So, this is a bit of a wordy post, but I thought one of the best things I could do with this blog is share my fitness ‘journey’, and hopefully help others find the motivation to get to where they want to be too. I kind of accidentally fell into fitness nearly 4 years ago after I stopped doing synchronised swimming, which I’d been training for up to 5/6 times a week from the age of 10. I have always had the tendency to carry a bit of weight, and my weight fluctuated a lot through school, so I knew that I was going to have to do something to replace all of the exercise I was previously getting from the swimming, however it was never something I particularly thought I would stick to or enjoy.

Fitness now fits my lifestyle perfectly. Its something you don’t have to rely on anyone else for, and you can fit in around whatever else you have to do in that day, at a time that suits you. It doesn’t matter if you’re really mega tired, you can take it easier that day, or just rest, it’s all about getting to know your own body, and knowing what it’s capable of, and it has become a whole new way of life for me.

I’m planning on making these posts into a bit of a fitness ‘series’, where I will show you different workout, food, and motivation ideas, and also to track my own progress and let you know if I find anything that I think is working really well for me, and I may do a ‘transformation’ post if I’m feeling brave enough . . . I will also try and update this each time I feel I have seen some changes!

These photos were taken this morning, they are not edited in any way, which is why they are not the best quality and quite dark, but it’s so important to remember that no one really looks exactly how they do on Instagram or in professional shoots – it’s simply all about the way the direction of light hits your body, stand with the light side on to show off your abs!

 

I am currently training 4-5 times a week, all weights, no cardio. Cardio is not something I enjoy very much, so over winter I tend to pretty much stop completely (bad I know), other than the odd 10-20 minute walk uphill, and just whatever I’m doing in day to day life, at uni this can actually mean a decent amount of walking though. After christmas when I’ve stuffed myself, I will probably start to reintroduce cardio into my workouts properly, I will definitely need to! My diet has been quite up and down the past couple of months for various reasons, but it has been consistent for the past 10 days or so, which is starting to pay off a bit.

SO . . .

I’m currently sitting at 123lb, 18.4% body fat and 41.4% muscle mass according to my scales, which may not be the most accurate, but will be sufficient to track progress, and these are numbers which I’m actually pretty happy with!

However . . .

In fitness its impossible not to pick faults with your own body, you spend so much time analysing every single inch of it, it can be very hard to see yourself as a whole. I know I have come a long way from where I started out and I’ve worked hard for it, and I am much happier now than I have been in the past, but there will always be things I want to improve, and things I want to get better at.

I personally hold all my fat in my upper body, particularly on my upper arms and back. This means that I find it easier to build muscle in these places, but very very hard to break down the fat and achieve the lean and toned look that I am personally working for, especially on my arms 😦  My lower body is the reverse – I don’t hold fat on my legs or hips, (thank god seems as they are seriously short) however it means I find it very very hard to put any size onto my glutes, which again is a goal of mine. These are the two main areas I am working on currently, and I am trying to not worry too much about the numbers, although I am aiming to maintain them!

Again, I do not hate my body, and some people will think it’s mad to not just be happy, but these are just personal goals that I have set for myself. I get so much satisfaction and happiness from achieving my own goals in the gym that it is something I do for fun, I could not spend every day doing something I hate and I don’t think that anyone should!

P.S. I’m wearing the new Gymshark Dry Sculpture Leggings in Plum, the fit is unreal and are such a nice colour, I’d highly recommend them!

If there is anything specific that you would like to know more about or for me to do a blog post on please don’t hesitate to ask! 🙂

Phoebe

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