BODY AND MIND BOOST

DON’T FALL OUT WITH YOURSELF

As much as we might rebel against “January-fitness-clean-eating-everything” – our bodies and minds are desperate for some re-adjusting. Drastic changes are never useful (unless you’re stopping smoking or drinking) and commitments to long-term changes are obviously completely different to simple wishes or resolutions. If you’re like me and are pretty healthy all-year-round, but have a sweet tooth and weakness for delicious carbs then this is for you. I’d love to tell you that I go to the gym 5 times a week and eat greens every day since New Year, but I’d be lying. Easing into it all slowly is working much better for me so far. No harsh disappointments with myself for not going to the gym as often as I’d like and no deprivation of my favourite foods either. Strong willpower are my goals also, but we’re working on that… This year January is such a busy month for me, which is great, so I’ve decided to share some of the things that help me look after myself and I’m able fit into my busy-mum-boss schedule.

EAT

Did I say I have a weakness for pizza and biscuits? I’m also that person that bags TWO loafs or baguettes in the supermarket if they’re still warm. You can guess what happens after and yes, it certainly involves butter. Yum! Anyway, cutting back on carbs (and sugar) is probably the best thing you can do for your body. Things like 1 toast instead of 2 with your scrambled eggs, say no pizza every once in a while (warning – this one is painful) and plenty of herbal tea and water throughout the day help me feel fuller and therefore crave less biscuits. Eating organic jumbo rolled oat porridge with water / almond milk for breakfast almost every day seems to slow down my digestion and give me all the fibre and carbs I need for the day, which means fuller for longer and healthier choices later in the day. Not rocket science, but it’s working out nicely so far in the Winter.

EXERCISE 

Don’t know about you, but for me it all starts with brand new sportswear. I sometimes get everything in two’s for rotating, so that I have fresh clean gym gear to wear the following morning. Leaving myself with no excuses there. I try to get to the gym at least twice a week, but sometimes it’s just not possible with my work, the kid and school holidays, so I try and do at least 10 minutes (I know it’s nothing) of stretching, toning or yoga at home. That short break from my desk on the mat, bare feet is sometimes all my body and mind needs and is particularly handy when you just don’t want to leave the house into the cold streets. If you have a large mirror in your home – try and do your exercises in front of it with just a sports bra on and stretchy leggings or just bottoms if you’re a guy. It really helps you learn and love your body more and perhaps give you that push to improve the parts needing improvement. But definitely best to love and know your body as it is without covering it up. We do enough of that already.

I do enjoy running outside though, so as soon as my sore throat goes away and the weather warms up a little I’ll be out in the local park doing loops around the swan pond in my new ADIDAS gear from Label Online. The Pure Boost Adidas trainers are so comfy and makes all the difference for outside and inside training. If you’re going to invest in one thing this year – make it trainers. They make all the difference to your step, posture and cardio workouts.

PREP

After years of failing and still majorly failing at prep every day, I’m slowly realising that prep is everything if I want a generally calmer mind and better commitments to workouts. I do an OK job making packed lunches and organising my daughter’s uniform, but when it comes to myself there’s room for improvement. Things like leaving out my gym clothes all laid out for the morning sets my mind for that morning workout. Having my yoga mat rolled out when I’m busy working all day at my desk and actually working in gym clothes makes me want to jump on to that mat more frequently – even if it’s just a short 5 minute stretch. Food… My new favourite thing though is mixing a big bowl of greek yogurt with chia seeds (my old recipe here) and honey in the evening and prepping a few fruit, berry and oat breakfast pots that I keep in my fridge. Super tasty, nutritious and makes me feel like I’m winning, which is a great mind booster right?

LISTEN

This is not a new thing, but I thought I’d share this anyway. I love listening to various self-development podcasts and audiobooks every day and even in the gym, although I can’t do cardio unless I’m running to at least 140 bpm. Stretching at the end of my gym session with my favourite podcasters is amazing. I have a few favourite podcasts that I’ll probably talk about in a different post altogether, but it’s great listening to something educational while I work, workout and do housework. Great if you work alone of course.

CHOOSE

With so much info being thrown at us right, left and centre (and now me here) about the food we should be eating, what quick diet fixes we should be trying it can get so overwhelming we don’t even want to talk about fitness and health. At the end of the day the choice is always ours and we must remember that we can only focus on what works for us and nobody else. It usually all comes down to what we do with our precious time and making excuses about not having enough time to look after myself (body and mind) is not that great actually. There’s NO bad weather for exercising outside – there are bad clothing choices and this is one of the reasons why I got my slim duck feather padded ADIDAS jacket. I see people out running in all sorts of rainy and stormy weather and they wear shorts! The consequences of choosing to exercise and eat well are invaluable, but if my body sometimes tells me that it would rather sit in my athleisure at home (with a house coat over it and hot chocolate in hands) then that’s also OK. The trick is to really enjoy it without any guilty feelings afterwards. That I’m still working on.

Take it easy!
Tatyana x

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