🍿 S N A C K S 🍿
It’s not until you start to reel your diet in that you realise just how much you overeat and overdrink! I’m already missing my huge glass of red wine and a few cheeky snacks in the evening. The thing is, I’m not even hungry! I’d just got into bad habits (that I blamed on being a mum of 3! 😂) Given how little sleep I had on Monday night (cheers Willow), I felt lively yesterday. Lively enough to still workout at the end of the day - when I could have gone home for an hour to myself! Last night, Willow mostly slept ON me but I don’t feel horrendous today. On Sunday, I felt absolutely shattered and was honestly wondering how I was going to cope with being back at work, getting the kids ready to leave on time and generally just running this madhouse! But just a couple of days of eating more fresh food, more protein and brain and energy food like salmon, I am feeling more alert and energised already. Given how Willow’s sleeping at the mo, long may it continue. It’s certainly motivation enough for me to keep at it! I wanted to share this little PWO pic of me to show you that despite how I look in selfies stood up - I do have rolls - a pretty decent amount and I’m not ashamed of them. Once upon a time, I would have been devastated by a photo that caught my rolls on camera but not anymore. I’ve had 3 kids, I’m 41, I eat buffalo wings and drink Prosecco whenever I want! Admittedly, I’m expecting this little leaning out exercise that I’m doing to reduce the rolls a little but ultimately, I just want to feel more energetic and stronger every day! Who doesn’t want that? If you’re feeling sluggish, make a few changes to your diet - you don’t have to go “on a diet.” Increase your protein intake as a priority! Ensure you’re getting 1g to 1.5g of (lean) protein per kg of body weight every day and give up the booze during the week. Watch your sleep improve immediately... unless you have a teething baby that is. 🤣 Give it a go! I’d love to know how you get on. 👍🏼
🥅 G O A L S 🥅
This photo was taken in May 2017, exactly 1 year after I gave birth to Jasmine. In exactly 2 months today, Willow will be a year old!! I actually put on over a stone more with Jasmine but have definitely found it harder to lean out post Willow. I think a combination of having a C-section this time and genuinely giving less fucks about my weight and appearance; age and children definitely give you perspective. I am way more accepting of my body now than I ever was 20 or even 10 years ago. That being said, I do want to set myself a goal of leaning out a little over the next two months. I haven’t scheduled a photo shoot but may do for posterity, however, this is just about me and my own goals and putting a timeline to them so that I remain accountable to myself. I plan to strength train 3 to 4 times per week and to tighten up my nutrition. I want to be careful how I word this because I don’t want to say that I am on a diet, not just because I’m trying to eat more intuitively and move away from a diet culture but also because just using the term “diet“ makes me think of restriction, hunger and no fun! But I am going to drink less, cook fresh and eat my greens – all of which I have been rubbish at doing for the past few months. I also want to do this because, truth be told, with three kids, James being away a lot in the week and working, I am absolutely knackered. I take my vitamins, probiotics and fish oil daily but I want to feel better when I wake up in the morning. Since Willow was poorly at the end of last year, she has stopped sleeping through the night and is waking up regularly for comfort, so much so, that I’ve taken to just having her sleep next to me. I never co-slept with the other two and always thought it was something I would never ever do but when you’re worried about your baby waking up the whole household, you just do what needs to be done. It means less getting out of bed for me too. So, overall I sleep but it’s broken sleep. So, I’m hoping that upping my training and tightening up my nutrition will give me more energy for my kids and clients. I’ll be sharing my meals and workouts daily! Join me! 💪🏼❤️
🎆 2 0 1 9 🎆
