Finding a routine in the gym is one thing but finding a routine in the kitchen is a whole different ball game, especially when you’ve chosen to have a lifestyle change.  

Health starts in the kitchen and proceeds to the gym, if your lifestyle out of gym is out of wack so will your lifestyle in the gym.

I don’t necessary label my sort of “diet” but if I had to, I would call myself a Flexitarian – I eat what I want, when I want. I give my body what it needs to strive on and not the opposite. Of course I crave the odd cheat meal here and there but over these past few weeks i’ve come to realise that you can replace almost every unhealthy thing with a healthier alternative and still enjoy it!

I believe that humans weren’t created to diet. Our bodies will do whatever it can to survive, our bodies need calories, nutrients and energy! But I am just a little white girl living in a little neighbourhood trying to help people make the best decisions for themselves.

This past week I decided to take a day and document what I eat. It’s a very real depiction of my every day eating, nothing fancy just nutritious food that my body needs to give me the energy for the day ahead.

Also remember that everyone’s bodies are different and what my body needs can be completely different to what your body needs come the time of day, I just hope to ignite those creative juices and help you get inspired in the kitchen!

BREAKFAST:

Normally every morning I will wake up and make myself a herbal tea and a smoothie.

I find that when I wake up i’m either extremely starving or not hungry at all – there’s no inbetween but I make sure to always put something in my body before I go and exercise so my body has some energy to work off.

Quick side note: If you’d like to see what goes into my meals you can watch my first ever YouTube video, I give you a run down of the ingredients that go into every meal and snack, the video is at the end of the post. (p.s your support would be greatly appreciated!)

MORNING SNACK:

Because on this day I didn’t go to gym, it was my day off I didn’t find myself scratching in the kitchen as often as I do when I do train so I just a simple snack like apples and peanut butter did me well.

LUNCH:

Salads are my be all and end all. If I could have salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner I probably would. Infact, I almost do – so there’s that answered. Usually for my lunches I have whatever we had the night before and in this instance we had roast chicken and veg so I made a chicken salad with an ice cold glass of water and lemon.

AFTERNOON SNACK:

Usually around 4PM my body wakes up and realises how hungry it actually is and I find myself needing to eat almost everything in sight so I like to eat something that I know will sustain me but won’t make me too full for dinner – Avo is a big part of my diet (and feta, feta is life) and I find that eating healthy fats around this time tend to leave me feeling fuller for longer rather than eating starch like toast. So I decided to have avo on a rice cake with some feta sprinkled over – YUM.

DINNER:

Dinner is hands down my most favourite meal of the day, it just leaves me feeling SO satisfied and also because my parents are great cooks so I think that counts too. We had my brother and his girlfriend come round for dinner so we decided on a good old Cape Town braai with salad, veg and some rice.

I don’t count calories, I don’t judge people who do but I am not a fan of it – If I had one piece of advice to give I would say listen to your body. Drink water often, when you feel hungry nourish your body with nutrients not junk food. Take note of what foods make you feel good and what doesn’t and use that as a guide to help you understand your body better.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way an expert on nutrition and this post should not be taken too seriously. I am purely documenting my own habits and not advising anyone to do as I do. It’s all for fun.

I hope you enjoyed the post and the video! If so please share, like and subscribe and let me know if you’d like to see more of these!

Lots of love, Jeanna x

Going to gym for the first time alone can be a bit daunting and too much, I mean even I still feel a bit confused and all over the place and i’ve been going for a year or two but I like to remind myself that everyone is there to do the same thing; let off some steam, make some gains, get “swole” if you will. No one is judging you so don’t judge yourself! But for those days that you really don’t feel like facing the gym or being around people, here are some exercises that you can do to stay on top of your game!

A Lot of the time people think that the only way to stay fit and be active is to have a gym membership, which is not the case at all. Having a gym membership doesn’t automatically equal an active lifestyle. You determine that for yourself, not a building.

There are many ways that you can get the results you desire WITHOUT having a gym membership and sometimes (almost every time) it’s more enjoyable as well!

