So it is officially January 2018. I think we can all agree after at least a month of using the ‘it’s Christmas’ excuse, it is officially time to put the box of Lindt chocolates down, throw away the left over mulled wine and start concentrating on getting fit for the new year.
With summer looming around the corner now is the time to really put your all in to getting the perfect bikini body! So I’m here to give you some of my best tips on getting fit this new year.
A well known tip for loosing weight is to drink LOADS of water. Not only does it fill you up but recent studies have shown it can boost your body’s ability to lose weight and even increase your metabolic rate my 30 percent! Every week buy seven 2 litre bottles of water and line them up where you can see them and then each day drink one until the week is over and they’re all gone. Your skin will massively reap the benefits too.
If your brave enough try adding a bit of spice to your diet! Spicy foods contain a chemical called capsaicin, which speeds up your metabolism by increasing your heart rate and body temperature. I always add chilli’s to most of my healthy meals and if you really can’t take it ginger and pepper have a similar effect. You can even buy chilli capsules now, they’ve been backed by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Brad Pitt!
Try and do some form of yoga or Pilates. It decreases the risk of injury by enhancing flexibility and priming the muscles for more intense exercise. To add to this it really helps stabilise your mental and digestive health! I personally opt for bikram yoga. Cranking up that heat really gets the heart rate up and burns around 700 calories per session! My flexibility has massively improved in only a year. If you get a bit embarrassed to attend these sort of classes there are some great yoga apps out there too.
I try my best to avoid heavy carbs like white bread or pasta and instead will opt for an alternative. There’s so many out there now a days there’s no need to go for high calorie options. Things such as cauliflower rice, chickpea pasta or sweet potato mash go just as well with your choice of protein and veg!
When it comes to exercise it’s important to set goals and stick to them! I know weighing yourself can sometimes be a bit off putting as it’s not always the best way to measure progress. However with the correct scales it can be! I have a Garmin watch that links to my scales and tells me literally everything! My muscle mass, my body fat and even the percentage of water in my body. You don’t need to splash out on an expensive set of scales like this though (I didn’t even do so myself they were For Christmas haha). You can pop down to boots and a lot of them now have a health check machine, it only costs about 50p.
Always alternate muscle groups to give them a chance to repair. So you have one day for legs, one for arms and then one for back and chest. Along side this I will try to do a short abs workout most days (I use an app called swork it for this) and one cardio session per week. This can be either a hit training class, running, cycling, swimming or skipping! I alternate a lot so that I don’t get bored.
Thanks for reading everyone and please do tweet me with your progress. Remember you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. Believe in yourself!
