How to begin & maintain a healthy lifestyle ♡

Not so long ago I made the decision to begin and maintain a healthier lifestyle. I realised that sitting backand watching myself gain weight was not something that was making me happy; I have always been a busy, active person with 101 things going off in my life and brain 24/7, but for some reason my health had taken a backseat and I wanted to make a change. 

Now I am by farrrr not the healthiest, skinniest, world's top fitness guru that you should be going to for nutritional advice and workout videos, but as abeginner myself I thought I would share some of the things that have helped me establish and maintain my healthier routine.

• Firstly, I drink a lottttt of water. A lot. I make sure to start and end my days with a pint of water, and I always have a glass on the go. Hang on one sec, need to fill mine up! This is a simple but effective way to up my water intake; if it's in front of me, I am wayy more likely to pick it up and take a sip. Drinking water has so many health benefits. Not only is drinking water scientifically proven to improve brain function, increase motivation & energy levels, get your digestive system moving and help treat headaches; it can also aid weight loss! This is because it increases satiety and boosts your metabolic rate. For more information on the benefits of drinking water see Healthline's article.

• Secondly, I make sure to plan my exercise into my week. I keep a physical diary (which I highly recommend forproductivity purposes), and highlight my exercise schedule in green. I find colour coding so therapeutic, and also putting things down in colour makes me less likely to slack off because I feel guilty with the ink sat there staring me down.

• Have motivation for why you started your healthy lifestyle close by. Maybe you needed to start being more healthy for health reasons, maybe you wanted to fit back into those trousers you love, or you just wanted to feel happier and more vibrant. Make sure to have a photo or a quote on your phone or on your wall that inspires you and re-ignites your why every time you see it. 

• Take a selfie/ write notes on how amazing you feel after exercising and being healthy. Refer back to these when in doubt to remember this feeling so you can repeat it.

• Don't be unreasonable- when you're just starting out you will have setbacks, don't beat yourself up! It is quite unreasonable to assume that you can cut out every piece of unhealthy food, every takeaway you love, and it is unreasonable to believe that right off the bat you will be a 10K runner! And that is okay, at no point should you restrict yourself to the point that you cannot maintain the lifestyle, or you keep going for a couple of weeks and then fall back to day one. Believe me, I have been there over and over again. The whole point of a healthy lifestyle is to find balance, to be able to enjoy yourself and your food without putting too much pressure on yourself. 

• This last one isn't essential, but boy does it feel good! Getting new workout gear. I can't be the only person that instantly feels more inspired to work out and be healthy when I have a fresh, stylish gym set in a funky colour? Don't tell me I'm the only one ladies. In this post I am wearing Fabletics; it's the first time I have tried their gear and woweee I have been missing out! It is easily the comfiest pair of leggings I own, and they have THE cutest patterns and styles on their website. If you want to check out their 2 for £24 deal I'll leave a link here.

I hope some of these tips were helpful. If they were, feel free to check out my Instagram where I've been posting motivation reels for self love and positivity. Come say hi! 

Let's continue our healthy routines together.

Vicki 

x x x