Treat Yourself

When youre embarking on a new lifestyle, it's important to keep up your focus and mentality. I truly believe that by allowing yourself treats every now and then, can actually help you to keep going and improve your progress! 

As long as you maintain your healthy eating for 80-90% of the time, a full-fat coffee or burger is not going to hinder your results. A lot of people even dedicate a cheat meal once a week to satisfy their cravings. Not only could this motivate you to eat clean for the rest of the week, but it can also help you to not feel as if you're missing out. 

So if you have a BBQ to go to, or a dinner with friends and family, you can relax and enjoy the meal you want. Being healthy doesn't mean you always have to stick to a salad at every meal, while people around you indulge! But by sticking to your goals for most of the time, enjoying the odd treat will help you enjoy your time out, instead of making you focus on what you 'can't have'. 

Good Things Come To Those Who Sweat

If you had told me a year ago that I would enjoy exercising, that I would enjoy that feeling of finishing a workout that I never believed I would be able to complete, I would have laughed in your face. 

When I exercise now though, I love the feeling of accomplishing something that is making me stronger, more powerful and most importantly, improving my health and fitness. Each time we sweat through exercise, we are getting our hearts pumping, getting the blood flow circulating and testing our mindsets. We are building up our muscles and improving our strength. 

I have found personally over these last few weeks that by doing the BBG workouts, my strength is already improving. If you're not familiar with the workouts, there are three a week that consist of four sets of movements with reps. These are circuits and you repeat both to make up the four sets. The weeks alternate so you repeat the moves from Week 1 in Week 3, Week 2 in Week 4 and so on. This is brilliant though especially when you repeat the circuits because you notice how much your body and muscles already adapt to complete the movements! 

Everybody's progress is different however, and sometimes you may need to adapt a movement if you are struggling to complete it. After all, any move is improving your form and fitness and you don't want to injure yourself if you are finding something a little difficult. Plus, imagine that satisfying feeling once you can complete it further down the line! 

So if you're doubting your progress, aim to get moving every day. No matter how big or small, every little bit of walking, running, cycling or jump lunges are all counting towards improving your fitness. 

Learn To Love Yourself

We've all been there. You've eaten more than you can stomach and you're feeling pretty guilty. You've worked SO hard to keep on track and now you've gone and blown it on a takeaway. 

It's not the end of the world. Don't beat yourself up about it! As I said above; we've ALL been there and you're not alone. 

This time of the year is particularly difficult. We've just spent the previous month indulging in our own body weight chocolate, mince pies and turkey, and now we're all on a health-kick to start off the new year. The problem is, at first you may be motivated and determined, but once you're a few weeks in your body will naturally start to crave all the junk food you've been recently used to.

Many nutritionists claim it takes us about 5 weeks to drive our sugar cravings away. 5 whole weeks to get rid of any sugar cravings?! Just how addictive is sugar?! But by making small, achievable goals, you will feel far less overwhelmed and a lot more likely to stay on track. I've found that sometimes I set myself huge challenges and then when I don't quite hit all of them, I feel disappointed and annoyed with myself! It seems ridiculous to be so hard on ourselves when we should really be focusing on the positives. By choosing to do a workout when I was tempted to chill out and watch TV. By cooking a healthy meal from scratch when I really fancied fast food. These healthier decisions are what I am ultimately working towards; a healthier lifestyle. Therefore in some respects I have already achieved this by making these changes which can only be a good thing! 

In time, these choices will become healthy habits and will only get easier to make as the cravings wear off. Exercise will become part of my daily routine, and I actually already enjoy cooking dishes from scratch knowing that every ingredient is fresh, clean and nutritious! 

I hope I can encourage you to learn to love yourself, be proud of your achievements and to not be so hard on yourself when you don't quite hit your goals. We are only human at the end of the day, and any progress is good progress. So eat healthily, move your body and remember to treat yourself ;) 

Doubt Kills More Dreams Than Failure Ever Will

Surround yourself with like-minded people who will encourage you to achieve the goals you strive for. Don't let anyone tell you you're not good enough or that you won't ever reach your dreams. You can achieve your dreams and so much more. 

Sometimes the doubt that people plant in our minds can already hold us back before we've even had a chance to move forward. Everyone has a right to have a dream and to work towards making this a reality. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If anyone does hold you back, then you can agree to disagree, and prove them wrong by focusing on your own mind, your own opinions and your own goal. 

Eat Right And You're Half Way There

They say abs are made in the kitchen - and they couldn't be more right! There was a time when I truly believed that if I just did more crunches and sit-ups and and still ate unhealthily I would have a six pack within a few months. Yes I know, I'm even embarrassed to admit it! But this just goes to show how uneducated I was in terms of nutrition. I had got fixated on achieving the perfect waist, the six pack image of the leanest body without actually working hard to change my diet. 

