Your Fitness Journey Does not Have to Start in a gym

You do not need a gym to be fit! Some of the fittest people I know do not even go to the gym!

The gym can be very intimidating and the image the general person has of the gym is misconceived. A gym is not only for the fittest of the fittest. You will find all kinds of people of different sizes on different journeys.
The easiest way to begin your fitness journey is in the comfort of your own home. You can begin this personal journey with yourself and in privacy. This is how i began:

I joined the bikini series on Tone It Up, my favorite fitness blog which was hosting a fitness challenge. They provided a weekly schedule with challenges and workouts to complete each day. I started working out on my pink yoga matt that I had received for Christmas but was not using, I propped my computer up on my piano bench and lay down in front of it. Every morning, I got up around the same time everyday and the first thing I would do is dedicate my morning to my workout and eating right. I would complete the workout of the day and then have my breakfast because I had learnt that I had to eat 30 minutes after my workout to directly regenerate my muscles.

This bikini series challenge allowed me to lose 8 pounds, lower my body fat percentage, improve my posture, improve my mood and I began discovering so many things about myself.

Your fitness journey is your own and it is a life time journey darling. Your body is where you live for your whole live. It is a gift from whomever or whatever masterfully created each and every one of us in all our beauty. Deciding it is time to start giving back to yourself and loving your body is, i believe, the best gift you will ever make yourself.

Now I am not saying this is easy, this is hard, this will be confusing, you will be looking for help and sometimes you will want to quit. When the results start showing, when your confidence is boosted and you feel like you could take on the world everyday you will be addicted to this feeling and your life will have changed.

I used to be a smoker, one pack of cigarettes a day. I went out and drank more than my body could take at least two times a week and I was surrounded by very negative and energy draining people.

Today, I am healthy and fit. I am surrounded by positive people who bring out the best in me. I am surrounded my so much love it is some times overwhelming. Now enough of all this talk about me it time to talk about YOU!!!

Do you want to start giving back to yourself. Do you love your body? You should, its yours too keep. Let me give you tips on how too ease into this new journey of yours. Let me give you some tips, help push you in the right direction.

1. Goals: The first thing I want you to do is figure out what your goal is. Everybody with any type of body shape has a goal. Your goal could be to tone up, slim down, fit into your favorite jeans or simply be more flexible. Now, I want you to write this goal down. Make it real. Writing it down will make you feel like it can actually happen, crazy no ;)?

2. Planning: I want you to figure out how you will be able to achieve this. Now here is where the internet becomes your very best friend. Today we are overwhelmed and bombarded with so much information and resources that it is hard to see how lucky we are. Start by researching in GOOGLE, yes google is my bestfriend, or even pinterest, and find inspiration. There are so many apps, so many websites, so many people out there making videos just for you!!! Find out what you want to do and research it.

Here are some suggestions:

Tone it up- tone it up are two trainers who are fit, fierce and fabulous. They have a fitness blog with endless amounts of printable workouts and many follow along YouTube video that can kick your booty in only 20 minutes. There workout will help you tone up and slim down. They also have many recipes and tips and tricks for anything ranging from fitness to beauty and home decor. Best of all, the TIU community is a community of women who connect everyday through social media and who motivate each other to keep going, you are never alone even when you might think so.

Tara Stiles- Who loves YOGA??? Yoga is so very underestimated. You may think that yoga is for beginners or people who want to stretch but try following a YouTube video of beginner yoga and come back to talk to me about how sore your muscles were the next day. Tara is a unique individual who will teach you to fall in love with yoga as she has and as she has made so many people do as well. My 56 year old father follows along to her videos every morning and is better at yoga than me.

Nike training pro- If your looking for overall fitness workouts that are worthy of all our Nike athletes you will love this app. This app is made so that you can follow along to a workout with your own playlists while a women speaks to you, telling you to keep pushing and focusing on your abs during your mountain climbers. This app is great in teaching you different exercises and allowing you to discover all the types of exercises you can be doing in the comfort of your own home.

3. Getting ready:

Equipment: The best investment you will make is in a cute little twenty dollar mat of your favorite color. Any type of yoga mat will do when you are just starting and when you have one it allows you to move around without slipping on carpet or hardwood floors. If your up for it already, you can invest in dumbbells. I would start with 5-8 lbs which are good weights for a beginner.

Clothing: You can be naked for all i care. Proper workout clothes is preferable if you are planning on hitting the gym but if your in the comfort of your room or your own home you can workout in underwear. Make sure your comfortable, do not wear anything too tight and you will be A OK 🙂

P.I.C: Your partners in crime. Find people who have the same goals as you. If people in your surrounding do not have the same goals them you will attract them by beginning your fitness journey. You can always join online communities or write me. I will be your P.I.C! It is important to surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you in life if you want to move forward. It is also lots of fun trust me. My best tip for finding a P.I.C is finding people in your communities that are much stronger than you and asking them to train with them. You will not be able to follow along with them but you will be learning a hell of a lot more. When you train with people who are much stronger than you, it can be intimidating but think of it this way… You would never push yourself as hard as you do alone than if your with someone who is doing 50 more squats beside you. See this as healthy competition which is making you grow.

Some of my fave P.I.C’s:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Stay Motivated: You need to keep inspiring yourself every day. Here are a few quick tips on how I like to stay motivated every day
<3- Print pictures of your favorite quotes and people who inspire you and post them somewhere you will see it often
<3- Make sure your goals are where you can see the everyday and make sure your plan is where you can read it everyday
<3- Write out a plan with “I am” statements which are proven to produce more results because your are asserting yourself, ex: “I am going to wake up early to workout 3 times a week”, “I am going to make healthy choices every day this week”
<3- Try logging what you eat, this will help you stay accountable and on track                                                                           <3- Plan out your workouts every sunday night and make sure you are moving every day, even if its something small              <3- Never forget to take before and after pictures, the pictures show the progress the scale number means nothing… remember muscle weighs more than fat

I hope this helped in motivating you guy guys to start your fitness journey. There is so much we could discuss and I am here to answer all of your questions so leave them in the comments.

xoxo Hope