thing I can take away from this 8 week experience is listen to your body and take it at a pace that won’t burn you out.

Where to from here? Well, back to week 1 we go. I’m really excited to get back into the gym and to start new exercise routines. Over these past few weeks I’ve learned so much about my body and what it’s capable of doing, i’m curious to see where I can take it from here and how far I can push myself. I of course have new goals and desires for myself such as; wanting to start swimming and doing yoga but my main focus right now is getting my health back and with that, gym will follow.  

That’s my 8 week story, not exactly what I thought I was going to be writing at the end of this journey but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. I’m extremely motivated to pick up where I left off and get the results i’ve been wanting to get! Don’t get discouraged when things don’t go the way you planned, may be it’s supposed to be that way and you’ll get back on track in no time!

Seeing as I can’t include any before/after photo’s of my body, I’ve included some ridiculous photo’s of myself after I had my operation. I hope these make you smile you as much as I cringe looking at them!

Thank you for all your constant support, every like/share/comment I get does’nt get unnoticed and I am extremely grateful for you!

Lots of love,

Jeanna x

Week 4 of my 8 week journey to a better me has come to a close and let me tell you, it has not been sunshine and rainbows all the time but it hasn’t been all that bad either.

Firstly, if you are new around here WELCOME and thank you for stumbling across my blog! 4 Weeks ago I made a decision to undergo an 8 eight week journey to a better me and i’m finally half way through! To catch up on the whole story you can click on my blogpost, “Life Update & 8 Week Journey to a better you”. before you continue reading this post.

To be honest with you, I’m loving the experience because for the first time in my life I have stuck to something and actually gotten more than halfway through it without giving up – that’s already a win in my eyes!

So here is a quick rundown on how these past 4 weeks have been for me; Week 1&2 were amazing. Everything felt so easy and natural, nothing was forced and I had zero temptations or desires for junk food (which is weird for me because usually when my body does a “detox” if you will, all it craves is everything i’m not giving it which was not the case) I thought that I was going to breeze through these 8 weeks with no hassle. I had so much energy, I was so motivated, extremely happy i’m sure I started annoying some people (lol, aint my problem) well, that was until Monday of Week 3.

I woke up feeling the complete opposite of how I was feeling the previous two weeks. I was weak, extremely nauseous and I felt like I hadn’t slept in 12 hours. I thought maybe I was starting to get the flu so I made sure I did everything to kick it before it came flying towards me – drank lots of water, kept warm, ate well, gave my body the nutrients it needed, sweated (a lot) had natural anti-inflammatories and all that jazz but nope, nothing was working!

I carried on with my normal routine, I mean I wasn’t sick I just felt it and I had stuff I needed to do, by Wednesday I was besides myself because I honestly felt more ill than ever and I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me so I decided to give myself and my body a break and see if that would do the trick. I exercised on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and gave myself the rest of the week off. By Saturday I was feeling a little bit better and after doing some analysing of my week and what I ate I realised that I had a lot more carbs and gluten then I did the weeks before, which my body does not react well to (clearly.)

My body was just exhausted, overworked and although I was eating healthily, my body didn’t cope well with those foods (That’s why you should keep a food diary kids) but at least I now know for the future what I should and shouldn’t eat!

“You can’t pour from an empty cup,

Take care of yourself first”

Week 4 came round a lot sooner than I thought it would and I actually felt good again. I was excited to get back into gym and motivated to continue my journey and push myself! For the first 3 weeks I worked out about 3-4 times a week and Week 4 I started working out 4-5 times a week. That extra day made a huge difference to my routine! Although, towards the end of the week from around Thursday/Friday I struggled to eat, mainly because I just didn’t get hungry but when I did eat all I felt like was junk food so it was tough but I managed and conquered through.

I feel as if these past 4 weeks have been a good trial run to see where I am with my fitness and where I can go from here. I’ve understood what foods work with my body positively and which ones not so much.

I honestly believe that understanding your body and what works for you is a crucial step in creating a healthy active lifestyle for yourself.

And with that said I have written up 4 tips that i’ve learned from these past 4 weeks that I wish I knew before but didn’t so now I am hoping to enlighten you if you are wanting to take on this journey (if you haven’t already!)

1. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

The point of this is to create a lifestyle for yourself that you love. We want to live a long and healthy life mentally and physically, the minute you start doing things you don’t enjoy because you think it will get you to where you need to be a little bit quicker you will begin to resent the whole point of this and end up quitting rather than continue it. There is always an alternative way to do something and in a way that you enjoy it so whether that means it takes a little bit longer well at least you are doing it the way you could see yourself doing this for a long amount of time!

