Colour Motivation: PINK

Hello again! Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I've been super ill and in and out of hospital for a few months! Bit  of a nightmare but I'm back now! As I've been away I've been thinking of a nice upbeat idea for my blog, colour inspiration! 

Colour inspiration is something I was taught during recovery from my eating disorders. It's a good way of getting people into eating good healthy foods, by making all your food from super natural and super colourful clean goodies. I've decided to adapt this concept and use it for my posts. Each post will now have a colour scheme to help keep us all cheery and motivated!

What better colour to start on than pink!? When I worked in a gym I always had a dream of opening my own women's only gym. Don't get me wrong it's not that I'm bias against men or hate them or anything like that, it's just a lot of the women I helped train hated being around men in the gym, they felt uncomfortable and intimidated by what is supposedly the 'stronger' gender. I for one think that's a load of crap but I could see their point, a big group of bulky body builders would definitely seem intimidating to a self conscious gal who wants to shift a few pounds!

So one day I hope to open a small gym designed exclusively for women! I'd make it pink and glamorous just like all us women are! I'd have a spa in there as well offering beauty treatments to help boost a girls confidence after a grueling work out. As well as this I'd love their to be a little shop attached selling girly gym goodies!

I'd also like an all female team of personal trainers who are employed to be kind and encouraging as well as to give gals the extra push to get fit! I'd put classes on including dance (which isn't offered at many gyms) for people to enjoy with their friends as well making them fit.

I hope you all like my grand plans for a female gym and sorry again for not posting for so long! Hope all you beautiful girls are feeling fit and healthy. no matter what, always get up and try again!

Get involved!

I don't think I would of come as far as I have on my fitness journey if I'd done it all alone. Firstly I have a brilliant gym buddy, she keeps me motivated and we cook healthy meals together and for each other to keep fitness fun! Secondly I have all the fitness instructors that work at my local gym.

I go to 'The Gym' in the Liverpool One where all classes are free! The sessions are all thirty minutes and range to everything from yoga to boxercise. Also they regularly offer you free sessions with personal trainers to help you keep your targets on goal.

When you go to a class it is just pure workout, there's no way you can just give up after ten minutes and go home or 'go easy' on your self. The instructors keep you motivated and are always there if you need help with any part of the class. It really is the perfect thing to do if you have goals to reach!

My two favourite classes at the moment are Kettlebells and Yoga. Kettlebell training utilizes all of your core muscles which are essential for maintaining good healthy. All moves are based on functional movements so reduce the risk of injury. Kettlebell training is different than other forms of weight training because many parts of the body are exercised simultaneously and also kettlebells training elevates the heart rate for effective cardiovascular training.

Yoga means union, united mind, body and spirit. Yoga as we know it in the West is in Sanskrit the asana part of yoga, meaning posture or pose. Yoga is breath-linked movements, so you move the body into poses with conscious breathing, resulting in a toned, flexible, lean body and a calm, level stress-free demeanor. Yoga has an array of benefits but can also be used as a tonic to things like stress, tight muscles, fatigue, insomnia, anxiousness and asthma.

In my opinion, if you want to get fit, classes are a must do! There's such a variety available for such a range of prices. Many gyms offer classes for very cheap or in some cases completely free! Google gyms in your area and see what they have to offer and most importantly, GET INVOLVED!

- Alice Lavinia x

Learn to love the squat!

My big body hatred is my legs. I mean I absolutely hate them! I'm extremely pear shaped, with a very big bum and wide thighs that make my legs look a bit like a triangle shape as they get a lot slimmer as they go down. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having a big bum, it probably my favourite feature, but lately my legs just seem to have taken over and it's been hard to love my big booty when my legs are so awful!

So after chatting to a member of staff at my local gym they suggest plenty of yoga, running and....squats! I used to do a lot of squats in my early teens as I was a member of two dance groups and a cheerleading group so I was required to keep my legs in shape. Squats are an exercise that improve the muscles in your entire body, help to burn fat, help maintain mobility and balance, improve 'waste removal' and most of all they tone your abs, upper leg and backside! 

I did the '30 day squat challenge' which is a challenge that increases the number of squats you do each day, with on break day a week, for 30 days. Since starting the challenge I'd say I've lost about 3cm off the width of my legs and the shape of my bum has changed massively! I have a much more toned backside and the join between my legs and bum is much more defined. It's now close to a 90 degrees angle than a straight slope!

Also while I've been doing the challenge I've added dumbbells to my squats, so as I squat down I lift the dumbbells up so my arms are straight, then as I come back up I drop my arms back down to my sides. This is too help burn off some bingo wing as well as my thunder thighs!

There seems to be quite a stigma surrounding girls lifting weights which is absolutely ridiculous! If you want to shift the weight and gain muscle then you need to learn to lift! I'm currently lifting 6kg dumbbells as I do the squats and am working my way up. I'm also up to 6kg on the barbells.

- Alise Lavinia

Run for your life!

One of the most important things for keeping fit is running. That and swimming are two of the most effective types of work out, it literally exercises every inch of you, and boy do you feel it the next day! I bought myself a decent pair of Nike running trainers and some running shorts and got to it!

I've set up a new morning routine to 'boost productivity', it usually goes something like this: Alarm goes off at 6am (crycrycry) and I go get a breakfast of fruit (usually blueberries/raspberries) , natural Greek yogurt and granola. Then I get ready for my run I leave the flat and do stretches in the courtyard and set off on my run at about half six. 

I live in a really urban area of Liverpool so it's not exactly a very natural peaceful environment to run in but you certainly do see some interesting sights! More often than not I see drunk/hungover students walking home, ducking their heads as I run past...gives me a laugh and a little more motivation.

By about seven fifteen I'm home again and in the shower and then getting ready for my day at uni. I thought my new routine would physically kill me because I'm used to staying in bed for as long as I physically can, but it's given me more energy than usual if anything! I have time to wake up before I get to uni which is definitely a big change, I usually sit in my lectures and fall asleep.

I've had to add long leggings, a running jacket and a thermal headband to my running gear as well as more reflective bands due to the insane drop in temperature and the mornings being pitch black until about 07:40am! I hate winter!

The one thing I've learnt this week is not to make excuses, the weather/season is not a reason not to keep fit! Do I want to stay in my warm bed and guzzle hot choccy? Yes I bloody well do! But doing that will not get me the body that I have ultimately raved for years so I refuse to let jack frost beat me!

- Alise Lavinia x

Welcome to my blog!

Hello and welcome to my anonymous weight-loss blog! I'm 19 years old weighing 161 pounds (BMI 26) wanting to get to 126 pounds (BMI 20.3). I've been unhappy with my weight and figure for a long time and have suffered with both anorexia and bulimia in the past. I have recovered almost fully from both of these but still have some OCD habits with food.

My main goal now is to get fit and healthy through regular exercise and clean eating! My BMI is currently one digit over the 'overweight' line, and my goal weight is at the lower end of the 'healthy' line. I have a long way to go but I'm very positive about my goal and believe I can do it!

I've made this blog to keep myself on track and document how well I'm doing and hopefully to offer encouragement and help for other people like me wanting to get healthy. 

Check out my 'About' tab (coming soon) which will tell you more about me and my situation. If you want to know anything more about me then feel free to ask questions by leaving a comment below!

So to end my first post is one thing I've learnt of my yeas of obsessive dieting, to binging, to eating disorders, to recover - That 'strong' is SO much better than 'skinny'

- Alise Lavinia x