MY HEALTH KICK

. KICKSTARTING MY HEALTH .

I shouldn’t really call this post ‘health kick’, because that makes it sound as though it’s a fad diet, when in fact I’d like to think of it more as a lifestyle overhaul. Over the last couple of years, coinciding with a new job, my recent promotion (and therefore more responsibility) and Jase and I moving in together, i’ve found myself limited of time and motivation to keep my health truly in check.

I’m actually a healthy eater (spurred on by my gluten intolerance and IBS, I do generally have a healthy diet) but where i’ve gone a little off track over the last two years is not having time to exercise (I know it sounds like a bad excuse, but working 14 hour days plus running a blog outside of work does impact spare time) and generally the little things like getting enough sleep, taking some time out, having ‘me time’.

Before I moved to london I played netball about three or four times week, I was captain at university and played for club and county, even when I first moved to London I played weekly on a more friendly basis and topped this up with cycling everywhere on my little pashli bike and hitting up Gymbox for regular pilates and spinning classes. I had a really good routine … but this got scrapped when I moved companies and moved in with Jase. My routine had an overhaul for the worse!

Whilst yes, i’d love to lose that half a stone / stone that i’ve put on as a result, actually it’s that ‘feel good’ feeling I want to get back. You know the one you get when you feel fit, energised, healthy, rested & toned. That’s the one. So rather randomly, and I suspect as a result of a) the general health trend we’re seeing and b) buying myself some new healthy cookbooks, I decided now was the time to overhaul my lifestyle and start creating some more healthy routines to live my life by. Also, I don’t think this post would have been possible if it wasn’t for a friend of mine mentioning how she was planning to give up smoking. She was telling me how she thinks for her, vaping could be the method that would help her get her life back on track and give this up completely. Understandably, if you are not sure about the idea of vaping or you don’t know too much about it, click here for more info. This may be the best way for you to learn. Plus, this is one of the reasons why my friend realised that quitting smoking was not going to be impossible. Making a healthy change in your life is always beneficial, especially in the long run.

. HEALTHY INSPIRATION .

As I mentioned I think my initial kick in the butt came when I bought and started reading my new healthy cookbooks, Honestly Healthy, Deliciously Ella and Hemsley & Hemsley. All three of these books opened my eyes to new dinner recipes, healthy (plant based or superfood) eating as a way of life (particularly the case for Deliciously Ella) and also importantly for me, carb free alternatives like the infamous courgettie noodles. I’ve always been a healthy eater, and i love vegetables and healthy food more than I ever crave fast food, but reading these books spurred me on to step this up a level!

Health is absolutely the trend of 2015, and I decided I wanted to jump on board. And if my jeans fit a little looser after a few months, then that’s a bonus!

. SUPERFOODS .

Whilst I was and am still a healthy eater, my engagement with super foods only went so far. I’d always add seeds and nuts to my salad (linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc), and buy myself a juice when passing by the whole food store, but I hadn’t fully embraced the superfood way of life. You know chia seed porridge, wheatgrass shots and spirolina juices. But I decided I wanted to give it a whirl, not in a fad way, but in a serious, long term way of life way.

Having always had stomach issues (i’m continuously suffering from one ailment of another, symptomatic of my intolerance to gluten and stress induced IBS), I always just got on with it, and suffered in silence (not really silence though, i moan a lot), but I decided what’s the point in suffering when If i simpy just change up some bits of my diet I could live in much more comfort (mainly this is just a case of me cutting out gluten).

Having read Ella’s story and how food and diet changed things for her in such a significant way, I decided I wanted to start introducing some more super foods into my diet. So i wrote myself up the worlds most expensive superfood shopping list, hit the whole food store and picked up all those ingredients which are so highly recognised for aiding health and wellness. More than that, I decided to buy myself a juicer so that I could make my green juice a daily thing rather than a couple of times a week (plus a lot cheaper in the long run) and get myself a spiralizer so I can knock up carb free goodies (noodles etc).

What I love about a super food way of life is that you don’t necessarily need to change everything you eat, it’s actually more a case of supplementing your diet with some goodness. I never eat breakfast in the week but now I have a green juice (spinach, cucumber, apple, lemon, spirolina, wheatgrass and chia seeds) every morning, and simply add the likes of Hemp, flaxseeds and chia seeds to my lunches and dinners to add a little extra goodness.

I’ve already been knocking up tons of healthy but delicious recipes from my healthy cook books, but I am going to step things up a notch next week and start making energy balls to snack on and I’m planning on trying a few more carb free recipes like celeriac fish pie & courgettie noodle and chicken salad. I absolutely love the dishes I’ve been creating, and the best thing is they’re healthy and easy to knock up once you have the tools and ingredients you need.

. NEW KIT.

The final piece to my health kick puzzle is of course exercise, now I’ve been stuck in a two year cycle of heinously long days & barely any time to wee let alone gym, but thats something I need to stop and so i’m now determined to take the opportunity to fit in some regular exercise, which will then become part of my weekly routine.

I’m not a runner, I find it super boring, but I love a high impact gym class or a good cycle trip, and so i’m signing up to some pilates and flywheel classes at Shoreditch House which I joined recently, and once i’ve got my fitness back I’m going to rejoin a netball team in my local area and seriously get committed to keeping myself healthy.

But let’s all be honest, there’s nothing like a new gym kit to boost your motivation to exercise, and so this Nike kit from JD Sports has done just the trick. I absolutely love my vibrant new Nike Vivaz trainers (you’ve probably already spotted them in these outfit posts – here & here) and teamed with my new Nike leggings and of course my awesome new safari sports bra, I feel totally ready to hit up a gym class.

. POSITIVE ATTITUDE .

Most importantly of all, and at the heart of my ‘health kick’ is of course positive thinking, and wellness. If you read my blog regularly then you’ve probably heard me talk a lot about wellness & positive mental attitude (if you’ve missed it you can read about them here – wellness, how to deal with stress, book club health edit, mastering work life balance) and it’s something I think is super important.

So as part of my new healthy lifestyle overhaul, I will also be making a more concerted effort to look after my wellness. Taking time out to read a book, soaking in the bath, seeing my friends, taking lunch breaks, going for a walk at lunch time, having date nights with Jase, and most importantly having time to simply relax.

I know how much wellness can impact positivity, productivity and wellbeing and so it’s something I personally want to make sure i’ve got!

SHOP MY HEALTH EDIT

So there you go, a little insight into my healthy lifestyle overhaul. It’s nothing drastic and I like to see it as a few small tweaks which will overall make my lifestyle a little more healthy and also hopefully help me get a better work life balance again!

I’d love to know if you too are embarking on any healthy lifestyle adventures or hear about all the things you already do to boost your health and wellness?