The Guide To A Healthy Lifestyle

Hiiiii guys! It's been a while, and after several attempts of trying to upload a blog post, hopefully this will be my last attempt before I actually cry. I have written this post about 8 times, but it kept deleting - along with several other posts and even when I copied and pasted the contents, there was nothing to paste for some reason, everything just came out blank! So, I have decided to back up this attempt by writing it in a word document first, saving it onto a memory stick and onto Google Drive - therefore, if all else fails, I'm giving up!

'The Guide To A Healthy Lifestyle' will be a series, as there is so much to talk about, however with Easter just gone, today I am talking about Healthy Eating and Exercising. We know everybody loves a good sprout every now and then and a flat out workout leaving your whole body aching for days!  w h o   c a n   d e n y   i t ? I can, eurgh. Anyway, I'm just going to share my 'ideal' routine or whatever and feel free to state your own opinions/routines/whatever in the comments!

Healthy Eating

If I'm honest, when I think of healthy eating, I think of all the food I don't like, such as sprouts, parsnips, pears. Or I think of not being able to eat any fatty foods, ever, or the fact that so much money is being robbed from my bankcard R.I.P. 

The biggest thing for me is that the prices of fruit is sooooo expensive, for example, for one orange it is 30p from a supermarket. I don't know if I'm being too tight, or whether it is because I know that if I'm going to snack on an orange, I'll know it won't fill me up... leaving the price to 60p. This is where I find myself debating whether I should get the 60p chocolate bar/packet of crisps which will definitely get rid of my cravings until I have proper food, or whether I should get two oranges which will only satisfy me for about half an hour. I'm currently in college, and when I walk into the shop in the canteen, the first thing I see on a big stand is chocolate, crisps, mints, popcorn, biscuits, anything like that. The second thing I see is a small fridge with pots of fruit... fruit which costs £2.30. £2.30???! FOR A POT OF NOT EVEN A WHOLE PINEAPPLE? Am I really going to try and stretch my money for just 6 pieces of pineapple, or am I going to get a chocolate bar, crisps AND a pack of mints? What do you think. At the moment I am so tired of adverts, health 'professionals', teachers or just anyone saying how good and important healthy eating is and that obesity has risen so much in the last so many years, blah blah blah. I get it! But, how can anyone afford to eat healthy? 

A lot of the obesity thing is because all these fatty foods are so much more available these days, and also a lot less expensive than the good stuff. There is also a McDonalds, KFC, Burger Kind, Subway and all these fast food restaurants everywhere you go, it is so hard to resist when they are always in your face. Why isn't there healthier options in our faces? Why is there a whole isle in a shop for chocolate, a separate one for crisps and another one just for biscuits? Why isn't there a nicer set up for fruit and veg? 

However, despite my ramble, I have made some changes to my diet recently as I have recognized the weight that I have put on. I have also realized that eating healthy doesn't mean you need to eat the stuff you don't like, just find things you do like or try new things until you find something you do like. For me, I'm not much of a veggie kind of gal, but I am definitely a fruit kind of gal. I love strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, oranges, plum, peach, banana, you name it! But I just can't stand pears.. So why would I eat a pear if I don't like them? For veg, I like carrots, peas, sweetcorn, tomatoes (fruit or veg?), beetroot, etc etc... but I do not like sprouts or parsnips, there's also plenty more which I hate too. So recently, I have been eating all the stuff I do like and minimizing the things I don't like so much and honestly, I feel so much better. I now find myself reaching for a banana instead of a chocolate... but I don't know how long it'll last - I'm no good at this.

Also, there is so much you can do with fruit and veg. For example you can eat fruit with your cereal! I get my inspo from the Weetabix instagram! Also you can combine all your favourite fruit/veg in a blender and make a smoothie! 

Healthy Eating Tip: You don't have to cancel out all the fatty foods. Instead, have "cheat" or "treat" days, for example, mine are Friday and Saturday! But that doesn't mean I can binge on what I haven't been able to eat, it just means I can sneak a few chocolate buttons without anyone looking!

Exercising

Since I've quit the gym, I have been so, extremely lazy. The only reason I quit was because I couldn't afford it, although I am thinking of starting back because I can afford it now. Another problem with the gym is that me and my friend used to go together, but it was always hard to work around time schedules and buses or lifts. So, when I get a car (I passed my driving test in February!), I do plan on starting the gym again because it will be just so much easier to get to the gym, because the gym is quite far from my home. I always walk to the bus stop in the mornings, and I always try to have a walk every chance I get, although I'm not going to get the perfect figure that way am I? Some people just want to stay fit and healthy and that is one of the main reasons why I want to, but I also want to lose some weight, or just tone up. 

I've found that exercising at home is a good way to keep fit. I usually download some sort of daily routine from google images and follow that for a month and just change it every month, which is really good, especially when you do it with friends! Friends are so good as they just motivate you. I love competition and if I know that one of my friends is doing the same workout as me I know I can't give up - although, when me and my friend Becky went to legs, bums and tums, she was still going for gold when the fitness person was picking me up from the floor telling me to get up, not to give up and be strong. So motivational. 

I think the best way to keep up on exercising is to have a routine. Write a routine in your calendar, a to do list, anything! It really does help!

Exercising Tip: Make sure you wear something you like wearing, it really helps! Also, make sure the clothing isn't too warm or heavy otherwise it'll hold you back and you don't want that!

So until next time, happy healthy living!

Feel free to tell me your tips and tricks and I look forward to your intake!