Doing this ‘Eight week journey to a better you’ has forced me to explore my surroundings and find other ways to keep my fitness up and exciting. At first I thought it was going to be a tedious task not doing my usual routine. But honestly, i’m kind of loving the addition/change and so is my body.

I’ve loved it because it has helped me balance my life a little more. I get to catch up with my girlfriends or go on a romantic walk with my boyfriend whilst still being active – it’s kind of a win, win situation!

Throughout this post i’ll be sharing favourite ways on how to have fun being active outside of the gym.

#1: HIKING

Hiking is an amazing way to get some fresh air, explore your city and go where you have never been. It improves your cardio-respiratory fitness, improves your mood and best of all, you get to spend quality time with those whom you love the most and create special memories.

I personally love it because within the first 5-10 minutes of hiking, my heart rate is already up, my thighs hurt and i’m already laughing unnecessarily with my friends and family. (Mostly laughing at my family for laughing at how unfit I am, but still laughing nonetheless!)

I would say hiking is my number 1 on my therapy session list! There’s just something about being outdoors and between the mountains or in the forests that immediately brightens the spirits.

#2: SWIMMING

I never saw myself swimming.. FOR FUN. Quite frankly i’m not a swimmer. I go as far as doggy paddle and that’s where it ends.

But honestly, I was quite amazed when I actually tried to make a conscious effort to swim properly. I was EXHAUSTED afterwards! My whole body was sore for a good few days after that.

Swimming is a great out door exercise because if you don’t have a lap pool near you, you can go to the swimming pool in your back garden or if that’s a no-go, there are lakes, rivers and of course the ocean! Just please, make sure wherever you swim it’s safe and always go with a friend!

It’s loads of fun and is a good way to alleviate some stress!

#3: STEPS

Now this is a goodie! I promise you, you could be able to run for miles on end and feel golden afterwards, as well as do hours of cardio in the gym but come and do steps, you will still suffer after the first or second set of stairs! They are KILLER.

I know I do, at least.

I absolutely love the stairs. Immediately increases your heart rate, burns fat like theres no tomorrow, tones the quads and the peach and it’s high impact (obviously).

Running up and walking down repeatedly can get a bit boring, I know. So the best thing to do is switch it up every second set or so. You can do jump squats and donkey kicks, walking lunges and so on.

#4: WALKING

This may seem like a bit of a boring one but honestly, if all I had around me was a beach, I wouldn’t mind walking for an hour everyday with my feet in the sand.

There’s something so pure and refreshing about walking on the side of the ocean line, letting the water touch your feet.

It shows you how big the world is and how small you and your problems are. Often, we as humans have a nasty habit of making our issues seem bigger than what they are at first. I find that walking along the beach or the promenade helps me with not only showing how small my issues are but it’s also a good place to find inspiration or even a good place for reflection.

It’s a fantastic way to set yourself up for the day. Let everything run through your mind slowly and freely. Nothing seems too overwhelming or complicated.

#5: JUNGLE GYMS

I know this sounds a bit odd but trust me on this one, you can create a killer circuit using a kiddies jungle gym. Anything from “box jumps” onto a bench, monkey bars or even tricep dips on a good old piece of wood (just mind out for the splinters) – it’s fun, it’s a different way to workout and it’s outside!

Photography / Ashley Tapsell

It’s a new week to create new goals and have a good time! I hope this motivates and encourages you to step out of your comfort zone and get out the house a little this week.

If you are interested in more ways to be active outside of gym, please be sure to leave a comment below to share with everyone or let me know on my latest Instagram post what you do to stay active outside of gym!

Lots of love, Jeanna x

Hey guys, It’s been a hot minute since i’ve last done a post.

My parents and I have been moving house for the past three weeks so things have been a bit chaotic leading up to the move and thereafter. I lived in the house we just moved out of for just over 19 years so needless to say packing up almost 20 years of memories and belongings takes up one’s time.

I must admit, it’s been a difficult time for me. That house has been home for all my life, every single birthday, occasion and christmas was in that home. It was a very special place for me and I think I will take a piece of that home with me wherever I go in life.

