We have all done it. Vowed to do more sports, join a gym or do some Yoga but with our time becoming more and more precious, sadly looking after our bodies seems to get pushed aside!

In 2012/2013 I was the fittest I have ever been! I was running every week(around 20 miles), was eating healthy and was aware of what I was eating and what I was using as fuel.

By the end of 2013, it all started to go a little wacky for me exercise wise.  My Nan was admitted to Hospital in October and after three months, she sadly passed away. As we were traveling for 3 months to the hospital (50 miles there and back) 3 times a week (at least), Me and Gary sadly lost sleep, couldn’t cook dinners and lived on junk food to keep us going.

I didn’t realised I had put on weight until I tried on some of my clothes from last Summer. I was pretty shocked as I went from a size 10/12 to a 14 but grieve and not eating properly with no exercise can easily do this. I’m not really one to worry about my size that much as I am a confident person but I really didn’t feel like myself so I knew I would have to get back into my fitness routine to feel better about me and also concentrate on what I was putting into my body too!

Getting back into it
I think lots of ladies get to that point where they want to do more fitness but sometimes find it hard to get back into the groove!
Once I saw how much weight I had put on, I started back into running but was having trouble carrying the extra pounds I had put on.  Also to add insult to injury, my normal sports kit would gaff me when I was running in lots of areas and some of the marks were so sore and tender that I had to have lots of days rest before I would run again.

Yoga

As I knew I would have to tighten up and lose some pounds before I ran regularly again, I started to do some Yoga at home to help start me off.  Some people probably don’t believe in this sort of exercise but once I started doing an hour a day, I felt so much more fitter, more flexible and stronger body and mind.

I have done Yoga before so knew some positions but if you have never done or can’t remember the poses, try Yoga.com. This great website has a POSES page that has lots of moves for you to try out, no matter your fitness level. As well as clear pictures and explanations, you can also play a video to help you see and understand the pose properly. I would look at Yoga.com on my ipad as it was great to have near me so I can check a pose while doing my Yoga in my lounge.

You can try these poses out on a Yoga mats which you can pick up at Primark or online from as little as £5 and they are easy to roll up and store so there is no excuse for you not to have a go! (I keep mine behind our flat screen TV and as it is a 42 inch, you would never know it was there.)

Running

Once I spent a couple of months doing my Yoga, I started to get back into my running.  As sometimes it’s hard to make yourself go out and do a run(crappy weather or lay in wanted), I found that Map my Run App helped me loads! It’s a great App as it can monitor your walking, cycling and running,  records where you have traveled with GPS and also your pace per mile and total distance.  It’s also cool as you can add your friends so you can see what they are up too and it does encourage you to do more to improve your own fitness.

If you are having trouble getting back into sports or need a push, I promise that starting some Yoga in your lounge for one hour a day will help massively! Once you start to master the poses, you will feel really good about yourself and it helps with your balance, energy levels and is great if you are a Mum at home as you can be in the same room as your kids while you work out.  You only need enough room to stretch out your mat and if you aren’t one for running, this is definitely something to try!

I hope some of these tips help you and I would love to know if you are in need of a new fitness push!

Images by Lois Spencer-Tracey