My New Fitness Journey

In the past month or so I have completely restarted my fitness routine – I used to work out a lot and after stopping for a few months, I’m just getting back into the swing of it. I thought that I would bring my fitness to this blog as it’s a big part of my life and I also thought it’d be nice to have a place to document my journey. Let’s get motivated.

 

The best place to start would probably be with my history of fitness. I used to really dislike my body, I was never necessarily big but, I was always bloated – I pigged out A LOT. So, from the age of about 12/13 I used to set myself the task of getting fit at the beginning of every year yet, I never could stick to it. Of course, the feeling of giving up left me deflated but, I think I was too young to really get into the correct mind set in order to work out effectively. Soon enough, January of 2015 rolled around – I had the same resolution but, this time was different; this time I was going to stick to it. I built up slowly, for the first two months I literally did a 30 day ab & squat challenge and then worked out for three days a week. I probably worked out for about 15 minutes on my “working out days”. Soon enough I was working out one hour a day, five days a week. At my peak of fitness I was going to the gym for over two hours a day, six days a week. As you can imagine, I was VERY proud of myself. As it turns out, slowly building up was the way for me to develop a love for fitness (I will do a structured post on this as I think it could help a lot of people out).

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing this post; If I was so into fitness, how did I wind up not doing it? Well, life simply got in the way. I moved to a new place and just as I was about to sort a membership out for a gym, I had to move again – I ended up moving quite a few times and over that period of time I just fell out of the habit of working out. So, at the beginning of this year I was all ready to start my fitness up again – I kind of stuck to it and kind of didn’t. I did a little bit of working out here and there but, it wasn’t enough. On top of that, I got quite sick in March/April this year and I couldn’t even think about working out. Once again, I was thrown a bit off guard. I didn’t want to be defeated though so, half way through June I began to work out for about ten minutes a day and in July I was doing about twenty minutes a day, five days a week. It helped me to build back up my love for fitness – It reminded me of how I got into it in the first place.

 

That brings me to now – August. Over the period of August I have been working out for about 40-60 minutes a day, five days a week and I am finally starting to see some progress again which makes me really happy. I’ve been eating pretty healthy, I have way more than my five a day and I’ve been eating a lot of protein. However, some days I will go to my local SPAR and literally spend like seven pounds on junk food (haha, life is all about balance). The reason why this feels like the start of my fitness journey is because I feel like I’m properly working out now, in comparison to short little bursts. I am nowhere near where I want to be but, I’m building up – Slow and steady wins the race.

The areas that I want to work on at the moment are my oblique’s (this is your waist area – working on this helps to give you more of an hourglass shape but of course, genetics help), my lower back and my glutes. My main focus is definitely my legs and glutes as I really want to try and bulk them up a little bit and get some more shape.

So, what am I doing you may ask? I’m not going to the gym, at the moment I’m working out from home which I’m really enjoying. I am currently using “Blogilates”, which is a fitness channel on YouTube (I’ve used it since trying to get fit when I was 12). As my glutes are my main focus, I have set up a series of three leg days and two ab days. These are all separate playlists, consisting of six videos each – All an hour or under. If you happen to me interested in following the same plan that I’m on then I have left the links to each playlist underneath for you J

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3TSpXrwJ4qHPu3gAwcM5WQ/playlists

I am planning on making a fitness series, one for me to track my progress and also so we can all get motivated together. I’m very excited for this new chapter.

See you next Tuesday,

C x

Himalayn Salt and Skincare Treatment

I was recently doing a food shop in ASDA. Now, the thing that I love to do at the moment is look at all the bargains/reduced items in stores – Honestly, it fills me with so much excitement haha. So, whilst I was rooting around the reduced shelf, I found a bag of Himalayan Salt that was reduced from five pound to two pound. Of course, I couldn’t resist – I knew I had to buy it.

Upon bathing in it, I noticed that the salt didn’t tend to dissolve into the water (which is what I expected it to do) and my skin began to peel. Sorry for the icky thought for those of you that have funny stomachs. Anyway, I was intrigued; I really wanted to find out what it is and how it works so, that’s exactly what I did.

 

Before I get into the really interesting stuff, lemme tell you some background information on Himalayan Salt. I know just how much you want to hear it – Time to get educated. Himalayan Salt is basically a form of rock salt, another term for it is “halite”. It is from the Punjab region of Pakistan – I have included a map to help you decipher where it actually is. It is mined from the Khewra Salt Mine which just so happens to be 190 miles from the Himalayas. Based upon the name of the salt I personally expected it to be much closer to the Himalayas but, I suppose it is still relatively close in comparison to the entirety of the planet.

 

 

Now onto the REALLY cool stuff. That’s right, cooooool stuff.

Himalayan Salt is basically, really good for your skin. It helps to combat skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis, acne and many more. As well as this it helps to heal: injures and sprains, insect bites, blisters, fungal conditions etc.… Of course, it’s all natural as well (Huge bonus points).

It’s all very well knowing that it’s good for the skin BUT, why is it so good for the skin you may ask?

