My healthy venture.

For about 3 years now I have been a member of a gym, I have always eaten a balanced diet, some days being more healthy than others, and I have always made a point to be active. While working at Primark I was biking to work everyday and even though I now live a 45 mins walk from the city, I always walk in. 

For me, being healthy has always been a big thing and something I always try to be on top of it. Some days it is harder as I will have a girls night out, or a birthday, and Christmas almost makes it impossible. 

Recently I have made a big change, and I have quit the gym. I was unhappy going on my own, I didn't like how crowded it was I didn't like the stuffy, artificial 'air con' air. It was getting warmer and I wanted to run outside again, I instantly enjoyed it and from that moment I haven't wanted to get back on a treadmill. 

This has been a huge success, I joined a running club and starting running each week after work, each time increasing the distance, then one night I was stuck in traffic and late home so I went for a run without the club, and out of nowhere I completed a 5k run without stopping or getting a stitch! Result!

This has hugely motivated me, I now regularly run both in the group and on my own and have completed another 5k run. It has made me motivated to change parts of my diet too, here is what I have done:

• changed rice/cous cous to bulgar wheat or quinoa 
• opted for brown bread instead of white when I eat it
• mainly have wraps instead of bread
• changed white potatoes to sweet potatoes 
• replaced all sweets/chocolate in the house with fruit/oat bars/natural yoghurt
• introduced lots of spinach and kale to my meals

I really enjoyed eating something other than cous cous and salad, for me salad can get really boring and I struggle to make it interesting, and I don't always have the ingredients to had. I fail quite often to get full from a salad so this is when I would eat a chocolate bar. I tried bulgar wheat and really loved it! It had a nutty taste to it and I added cucumber, peppers, cheese and carrots, lovely!

Something else I have done is bought a bottle infuser to have lemon water while at work, this detoxes you and curbs your hunger in the morning to stop you snacking. I found myself doing this despite always eating cereal, and now I don't. 

It has also made me drink more, which is part of the success of losing weight. I don't just use lemons either, I have experimented with frozen berries which make nice cold berry water! 

I have also aimed to have a smoothie a week, normally for breakfast, I have been making mine green. And the other day I had green tea too, just to add to the detox, it was actually not too bad! 

So far I have kept up a good routine of running, eating healthy food and always choosing fruit over chocolate. I am actually starting to see some results too, which is always a positive, you know you are making a difference to your body.                                                                                                                                                                               I wanted to post this to tell you my journey and what steps I have taken to make me healthier and fitter. My end aim is to run the GEAR 10k in Kings Lynn, and see the wobbles on my thighs gone!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Now then, I am off to do a mixture of lunges, planking and squats!