Small Changes to Beach Body Success

I've always been a healthy weight with a good BMI and comfortable in my own skin, but surely I'm not the only one who tries on a dress or see's a photograph from a night out and thinks 'when did that happen?' As a young person I thought lots of takeaways, daily full sugar fizzy drinks and barely any fruit or anything healthy wouldn't impact me but eventually my skin was dreadful and I was unfit and unhealthy so I knew I needed to turn my lifestyle around.

I know this is ok but I just don't
want those extra tyres, lumps
and bumps.

In February my friend and I joined the gym. A programme was created for me in my gym induction which is made up of cardio, including interval training, and strength training which is a combination of weights and strength exercises, this was provided free by the gym and gave me some direction and a chance to record my progress. After my gym induction, Sarah and I ended up signing up for a personal trainer - Felicity who is amazing and gave us the hope and drive we needed to get beach body ready!

We meet with Felicity once a week for a personal training session where every two weeks we are weighed and our measurements are taken. Alongside this we attend LES MILLS Body Attack a minimum of 2-3 times a week, a spinning class once a week, LES MILLS Body Pump once a week and top this up with regular sessions in the gym following my programme - we aim for a minimum of 6 days in the gym per week. 

Now you have a very lengthy (I'm surprised if you're still here reading this) introduction, I'd firstly just like to share some of my measurements (proof what I've done have worked for me) and tips with you!

Please remember this is a personal subject that I'm happy to share and I'd hate for people to think I was complaining about being a healthy weight because I am not - I just didn't want to spend another year on holiday wishing I'd just pushed myself that little bit further. Remember I am not a qualified personal trainer, dietician or fitness instructor these are just my tips and advice from personal experience and hard work.

Height - 5 ft 7"

Weight (Week 1) - 10 st 0 

Body Fat Percentage - 28%

Weight (Week 4) - 9 st 10

Body Fat Percentage - 22%

Total Loss (cms) - 0.5

I've not lost much weight but it was never weight I've ever worried about and I don't have much to lose - it was always my lack of fitness and body tone. As I gain muscle my weight is likely to stay the same or go up - I couldn't care less what weight I am as long as I like how I look and I'm comfortable. The loss seems small but I have lost 2 cms from my hips and bum and a cm from each thigh in two weeks yet I've gained on my arms and calves which doesn't bother me whatsoever because I can now do pushups!! I feel empowered by the strength and tone I gain each week and this spurs me on to push myself further each time I train.

I've done plenty of research and have been exercising and leading a healthy lifestyle for 4 months now so if you're thinking about getting started I have some tips for you which make me feel great and have worked for me!

1. Drink plenty of water - this is absolutely my number one tip - even if you did nothing else to change your lifestyle except incorporating 2 litres of water a day, you'll feel great. Benefits of water include - healthy and clear skin, feeling fuller for longer, staying hydrated, minimising water retention and improving your metabolism. I always strive for 2 litres per day minimum and attempt to only replenish what is lost within the gym without over drinking and giving myself a stitch - afterwards I ensure I drink at least 500ml to replace the hydration lost during exercise. 

2. It's not a diet, it's permanent - I know many people have success stories from fad diets such as no carbs, fasting, maple syrup and any other kind of crazy diet idea - but I absolutely do not believe in fad dieting. Strong and fit is the new skinny and in order to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle you should make small and permanent changes - for example cutting out fizzy drinks and eating breakfast. As soon as you've incorporated exercise and healthier meal choices it'll become a routine and habit before you know it!

3. Don't deprive yourself - Don't tell yourself 'that's it I'm cutting out chocolate this is my last bar!!'. From personal experience and also from studying Diet and Eating Habits in Psychology in my A-Levels - restricting your eating and completely depriving yourself of certain foods can lead to overeating and diet failures. THIS IS NOT A DIET - make small changes, eat breakfast, eat more yoghurt, swap your white bread for wholemeal bread - these changes will be so small you won't even notice!

4. Cut down on your fizzy drink intake - As mentioned above, if fizzy drinks are your thing don't tell yourself this is your last ever drink - swap to zero calories first and then try to gradually replace these drinks with water. It's good to treat yourself so you don't feel deprived but only treat yourself once - don't treat yourself all day, and a zero calorie drink with no sugar is better for you than one laden with 38% of your daily allowance of sugar. Diet drinks actually use artificial sweeteners which trick the body into thinking that it needs to break down sugar which in turn makes you hungrier - I enjoy coke zero but I drink a couple a week over 2 bottles a day like I used to - it bloated me so much!!

5. Believe in yourself and tell yourself you can do it - This is so important to me, I regularly feel like I need to give up when I'm sweating and out of breath in spinning - but instead I see it as a challenge that I need to overcome and I tell myself I can do it. I won't let my mind hold me back and if I haven't sweat after a workout, I haven't worked hard enough! Results may take a while to show but they will - water retention and all other factors can prevent immediate result - but I promise it'll feel great when you start to feel strong and healthy.

Sorry about the length of the post but I felt I needed to give a good introduction - I plan on sharing some vegetarian meal plans, inspiration, recipes and fitness tips in a series of posts, which I promise will be shorter! Everybody can make small changes to their lifestyle which will have big impacts as long as you want them too. It's not easy to change your body but determination, commitment and hard work can and will get you there! I've still got a long way to go but I know when my holiday comes around that I'll know I couldn't have done anything more.

Finally, some of my 'inspo' from weheartit (username - rileyjayde, if you wanna follow my fitness sets!) 

*all images from weheartit