My Fitness Project

As of yesterday, exams are FINALLY over (WOO!) meaning that my summer holidays have officially begun (again, WOO!).  This means that I now have a lot of time on my hands. I am the type of person who needs to be doing something - I do get bored easily after the first few days of lounging around at home during the holidays (don't get me wrong, I am partial to the odd box set and duvet day!).

Generally, I am reasonably healthy - I consciously try to eat a balanced diet - however, I am not a very active person in practice and I definitely need to do A LOT more exercise. In fact, I find that if someone even refers to exercise I often make a jokey comment about how little of it I do. And I've decided that I am going to change this.

Yesterday evening - as a way of clearing my head of all the exam stress - I decided to go on a long walk (approx. 2.8 miles) as I find walking to be away good way of calming down and relaxing. It was a lovely, clear evening and lots of people were out walking, running and cycling and the atmosphere was filled with the mutual motivation of those out and about exercising . This inspired both my mum and I to do some more of these evening walks and eat more healthily (we even stopped off at the shop on the way home and picked up fat free yogurt and the tastiest and juiciest soft fruits) and then we assigned ourselves with the project of getting healthier, fitter and in shape over the next 10 weeks of the summer period.

Here are my plans:

Fitness:
As I have recently turned 16 I can now go to my local gym and fitness facilities on my own during the day instead of waiting for my mum to come home after a tiring day at work. But apart from at the gym, I don't plan to use any specialist fitness equipment and instead take advantage of what my local area has to offer for free. I also plan to start off my fitness routine by walking, cycling and swimming more. This is also great because not only will I be doing exercise but I'll also discover more of my home surroundings and the dogs will get longer walks too! I also want to be more proactive too. By this, I mean doing things such as walking to the gym and cycling to the swimming pool instead of going by car or bus (which is good for both me environment. BONUS.)

Diet:
Firstly, allow me to establish that in no way am I going on diet designed for extreme weight loss or to change my body image, my priority is to maintain a balanced and nutritional diet. I believe that it is very important for me to get a good mix of all the food groups within my daily diet in order to become (and stay) healthy. I also want to make healthier choices such as: choosing healthier snacks like fruit instead of a packet of crisps and choosing low fat/ fat free alternatives. I also would like to minimise the amount of processed foods I consume daily and use healthier alternatives such as wholemeal breads, pastas and rices and brown sugar instead of their refined counterparts. I wish to drink a lot more water on a daily basis and meet the recommended intake of 1.6 litres a day for a women* (2 litres for a man) whether it be straight from the tap or in drinks such as teas (I love a good cup of peppermint tea!) and have fewer fizzy and sugary drinks. Obviously, alcohol isn't an issue for me at my age, honest! BUT, I am NOT going to deprive myself of treats but instead consume them in moderation, which is an another basis of a healthier life in which I strongly believe. (For example instead having a big bar of chocolate every night eating a smaller bar in it's place (e.g. a Daim or Curly Wurly instead of a Double Decker) it's surprising how much more you begin to appreciate chocolate this way!).


Why am I writing this blog, then? I am going to use this blog to track my fitness progress - and allow myself to see the developments I am making along the way - but it will hopefully keep me motivated to keep on going but also in those times when I may fall backwards slightly in my routine (I am human after all!).

But why am I tracking my project publicly and online? Well, hopefully, me sharing my progress and motivation to get fitter will inspire others to reach their health goals too!

My targets:

1 - to get healthier, fitter and in shape.

2 - to redo a 20km charity walk that I did last year (in approximately 6 weeks time- only with fewer breaks to regain my breathe (excusing loo and food breaks!)

3- to go out for meal or have a takeaway and not feel guilty! 

So, stay tuned if you wish to see my progress and what the next 10 weeks bring!

See you at the finish line!

*information sourced from the NHS Choices - Live Well website