Want to get healthy and STAY healthy for the Summer? Well, look no further! Gina from hit health blog justgeensjourney.blogspot.co.uk gives us her seven health resolutions you NEED in your life.
Stop skipping breakfast
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and this is true as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Remember, breakfast is the first meal you consume after you’ve been asleep. Whilst your asleep, your metabolic rate slows down and the slower your metabolic rate, the slower your body takes to burn those calories. Therefore, skipping meals in general will make it more difficult to burn those calories in the long run and we don’t want that now do we.
Work on weaknesses
We’re all guilty of focusing our efforts on what we’re good at and ignoring our weaknesses. Take me for example, I love ‘leg day’ because it’s what I’m good at. My legs are the strongest part of my body so I enjoy working on them. Unfortunately, my upper body strength is not as strong and I avoid putting exercises like chin-ups in my routine because I find them so hard. However, if we ignore the things we’re not good at, how will we ever improve? My advice is to devise a ‘weakness programme’ which will allow you to really focus on improving in all the areas you aren’t particularly good at. That way, when you return to your normal training programme and incorporate these tricky exercises in your routine, you’ll notice a big improvement.
Get enough sleep
Ideally, you want to aim for between seven and eight hours of sleep a night. This may sound impossible in this day and age, with everyone’s busy lifestyle and addiction to social media. However, sleep aids recovery and can enhance exercise performance. Taking at least one day to catch up on sleep will benefit your training more than pushing your body for another workout with a lack of sleep. The majority of your growth hormone is released during sleep. Getting enough sleep provides you with the energy and focus you need to see you through an intense workout. It also provides the best environment for your muscles to recover and grow. So if strength and muscle growth are your goals, make sure you are getting enough sleep.
Get a training partner
There are days where I find myself making excuses as to why I don’t want to work out but then I have that enthusiastic training partner that makes me. I’ve found working out with someone or in a group is more productive than working out by myself as I work a lot harder and push myself out of my comfort zone. Having someone else with you makes you accountable for your performance and allows you to make better progress. What I would say is, find a partner with a common goal otherwise training together won’t make sense.
Love what you are doing
If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing the chances are you wont keep doing it. Sports activities and exercise classes are the best way to combat this problem. There are so many different activities out there, you just have to find what works for you. For example, I don’t particularly enjoy cardio and haven’t been doing as much as I should. However, recently I was invited to a ‘Tone N Twerk’ class at GYMBOX and that class has now become my replacement for cardio. If you are looking for a high impact class which allows you to ‘bring sexy back’, I would definitely recommend it.
Prep your meals
The saying ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’ has never been so relevant when it comes to food prepping. Cooking your meals for the week and storing them is such a convenient way to stay committed to your nutrition goals. Currently, I cook enough protein, carbs and veg to last me for the working week, put them into individual containers and keep half in the fridge and half in the freezer. This saves so much time and money as it allows me to avoid eating rubbish, spending money on food or skipping meals when I’m out and about during the week.
Don’t get caught up in what the scale says
I think sometimes as females, we place too much emphasis on how much we weigh, to determine how healthy we are. We get so caught up on what the scales tell us but the scales don’t really tell you anything other than your relationship with gravity. Weighing yourself everyday or multiple times a week to ‘keep an eye’ on weight gain is not a healthy habit and is not an accurate way to monitor your progress. There are many factors such as hormones, water retention, the time you weigh yourself and the place you weigh yourself; which can all have an affect on your scale reading. Rather than obsessing on what the scale says, track your progress by taking progress pictures, seeing how you fit in your clothes or even taking measurements. These methods will give you more of an accurate picture and won’t fluctuate as much as your body weight will on a scale. Ultimately, if you feel good, then playing the numbers game with the scale is pointless, as numbers should not define you.