 

Well, when water and salt are combined, the water actually begins to break down the geometrical structure of salt which results in the salts biophotons releasing pure energy. Just in case you don’t know (I didn’t know) – Biophotons are photons of light, stored in the ultraviolet and low visible light range. Of course, we can’t see these. The pure energy that’s released ends up penetrating our skin, this then stimulates natural cell growth and regenerates our skin (Woohoooo).

Bathing in salt is SO much better than just having a normal bath. I didn’t know this but, a normal bath actually extracts moisture from our bodies whereas a salt bath actually keeps our skin more moisturised. It keeps our skin moisturised because, when that pure energy penetrates our skin it is actually storing salt in the upper callused layer of our skin – This essentially maintains and protects our upper layer of skin, helping to lock in moisture and prevent it from drying out.

 

Did you know that a thirty minute salt bath is the equivalent to a three day fast? The reason for this is because it majorly detoxifies our bodies as all of our bad toxins are released into the bath whilst the minerals from the salt are absorbed (like I was explaining before). This then reduces the acidic levels in our bodies and balances PH levels in our skin. This really does help to enhance your bodies self-healing powers as the current and vibrations running through your body is more balanced and at the right frequency.

Your skin is your biggest organ – Look after it.

Disclaimer – If you have heart or circulation issues, you should contact a physician before using.

Happy bathing.

See you next Tuesday,

C x

Chester Bennington

I

 am writing this post for Chester Bennington. I am writing this to thank you. I am writing this to apologise. I am writing this because your death has truly pulled on my heart strings – I am writing this because I can’t stop thinking about what happened to you. I am writing this because a little bit of hope died in me on the day you realised you couldn’t live in this world anymore. I am writing this because I am angry, I am so angry. I am sick and tired of mental health not being taken seriously. I am writing this because my heart breaks every time someone leaves this world out of their own choice.

 

Chester. Linkin Park. Your music has been in my ears since before I learned to walk. I was probably banging my head along to your music before I said my first words. I owe that to my dad. He was the one blasting your music through the cars speakers. Your words have been circulating in my mind for as long as I can remember and I have always been so proud of that. I have always been proud to be a part of your family – Proud to be part of music that hits you in the deepest parts of your mind, music that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, music that brings a tear to your eye but also a glint of hope; a flicker of fire.

 

I have a lot to thank you for – SO MUCH. There have been completely broken but, do you know what you did? You gave me that fire, you gave me that hope, you gave me the ammunition I needed to keep going. You stopped me from breaking. You helped me to keep living. You helped me to stay strong. I wish I could put into words just how much you have impacted my life but, I don’t think I ever can but, let me tell you this. The fact that I am sat here today, living my life, experiencing the highs and lows – That is partially down to you. It is no over exaggeration when I say that you helped me get through some of my darkest days, I don’t say stuff like that lightly. I remember getting the bus home from sixth form, I was so close to being broken – So close. Do you know what I did? I stuck my earphones in and the familiar thud of “In the end” took over my ears and I allowed myself to be swallowed in by the music. It was the first time I’d ever really listened to those lyrics, of course I’d listened to them before but this was different, they resonated with me – They hit me in the soul. The lyrics overwrote my sadness with anger and I want to thank you for that because do you know what anger is? Anger is fire, anger is fight, anger is “Fuck you, you’re not going to break me”. Thank you. Thank you so much.

I want to apologise. I want to say sorry because I can’t help but feeling bad for the fact that you’ve helped me and so many (SO MANY) others get through hard times yet, there was no one there to help you. That just hurts so much. I don’t think you realised just how many people’s lives you impacted – Just how many people you helped. I can’t begin to imagine what you were feeling – I’ve been in dark places but I’ve never been in a place that dark. I hate the fact that your thoughts were destroying you, that your mind was knowing at your insides and slowly killing you. You didn’t deserve that. You deserved happiness and I am so sorry that, that’s not what you were feeling.

I want you to know that you are and always will be a hero of mine. I want you to know that I will ALWAYS respect you. One day, I will be driving in my car with my children and they will be having your music taking over their ears. You will be a friend to them and I know that, that will bring them comfort. Comfort and hope.

Rest easy Chester – I hope that the pain has gone now. Please be okay.

 

For anyone that’s reading this that is suffering with mental health issues, suicidal thoughts, self harm, low moods; ANYTHING. Please, please, please – Don’t suffer in silence. Life can and does get better, I promise. You need to talk about it, you need to get it out. You were not made to feel these feelings all alone – That is not what you were put on this planet for. Please speak about it. Please don’t bottle it up. I don’t want you to leave this planet. I know I don’t know who you are but I care about you, I hate the thought of you not being here anymore. I’m going to leave my email address because I want you to know that I am ALWAYS here. That is my promise, from me to you. Whenever you’re feeling low, you can talk to me. You don’t need to tell me who you are, where you are, what you are – I don’t care. I just want you to be okay.

I am here for you – I promise.

I am going to download an app like KIK, or something along those lines instead of putting my email on here - I will include it in my next post.

You will always have a friend in me.