I'll hold my hands up – I’m a complete gym junkie. For me, it’s the best buzz.
But we all slip and over the Christmas and New Year holidays, I did too. Getting back on track is key, not wallowing in your lapses.
If you’ve let diet and fitness take a back seat for a while, cut yourself some slack.
Don’t dwell on your muffin top, just get back on the horse – that’s what fitness is all about.
But now I’m back at the gym, it’s about the consistency and I feel fabulous with the daily endorphin release.
Whether it’s a walk, a swim in the sea, a gym session, a home workout, it’s just about giving yourself the time and creating personal energy.
We forget exercise energises us and that’s the main aim – not to get a Kim Kardashian bum.
Equally, eating healthily is all about nourishing our bodies and gaining strength, not depriving ourselves.
As trainer to the stars Paul Byrne regularly tells me, you can only put on two pounds of fat in a week.
So why train, if not to get ripped and toned? It’s the feeling I get after a workout that keeps me going back again for more. No matter what your individual situation, there’s a way to do it – if you really want to.
I get up midweek at 5.20am to escape to a class. After a good polar fitness spin class, I feel like: “Bring it on.”
I’d be able to cope with anything after it.
My tips for success
- Only eat when you’re hungry
- Eat whole foods
- Bin crash diets, they don’t work
- Buddy up get a partner to exercise with
- Consistency is key
- If you’re time poor, get up off your desk and do jumping jacks to re-energise.
- Track your progress and don’t be afraid of weights they burn more than cardio
- 85% dark chocolate is good for you in moderation
- Stop eating three hours before you go to bed
- Go easy on yourself
- Life is for living
If you suffer with any kind of anxiety or depression, exercise should be part of your wellness routine.
If I wake up angry or feeling down, I go to the gym or for a walk and I shake all the anger off.
Getting fit helps your brain deal with life. It’s a release that kicks negative vibes to the touch and gives me more patience for the nonsense life throws at me.
These days, as a busy working mother-of-two, it is my sanctuary and my personal headspace.
However, my love affair with fitness started in my 20s, when I was chosen to be on the official Mini Marathon team.
The natural high of working my body got me hooked and since then I’ve always chased the fitness buzz.
I love it all – running, yoga, strength conditioning.
My kickstart training schedule
- Four training sessions a week, incorporating:
- Spinning class
- Full-body workout class
- Free weights – focus on shoulders, triceps, biceps
- Machine work – lat pull-down
- Floor work – including planks, pilates and yoga
- One 5k jog a week
If you don’t want to join a gym, all you need are runners and if you don’t want to leave your house, online classes are all the rage. I was 28 when my obsession started.
I’d never watched my food before and suddenly there was a whole new world when I got a personal trainer.
I’m a foodie – so I loved focusing on tasty, healthy dishes.
The plan was to get in top condition in order to fit into my dream wedding dress. But here’s where I went wrong – training for a singular event to become a lean machine doesn’t work long-term. Fitness is a lifestyle, not something you do to the max every now and then to look good.
You want to make “fit and feeling fabulous” become your life mantra.
You want your fit vibe to attract your new tribe of positive people. You need the feeling from fitness to be your motivation in order to keep going.
By all means get the body of your dreams but make that a natural outcome rather than the whole purpose. It’s also about mind, body and soul.
Yes you can’t out-train a bad diet, but if you let fitness become your natural high – your “best body” will organically follow.
My diet tips
- Don’t eat after 7pm – and eat a healthy breakfast after training
- Drink plenty of water
- Don’t deny yourself treats, but keep it in moderation
- Choose nourishing, delicious foods you enjoy that are good for you.
- Consistency is better than perfection
You may get abs of steel punishing yourself and following strict food plans, but it’s unsustainable. But “Mr Body” Paul, whose clients include Michael Fassbender and Saoirse Ronan, warns you’ll end up cracking and it’ll all fall apart.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Mirror, he said: “Sustainability is massive. If you are just starting to get into fitness, train twice a week, ease into it as you start getting used to it, increase it slightly.
“Same with your food. Everybody knows to eat food as close to its natural state as possible.”
Paul explained 90% of people who take up a fitness plan in January fail because they can’t keep it up.
He added: “They burn out and when they break, they break biblically.”
After the holidays it’s natural people panic. Paul said: “They’re not exercising, they’re eating the wrong food, so they get water retention and feel sluggish.
“But the water will drop, your body will regulate itself back to the way it was before Christmas. Take your time and get back to your routine. Two weeks of badness doesn’t ruin everything. It’s easily reversible.”
Creeping calories are those bad foods we tend to graze on when we watch TV at night.
Paul explains: “The worst time is at night, nobody snacks on broccoli.
“Eliminate the junk out of your sight. Eat good nutrient-dense food like whole meal pasta, sourdough bread, protein good meats, fish, chicken, eggs and good essential fats. Good olive oils and fish oils.
“Think of the foods you like which are good foods and write what you want for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“It’s amazing what you can do when you restructure your plan.”
For all the hard work and dedication Paul also advocates the odd treat so you don’t feel deprived.
Personally when I trained for my wedding I was on a high protein, no carbs plan.
I had a body to die for in the end but I was unhappy underneath that physique. I was miserable and always hungry. Fast forward almost two decades, my body isn’t ripped but I’m fit as hell and thrilled that my I can still move and work out and run.
I trained to be a personal trainer with Keith Martin of Fitcert and I’ve learned so much regarding goals.
Not everyone wants to lose weight, getting fit for yourself first will change your life for the better regardless of your size.
I train now for my head, eat more healthily and still have treats, but I don’t work out to become a mannequin for anyone else. I do it for me.
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