November Health & Fitness Goals

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Oh dear, it’s been quite a while since I’ve written a health and fitness post. Far too long, I think. I had some grand plans in my head before starting my holidays (hitting the gym twice a day, participating in juice cleanses etc), but very little of that has eventuated. One benefit of being on holiday is that Sebastian and I find it a lot easier to make time for the gym, as he finishes work at around 2pm every day. Having said that, time is easier – motivation is not. I decided to get back into the habit of setting monthly health and fitness goals, as it’s an easy way for me to track what I’m doing while keeping you guys in the loop. Here’s what I’m going to try and achieve over the course of the next month –

– Go to the gym at least 3 times a week
– Do 1 additional non-gym workout a week
– Track physical progress weekly
– Buy a new heart rate monitor
– Make a new gym playlist
– Make fresh juices every week

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5 Ways To Make Going To The Gym Easier

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Motivating yourself to get off the couch and go to the gym can be hard work, especially with Netflix now so readily available to us all (by the way, watch Narcos – it’s awesome). Sometimes I think we all just need a little bit of extra help to get inspired here and there. Sometimes we need a LOT of extra help. My view is to take it one day at a time. Here are my top five ways to make going to the gym easier:

01: Have decent workout pants – This might sound silly, but having good quality gym pants makes all the world of difference in a workout. That goes for gym clothes in general, I think. My favourite gym pants are from GAP, which is annoying because I have to have them parcel forwarded to me, but they’re so worth it.

02: Have a plan – I love to involve planning in nearly every element of my life, and exercise is not exempt from this. I always make sure to pre-plan my gym sessions in my Plum Paper Planner, because if it’s in there I HAVE to do it. End of story. I also think having a plan once you actually get to the gym is a great idea. It saves you from aimlessly wandering between all of the complicated machinery. At least that’s my experience.

03: Have an awesome playlist – Nothing pumps me up for the gym like a really great playlist, especially if it’s one I’ve created to suit my taste at the current time. I often listen to old gym playlists and hate every single song on there. That could be conditioning due to me listening to the songs while sweating my guts out, but who knows.

04: Rest and recover – Nothing puts the brakes on your gym progress quite like pushing yourself too hard and putting yourself out of action for an extended period of time. I always make time to warm down after every workout, and have been using these nurofen heat patches to help my sore and aching muscles after a particularly hard night at the gym. They last for 8 hours, and give a lovely warming sensation that really help the body relax. These are now a must-have in my medicine cabinet at home.

05: Set personal challenges – Nothing motivates me like setting goals for myself, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this regard. I’m thinking of bringing back the gold star challenge, guys. Who’s in?

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My Current Gym Routine

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A doctor once told me that it’s a bad idea to have your partner as your gym buddy, because it causes relationship strain and a whole lot of other problems. Thankfully, that is not the case for Sebastian and I. Having set times that we go to the gym (together), has made it so much easier to work exercise into our weekly routine. The other thing that has made the whole process feel a lot easier is having a set routine in place for when we actually get to the gym. I much prefer having this routine in place, rather than faffing about on all of the equipment I actually know how to use (fun fact about me: I really hate asking people for help at the gym). So here’s my current routine, which will change over time as my needs and fitness levels change (my goal is to improve on one thing each gym session – extra weight, etc). Oh, and we’ve been aiming for around 3-4 gym sessions a week.

Warm Up – 10 minutes on cross trainer
3 Sets x 15 Reps on Pin Loaded Press (weight is currently at 35kg, but will increase soon)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Fitness Ball Wall Squat
3 Sets x 15 Reps Donkey Kick (lol)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Chest Press (current weight is 20kg)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Support Row (current weight is 20 kg)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Basic Curl
3 Sets x 15 Reps Reverse Curl
Cardio – 10 minutes on treadmill or bike (currently at 1:1 ratio)
Cool Down + Stretches

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July Health & Fitness Chat

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Long time no health & fitness chat! Well, it’s been a couple of months now. Which I guess in the grand scheme of how quickly this year this going isn’t really that much time at all. I’ve been making some progress in this department, so here’s how I went with the last set of goals I set in May –

– Try and cut back on processed ingredients in our dinners
– Write up a fitness goals list/chart for the next few months
– Look at joining a gym in our local area
– Stretch my hamstrings after every workout
– Eat more fruit
– Try a local pilates class

I’m struggling with the fruit thing because at this stage there isn’t much in-season fruit that I like that doesn’t give me stomach issues. Mandarins are the devils fruit but it’s really all I’ve been able to buy recently that hasn’t cost me an arm and a leg (out of season green grapes, I’m looking at you). So fruit has stopped being a priority for me. I’m still making headway in cutting out a lot of processed foods in our evening meals, so that’s good. It just means making a lot of stuff from scratch (rather than using jar sauces, etc), which usually tastes better anyway. Here are my goals for this month:

– Get a personalised fitness plan with my personal trainer
– Go to the gym 3-4 times a week
– Stick to Tuesday/Saturday “treat” days
– Continue to eat gluten free 90% of the time
– Cut back on coffee intake (this has crept up a bit since I started drinking lactose free milk)

How are you all going with your health & fitness goals for this year so far? Can you believe we’re halfway through the year already? Mental.

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May Health & Fitness Chat

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I feel like quite a lot has changed in my life since my last health and fitness chat, and if you’ve been reading my blog since then you’ll know it’s because I’ve cut about 90% of wheat and gluten problems out of my diet. This has cured me of my chronic stomach pain, which is a huge relief. Thankfully I’m not coeliac, so I can reduce my wheat intake but still have it from time to time without worrying about it too much. Here’s how I went with my goals for April:

– Keep a daily food journal and track any side effects I have from the foods I’m eating
– Start utilising the gym again
– Stretch my hamstrings after every workout
– Cut down on chocolate (Easter was a killer)
– Pick up my water intake again
– Switch to decaf tea 50% of the time

Not too bad all up. In general, my health has been on the mend. My fitness, however, has been lacking quite a bit. This is mostly because Sebastian has been unable to do any kind of physical exercise, due to a leg injury that he had surgery on last week. Thankfully this means he’ll be back on track for exercise soon enough, and I won’t feel so bad ducking off for an hour or so to get a workout in at night. Here are my goals for the next month:

– Try and cut back on processed ingredients in our dinners
– Write up a fitness goals list/chart for the next few months
– Look at joining a gym in our local area
– Stretch my hamstrings after every workout (I’ll need to continue doing this for a while)
– Eat more fruit
– Try a local pilates class

What are your fitness goals for the month?

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