March 25th 2020 11am – After a long lie in from not sleeping until the ungodly hours of the morning I am still sat in bed thinking about how to spend yet another day in lockdown, likely it will be spent consuming copious amounts of food (largely from the chocolate category) just to keep myself entertained along with binging Netflix…
That was me at the very start of the first lockdown back in March - which I am sure many people will relate to. Lockdown started out as an excuse for me to lounge around; I felt like I was 10 years old again pretending I had a stomach bug to avoid school that week. That feeling of guilt being stuck in the house when in actual fact I am a perfectly healthy human being who should be out and about! And, just as I did when I was 10 years old feigning my imminent death, I began to get restless! As much as the novelty of working from home meant longer lie ins during the week and sofa days at the weekend, after a couple of weeks and the realisation that this would probably last longer than a month the boredom really kicked in.
So I turned my attention to getting fit and healthy. I thought, if I am going to be my own company for who knows how long I might as well focus my time on making myself the best version of me I could possibly be. I’ve always been intrigued to see what I could look like if I really pushed myself physically - so with the hopes of achieving a bootylicious bottom like Tammy Hebrow or rock hard abs like Chloe Ting I set out to become a fitness guru and put my mind to all things healthy!
The first thing I did was look for online free workout plans (I have a somewhat minor yet still unhealthy addiction to Pretty Little Thing and, more recently, unnecessary items from Amazon. Therefore the free part was essential). I came across Pamela Reif on Instagram, I wanted someone who had a similar body shape to myself to avoid comparison - I didn’t want to be watching videos of someone I would constantly be thinking 'I wish I looked like that', when realistically that body wouldn’t be achievable for me!
Pamela Reif is a German fitness influencer with 6 million followers on Instagram (@pamela_rf) and 5 million subscribers on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/PamelaRf1 (slightly depressing that we are the same age yet my greatest daily achievements include making it back to my bed after turning the light out and not stubbing my toe in the dark and not pissing off my middle sister with my sometimes overly happy attitude to life). Pamela’s huge following captured my eye - surely with that many followers her fitness routines must be working for someone!! I started following her and instantly got hooked. I love how she creates workout plans (all of which don’t require any equipment) at the start of every week and saves them in her Instagram high lights (I’ve actually screen shot’d each one to my camera roll so I can tick off the workouts I’ve completed). She makes plans for different levels of intensity and you can find all the workout routines shown in her plans on her YouTube channel.
I find having a plan for the day so motivational it sets me a goal and I know that hundreds of thousands of other people are doing that same routine along with me, so at least the pain is shared - when my abs are shaking or my booty burning I know I’m not the only one!
Being the fitness goddess that she is I wasn’t surprised to find that Pamela also has her own recipe book and food account of Instagram (@pamgoesnuts). So with my new workout routine in place I set out to change my diet next...
I am an absolutely sucker for sweet treats so I knew this part would be a challenge, although I’m not massively into sweets I am a self-confessed chocoholic and extreme pudding fanatic.. a slight problem when you are supposed to be on a journey to become a fitness guru. To begin with I just tried to cut out snacking in between my meals but this just resulted in binge fests at the end of the week. So instead I started to get more creative with food, finding inspiration in Pamelas bowl cookbook my sister bought me for my birthday. All the foods are quick and simple to prepare and as the title suggests are all made in bowls! From smoothie bowls to lunch time bowls and most importantly of all to me healthy pudding bowls!! Making meal times fun and exciting has been essential in my fitness journey, I’ve realised it’s not how much you eat it’s what you eat! I have shared a few of my favourite meals below..
I feel amazing for eating so much cleaner, and I wake up more positive and full of energy! Porridge has become a new addiction for me - however I see this as a positive improvement on the chocolate addiction! I would highly recommend Pamela’s ‘You deserve this bowl cook book’ which you can buy on amazon for £8.69!
We are now in the second lockdown and I have been keeping up my fitness workouts and healthy eating. I’ve also have a new addition to my routines - working out with my house mate! Having a friend alongside you adds another level of motivation - you don’t want to let each other down! I’ve also added running to my weekly routine (at the gym I always religiously avoided the running machine in fear of falling flat on my face but actually running in the park or along the river is something I now look forward to at the end of the day). I have tried getting up to run in the morning before work but for me it just isn’t humanly possible to wake up before 8am. I have instead accepted I will never be one of those early morning people and have now given up telling my house mate I will be awake at 7am to go for a run as it is slightly embarrassing after the 10th time of saying this I continue to emerge from my room 2 minutes before I am due to start work with bed marks on my face. I find running clears my mind and there is something very empowering about running with your earphones in blasting who runs the world girls, in my head I look like the queen B herself out for a run in the Hollywood hills although in reality I probably look quite the opposite of this, I don’t think Beyoncé ever wore a Primark two piece gym set...
Anyhow it makes me happy and that is all I’ve really been trying to achieve from this whole fitness journey - happiness, confidence and good health! And also possibly to have such a fabulous body no one will notice my god awful roots from the lack of hair dressers when I finally emerge from my house on the 2nd December.
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