2. You’re allowed to give yourself breaks.

I’ve struggled with this many times in the past and to be honest with you, I still do I’ve just learned to understand when I really need a break or not. When I set my mind to something (for example like an eight week journey to a better me) I give it my all even if that meant I pushed myself until breaking point which actually ends up doing more damage than progress – There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself to the best of your abilities and I am on that train all day, every day but when you are tired or your body is too sore to do anything GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK, make it a priority to include rest days into your routine and train yourself into that habit. It’s so important to let your body recover from all the amazing things it does for you everyday, don’t see it in a negative light. If anything you will almost see better results from letting yourself heal rather than pushing yourself too far and injuring yourself.

3. Reinvent your routine, weekly.

I’m actually excited to share this tip with you because I found that it was what helped me when I struggled to get up to go and train or eat well. Constantly doing the same routine, same workout split and eating the same meals week after week can get extremely monotonous and tedious. That’s why I found reinventing my week, every week helped me so much. I make a point every Sunday evening to plan my week, I start with the things that have a set time like au pairing or appointments and then I plan around that – I will include things such as experimenting in the kitchen or working out in my back yard instead of in the gym and change of environment really makes such a big difference to you mentally as well. Have fun with it! If you do it in a way that you love, you will never get bored and lose motivation!

4. Don’t turn a bad day (in the kitchen or gym) into a bad week.

First things first, get rid of the guilt! If you have half a gym session because you lost interest or if you had one too many peanut butter cookies, know and tell yourself that it’s okay. We’re all human, we all get it. But what I don’t want you to do is get so sucked into your own guilt that you don’t make a conscious effort to change and you turn a bad hour of your day into a bad week. You can start fresh with a healthier meal or better workout as soon as you decide to and this does a full circle back to tip number 1, don’t take yourself too seriously! Be mindful of the food you eat, do mind to muscle connection in the gym, drink lots of water and you’ll be a happy human!

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”

I hope these tips and my story so far has helped or inspired you to continue this lifestyle. Always remember that if it were easy, everyone would do it!

Lots of love, Jeanna x

In light of labour day, a public holiday in South Africa that is held in honor of working people. I thought it would be appropriate for you to ask yourself, why are you working on a day that’s ‘celebrated’ for you? Well, that’s for most of you at least.

Let me just say, kudos to you.

It’s always difficult to establish when enough is enough. To learn how to move on. Move on from shitty jobs, old friends, lovers and bad situations.

I’ve always been the sort of person to leave something that doesn’t add value to my life or who I am as a person. It sounds harsh, but I have to do what’s best for me and you have to do what’s best for you. I could be part of an organisation that pays me thousands every month but if it doesn’t add any sort of worth to my mental and physical well being, then I don’t see the point. You’ll only be fooling yourself if you keep pretending that maybe somewhere along the line, some sort of usefulness will come out of it.

I want to be rich, don’t get me wrong. But not rich like that. I want to be rich in knowledge and experience, memories and life lessons. I believe that the rest will then follow. To me, that’s what is most important; the moments you collect that you can’t put a number to, because they are just too priceless.

I recently left a job that I loved, not because the people were shitty or because I didn’t enjoy it but because it wasn’t adding any sort of benefit to me and who I want to become. Where I want to go is in the complete opposite direction to where they wanted to take me so I thought it was only fair to give that position to someone who wanted to end up on that path. However, I definitely didn’t leave empty handed. I took the knowledge, experience and lessons learned with me and most importantly I still have the lifelong friendships that were created along the way.

All too often I see and speak to people who feel stuck. Stuck in their job, in their current life, their relationships. I did and I do. We become so comfortable  in the little lives we have created for ourselves that we often forget that this is our only life to do everything we have ever wanted to do. It’s too precious to sit at a 08:00 – 17:00 day job every single day and wish that you were out there doing something else instead of the same thing every single day just so you can accumulate enough days in your year to take leave for not even a fraction of what you worked.

If you feel trapped or are too afraid to do the unimaginable, just do it. Leave the job, the city, the relationship – if it’s adding nothing but frustration to you. No one could tell you why you shouldn’t leave and don’t let them!

“We grow fearless when we do the things we fear” – Robin Sharma

Sometimes you have to do things without the advice of other people so that you don’t get influenced by their decision on what YOU should do with YOUR life.

Remember, if you always go by what other people THINK you should do with your life – it will only affect you, not them, not both of you. Just you. They don’t have to live with the decisions they made for you, you do.

If you’re reading this and you feel a little bit guilty for being too comfortable with your life or where you currently are, that’s okay. We have all been there at one point or another and who’s to say that we won’t be there again in a few years. The great thing is, that you can always change it.

“Growth is the antidote of regret” – Robin Sharma

I urge you to go and live the life you want and not the life you need. I promise you will be a lot happier.

It’s time to get uncomfortable being comfortable.