If you are generally looking to achieve a lean body, losing stubborn fat and building muscle then we have to face facts. It's not an overnight job. It's not easy. However, if you persist and change everyday habits, it IS achievable. 

I would suggest opting for more natural wholesome foods and make small but delicious swaps that won't seem overwhelming, but will fill your body with nutritional goodness and keep you satisfied. Try swapping normal white potatoes for example with sweet potatoes. I found that what used to be a jacket potato dripping in butter with beans and blocks of cheese has now changed to a healthy sweet potato filled with just spinach and feta cheese - absolutely delicious! So so good and yet far better for your digestive system!

Most people dive head first into a healthier lifestyle, binning every ounce of chocolate in sight, especially in January after we have eaten our own body weight in sweets and turkey. Although this is great for your body, it isn't always brilliant for your mentality. Sometimes easing your way into a healthier lifestyle is far kinder to yourself. It's important not to set the bar far too high so that your goals are unattainable in such a short time. Keep the food, but make sure you have plenty of healthy foods prepared and within reach first. Alter your mindset so that you eat that bunch of grapes before a twix. Listen to your body and re-educate yourself to eat when you need to refuel, not when you are angry, upset or bored. 

If the thought of throwing out every bit of unhealthy food seems overwhelming then don't. Enjoy the odd treat and still have that cheesy mash if you want to. But if your goal is to ultimately live a healthier and longer life, then make the small everyday sacrifices that will make a MASSIVE difference to your body. When we start to feed ourselves with the right foods, our bodies feel and work so much better. You'll find that your skin glows, your energy levels rocket and you're less likely to suffer from the dreaded bloat. 

Back in October, I got Jamie Oliver's Superfood Recipe Book for my birthday and oh my god some of his dishes are phenomenal! If you think that healthy eating equals a boring diet of lettuce and bran flakes, then stop! Do yourself a favour and get his recipe book. He not only has recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, but also talks about the importance of hydration, food groups and how nutrition can nourish our bodies. Not only all of this, but he also makes me look like a domestic goddess in the kitchen! My boyfriend always asks if I can cook his Bombay Chicken & Cauliflower Curry and we regularly have his Spinach, Parmesan & Chilli Eggs for breakfast (as you'll see from my Instagram!) 

Above is one of my absolute favourites - Skinny Carbonara with Smoky Bacon, Peas, Almonds & Basil (click here for the recipe). Filled with absolutely gorgeous ingredients and packed full of micronutrients including thiamin which helps keep our hearts healthy. See! Who said healthy eating had to be boring?! 

Take A Step Back In Order To Move Forward

For years I had a plan. I was goal-driven, working incredibly hard to get the best results not only in education but in my jobs too. Like most young people, I had my life mapped out, at least for the next ten years or so. 

However, it doesn't always work like that. Life throws curve balls at you and time seems to pass so quickly. It's how we deal with these curve balls and stop stressing or panicking if things don't always go according to plan. 

If you feel overwhelmed by work or money or just in general at the frantic world we find ourselves in, take a minute out of your day to step back. Find somewhere quiet to sit or lay down. Why do you feel so overwhelmed? What is it that you can do to actively change this? Can you talk to a friend or family member to help you? 

Communication is key to friendships and relationships. After all, most problems seem a lot less daunting once they are shared. A heavy burden weighing down on your shoulders can seem unbearable. It can build and build and effect your everyday life. Share the problem. Find ways of overcoming them so that you can get on with your life. That way you are not controlled by it, but you have taken control of the situation. 

"It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it."

John Steinbeck

A New Year, A New Start

Sometimes we forget to take time out to just be. To sit and relax and take the time to stop worrying about everything. I feel like personally, I have not been myself for a long time. The once cheerful, happy and outgoing Amy has got buried under a tonne of work and stress which when you take a step back and look at from the outside, was pointless to even be fretting about. 

It's taken me about 8 long months to realise that I am far from the outgoing girl I used to be. I think personally, I had swept my feelings to the back of my mind and pretended that everything was the same. It was only when my sister came to visit that my feelings came flooding to the surface and I poured out my heart to her. She made me put things in perspective. She made me reassess my life and get back on the right track. She is my inspiration. My best friend. 

If I can learn anything from 2015, it's to communicate more with people. Yes, social media makes it easier to talk to people all over the world, but it also prevents us from speaking to people close to us. Take time to actually have a chat and you never know you may not feel as lonely when you can have a conversation face to face. 

Through this blog I hope to inspire even just one person to re-establish their relationship with themselves; to feed your body with the nutritional foods it really deserves, to enjoy exercise and to achieve happiness.