Food is a major love of mine, along with being generally lazy and avoiding exercise. However my job as a model sort of dictates that I have to be a certain size, so I try my very best to drag myself to the gym a few times a week, hard as that may be! Here are my top ten tips for working out when you really would rather be in bed/eating pizza etc.
1. Buy cool workout accessories
It's the beginning of the year, and the shops are bursting with their ranges of 'cool' work out clothes (because everyone loves working out in their overpriced bra!) and other fancy workout gear. Yoga mats, water bottles, ipod holders - if you can think of it, they've got it.
This month I bought a water bottle juicer from Amazon and it is amazing. You can juice half a lemon, lime, whatever takes your fancy in the bottom half and have all the benefits of sipping on lemon water all day. Great if you aren't good at drinking normal water, and super cheap at £10.
Also getting a cool pair of new trainers or gym clothes really helps you want to go to the gym and show off in it! Missguided's new range is really cool.
2.Wear your gym clothes to bed
Might sound a bit 'gross' if you re-wear your gym clothes a few times before washing (errrrm no.. I don't do that) but it is literally my tip-top-tip. I used to wear my school uniform to sleep in Cyprus because we had to wake up at 6am! (But we finished school at 1.40pm and went to the beach, so can't really complain).
If you just throw on a pair of leggings and tshirt before bed, when you wake up you can literally roll out of bed, grab your pre-packed bag and sleep-walk your way to the gym. Do a sleep-workout, and by the time you are properly awake you have finished!
3. Work out in the morning
Similar to #2, the earlier you work out the better. It is out of the way, and leaves you energized and endorphin-ed up for the day ahead, with your metabolism burning away all day. If you work out before breakfast (with still a small snack to stop you from fainting, like a banana) then you naturally will burn fat instead of energy. I've recently discovered you only start burning fat 30 minutes after you start running (quite a problem when I only used to do 20 minutes a day!) because first of all you burn the food you have recently eaten. This also means you get to look forward to an amazing breakfast afterwards.
The later you leave your work out, the more excuses you will find to put it off until tomorrow - this happens to me so much it is ridiculous!
4. Coffee
A good, but probably not 'totally' healthy tip is to drink coffee before your work out. Or eat a banana, anything that gives you a good energy hit and gets you working out twice as hard! I've recently started making use of the amazing coffee maker I bought Dima for Christmas (or making him make use of it for me, as it remains a bit confusing) and every time I drink it before a run I burn double the calories as I would normally.
Just don't make a major habit of it, it can be pretty addictive!
6. Set your alarm ten minutes earlier than you have to
I don't know about you, but once I have opened one eye and checked my phone, I can't get back to sleep. Rather than just lie in bed all morning on instagram, this makes me more motivated to actually get up and start my day!
 |
| Pretty much my alarm! |
Just maybe set a couple, incase you fall back to sleep!
6. Get out the door
A major struggle of mine is actually getting out of the door into the freezing cold air. I usually just get changed into my gym clothes then sit around procrastinating, until I ask Dima to literally kick me out of the house! Once you are out, you're out and once you are at the gym you may as well work out before you come back. Much like diving into a swimming pool, it's not so bad once you get in.
8. Set some goals
Achievable ones! I try and run a little bit more every so often. I used to run 20 minutes a day about a year ago and now I try to always make it 40. Generally I do it in two 20 minute bursts on the treadmill so it doesn't seem so daunting, but even a minute more each week can make a huge difference. Try on your skinny jeans every week to see progress, and your skinniest-of-the-skinniest jeans every month.
 |
| My ultimate goal - might happen one day if I revisit Cheerleading! |
8. Watch TV at the same time
I get really bored exercising. It's not that I can't run, it's that moment when you check the clock and it feels like at least 20 minutes have gone by when really it has been 20 seconds of blistering hell. So I watch TV. Luckily my gym has wifi (most of the time, when it works!) so I usually watch a series on Netflix on my ipad as this means I get to catch up on my favourite shows and forget everything else. American Horror Story is a pretty terrifying one to watch (makes you run a lot faster) - at the moment I am alternating between The Good Wife and The Originals.
 |
| My gym - Kiss Gyms in Acton |
9. Join a good gym
And make sure you go! Having failed at my trying to work out at home plan, I realised that the only reason I work as hard as I do is because of the atmosphere of the gym, knowing that you have bothered to come there so you have to do something before you can plod on home. A gym that is close by is perfect as you literally have no excuses. Check out what classes are being offered at certain gyms, if they have a swimming pool, sauna, women's only section... just tailor it to what you are most likely to do. I go to Kiss Gyms at the moment and only pay £20 a month which is pretty darn cheap for London. I just need somewhere with a treadmill, couple of yoga classes a week and preferably a women's section!
10. Do classes
Classes are a great way to ensure you are working out to your full potential and doing it correctly. They can also be (whisper) fun! My favourites are yoga and pilates, and if I have something I really need to be toned for occasionally I will put myself through the hell of a legs, bums and tums class. There are literally so many out there, you are spoiled for choice!
 |
| Ideal class! |
No comments:
Post a Comment