Oh 2019, how bittersweet you have been. I wanna throw shade on you so bad for testing my strength beyond measure at the start of the year but equally, I wanna throw my arms around you and kiss you for bringing my beautiful 3rd baby, Willow, into the world and into our lives. You’ve produced my lowest low but also some of my happiest moments too - not just the birth of Willow but also incredible moments and memory making with Jasmine and Livi... floating in the lake with @tsarina222 in South Carolina is one of my absolute fav memories of this year. The opening of my new studio on Imperial Square is also up there as one of this year’s highlights - I can’t begin to tell you how good it’s been for my mental well-being to physically go to work and be around people in the day. So, 2019, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I can’t wait to see the back of you but if it’s ok with you, a very different start to 2020 would be greatly appreciated. One thing I will say is, 2019 showed me how undoubtedly strong I am, both emotionally and mentally, but unfortunately, how weak others can be. I will never put up with anyone else’s shit again. EVER. I am worth more than that and so are my girls. So, 2020, new year, new decade, same me but slightly different... let’s do this! 💃🏻 A huge thank you to all my friends and clients for your unwavering love & support. ❤️ Wishing all of you the best start to the New Year and new decade! Go out and grab it by the kahunas. Go chase your dreams. Vacay. Staycay. Love unconditionally. Smile. Choose happy. Never feel like you have to spend time with anyone that sucks the life out of you. Life is short. Live it! ❤️ #allthecheesyquotes #happynewyear #2020 #newdecade
🥇 W I N N E R 🥇
I’ve seen a lot of people sharing their top nine Instagram pics from 2019. I did mine but some of the photos actually took me back to a place that I didn’t want to be reminded of at the start of the year. I was heavily pregnant and you guys loved those photos (as did I – I love being pregnant) but behind-the-scenes, there were some tough times and that’s what I remember when I look at those photos. So, I have picked my top one photo from 2019. This was taken in September when I had just come back to work after 6 months mat leave. I had overcome adversity at the start of the year, delivered a beautiful baby, enjoyed a fab family holiday in the US, got back and spent the next six weeks grafting in the basement of my BFFs basement (with her unwavering backing) to get the new studio ready in time for my return. All whilst raising three incredible daughters and with the hubby away a lot at work, doing most of it on my own. And I did it. This is me tired and happy feeling like a bit of a Warrior Mama! I know people have it way tougher than me but we all have a baseline as to what is the hardest thing we’ve ever gone through and my baseline happened this year. But it’s a thing of the past now and I truly felt strong, happy and confident in this photo again. Happy NYE people! 🥂
Repost from @fitinsideoutuk using @RepostRegramApp - 😴 T A P P Y 😁 scroll down the grid for original content on this post
🧗🏻♂️ H I K E 🧗🏻♂️ Does refusing to go to the gym count as resistance training? 🤷🏻♀️ Asking for a friend – in fact, asking for a whole household! 😂😂 As part of Livi’s Duke of Edinburgh award, she has to do a trek each week; with each trek either getting longer, faster or higher. So, my dad took us on a trek today – military style. Liv has already said that he can never come with us again. 🤣 I have to admit, I wasn’t relishing the thought of going when I woke up this morning but it felt so good to finally get some exercise, even if it was of the cardio variety. With the girls being poorly, I haven’t trained in three weeks so it felt a relief to finally dust off some of the cobwebs. People assume that I would be some sort of exercise snob. Often people will tell me that they do something like Zumba or dance classes and then quickly follow up with “I know I should start strength training.“ The thing is, there are incredible benefits to strength training, take a look at the homepage on my website to read about some of those, but if strength training isn’t something you can stick to then any exercise is better than no exercise at all. If Zumba is your thing, crack on. If you love swimming every day, that’s fantastic. Even those of you that love nothing more than to pound the pavements, carry on, if that’s what you enjoy. Exercise isn’t just about the physical benefits, it’s about the mental benefits too, so you have to find what works for you and then stick at it. Be consistent and you will see results. Strength training has many benefits but It simply isn’t for everyone and that’s okay. Though I am convinced that I could get anyone to enjoy strength training, you just need a good teacher. 😉 What’s everyone up to for NYE tomorrow? 💃🏻🍾🥂🎆