I knew I had to trust the magic in new beginnings and with that said I absolutely adore my new home – surrounded by parks and greenery, it has such a good vibe in it. I can’t wait to create new memories with old friends in this one! I mean, the day I walked into this house it felt like home so I haven’t had any issue settling in and trying to make it feel right because it already felt right! Onto better things they say!

Happiness doesn’t just have one address.

Not sure if it has been the weather, the moon or if I have just been overly dramatic but I’ve been having a difficult time within myself lately. Each day I take the time to reflect and assess myself, my surroundings, what i’m doing for me and what i’m doing for others and I struggled to find fault (I know, doesn’t make sense??) until I realised that I constantly compared my life to those I know and those I follow on social media and I immediately knew I had to change my way of viewing myself and how I think so last week, around Tuesday I was in such a rut with myself, mentally and physically I thought no, I need change and splurged on this incredible 8 week fitness program AND I HAVE NOT BEEN THIS MOTIVATED AND EXCITED TO TRAIN AND GET BACK ON TRACK IN SUCH A LONG TIME and I want you to join me!

Now this isn’t something that needs to be in the eye of the public unless you want it to be, it can be a personal challenge for yourself but I thought I should come here and tell you that if you are looking for a sign, this is it!

If I can motivate and inspire just one of you to join this 8 week journey to a better you than my job here is done!

So let’s get to the basics:

Aim: The aim of this, for me personally is to get motivated and stay motivated. By the end of these 8 weeks not only do I want to be more confident in myself, I want to feel refreshed and on track again. These 8 weeks are about getting fit, staying fit and being healthy. Doing things that you love and that make you feel good whether that be going for a walk on the beach or going to your local cafe every morning and having a mocha.

The best part about this is that there are no rules, you make them to suit you!

P.s My timing is so good that 8 weeks from now winter should supposedly be over and our summer bodies will be ripe and ready for those beaches. YEY!

Goals: I’ve come to realise that I often make unrealistic goals for myself thinking they’re realistic and then falling off the wagon because they weren’t realistic. I have always said create measurable goals for yourself, goals that work for YOU!

Cutting out chocolate from my diet permanently for 8 weeks isn’t realistic for me so on weekends I might have some, I will have less than usual but that works for me.

I do want to be happy with what I see in the mirror every time I walk past it and to be comfortable going to the beach so my goals for the next few weeks is to just be happy with me and get results while doing so!

Some extra advice: The most difficult thing in almost anything in life is starting but it is important to remember that once you start, you will love it so much that you won’t stop. Eating better and living a healthier lifestyle does become a lot easier when it is practised often. On Sundays I make sure I have all the healthy foods in my fridge and pantry that I need for the week ahead so I know I am sorted for meals and smoothies and don’t end up binge eating all the ginger biscuits that are left over because i’m too lazy to drive to the shops and get what I need (I’m way too guilty for this, tbh)

Planning is key; I am not the sort of person who can get up, go to gym and make a workout up on the spot so I enjoy typing my workouts into my notepad beforehand so I don’t get cold feet at the gym and end up having half a workout.

Don’t obsess over the numbers on the scale; I know it’s difficult and I understand that it’s always tempting to see if you’ve lost weight but the thing is, you can’t always believe what’s on the scale. When someone starts exercising more and eating better they will lose weight but gain muscle mass and what some people don’t understand is that, you can’t see the breakdown of your weight on the scale unless you have a scale that does that for you so it might discourage you instead of motivate you. What I would suggest is taking before and after pictures, one tomorrow, one four weeks from now and one eight weeks from now and let your clothes help you determine whether you’ve lost weight or not.

Always remember that slow progress is better than no progress! YOU GOT THIS!

Photography / Ashley Tapsell

So, in conclusion I am starting an eight week journey to a better me and I want you to join me!

It’s not about beating yourself up if you have a not-so-great meal or skip a workout, it’s about creating a better understanding of a healthy active lifestyle and I would love to help you achieve that.

In two weeks, you’ll feel it. In four weeks, you’ll see it. In eight weeks, you’ll hear it.

If you do decide to join me on this journey, please do comment below or dm me on Instagram, I would love to hear your goals and plan for the next few weeks!

Lots of love, Jeanna x