Workouts For Complete Beginners

I haven't always been that into exercise, and even after a year of pretty regular exercise I'd still consider myself a beginner (maybe intermediate if I was wearing the rose-tinted glasses). I'm sure there are many of you out there who would like to create some sort of routine, but have no idea where to start, or what kind of exercise to do. So I thought I'd share some of my favourite beginner level workouts with you, so you can reap the multitude of benefits that regular exercise brings!

Yoga // I've always been interested in Yoga, but it's something I've never really done until recently. After messing up my ankle, I've been trying to incorporate more low impact workouts into my routine and Yoga was one of the first things that sprung to mind. After a long search for online Yoga classes that are for complete beginners, I found Yoga With Adriene on YouTube - and she has a lot of videos that are suitable for all levels. Plus she uploads a new routine every Wednesday, so there are plenty of different routines!

Swimming // Swimming is one of my preferred methods for getting some exercise as I don't really see swimming as a workout as such - but it definitely is! Swimming works almost every single muscle group in your body, so is perfect for toning up any problem areas. You don't have to mega fit to reap the benefits of a couple of laps in your local pool, plus it does wonders for those with stress and anxiety issues as the water provides a really calming environment. 

DVDs // If you don't fancy being watched by other humans, it is perfectly acceptable to workout in the comfort of your own home. DVDs are an excellent way to squeeze in a workout wherever you can, as you don't have to take time out of your day to travel to the local gym. On a morning before university, I like to get up 20 minutes earlier than I need to and fit in a quick cardio workout before going on to get ready for the day. I highly recommend Davina Mccall's DVDs as they are tailored to work different areas of the body, and she has the exact same reactions to her personal trainers as you do watching from home. My current favourite is '5 Week Fit', which comes with a 5 week training schedule packed with different workouts for different days!

Running // Probably not one of the most exciting workouts, but one that requires no equipment or an expensive membership fee. There are dozens of different 'couch to 5k' apps that help you gradually build up your stamina until you are able to run 5 kilometers. You can make running more exciting by picking different routes - you could run through fields, or next to a river, or even through the centre of town. Whatever floats your boat!

Cycling // When I say cycling, I don't necessarily mean a hardcore spin class - unless you want to partake in that sort of thing (good luck to you). A little cycle around your neighbourhood, or the local park can be enough to work up a sweat! 

Online fitness classes // If you're a beginner because the thought of a gym makes you want to curl up in a ball and cry, why not try a fun fitness class? In today's world you don't even have to leave the comfort of your home to get a good workout! I've tried a few online boxercise and Zumba classes and loved them! I quite like the Popsugar fitness videos - and if you don't fancy boxercise of Zumba, they have plenty of other fitness videos on their channel. 

What do you like to do to keep fit?

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What I've Learnt From Exercising Regularly

A couple of years ago the thought of exercising would bring me out in a cold sweat. Even though I want nothing more than to get fit and have a healthy body, the thought of exercising regularly would make me feel physically sick. Fast forward to today, and I have been working out multiple times a week for almost 8 months. Eight months! Now if I miss a workout I push myself to work twice as hard next time to make up for it. I want to talk about what I've come to learn since I started working out regularly. Now don't get me wrong, having a routine hasn't solved all problems - I'm far from perfect. But it has given me a sense of confidence that I wouldn't give up for the world. So here are the top lessons my exercise routine has taught me so far: 

So much washing // My routine consists of a variety of different activities. From swimming, to Zumba, I tend to wear a different outfit for each different session. I feel as though my house is becoming a chinese laundry, with the surge of extra washing from all that sweaty gear. And it's not just the gym gear that needs washing. I feel uncomfortable if my hair isn't washed after working out, but it does get annoying having to wash it more frequently. 

Getting fit isn't difficult // Well it is, but you get what I mean. Making changes to your lifestyle (and body) isn't going to come overnight. It takes a lot of time and dedication (and a willpower you will not believe), but it really isn't as difficult as everyone makes out. Even just a little bit here and there will help boost your fitness levels. 

Healthy body, healthy mind // It is fairly common knowledge that regular exercise can aid a multitude of mental health problems. It can work wonders on those with depression and anxiety, and at first I didn't really understand how something could have such an impact. But I've seen vast improvements in my mental health.My anxiety has been at an all time low recently, and I've been a hell of a lot happier. I'm a firm believer in sweating your worries away; nothing beats that amazing feeling when you step out the gym or collapse on your bedroom floor after a hard workout. 

It's ok to take a break // Over the last eight or so months, I've missed a couple of weeks due to illness or injury (and occasionally laziness) and at first I was a little hard on myself. I started off by beating myself up (not physically obvs), but now I know that sometimes it's important to to give your mind and your body a rest when needed. Just as long as your break doesn't turn into a permanent break. 

I have never regretted a workout // Seriously. Even when I've been feeling run down, or a little under the weather I've still attempted to workout. Occasionally I've thought I was going to pass out during a set of burpees and had to give up half way through to collapse on the floor. But the feeling you get when you've finished makes crawling out of bed that little bit easier. 

Have something on hand to eat // Have something ready to eat immediately after your session because you will be starrrrrrving! If not you'll end up stopping off at the neighbouring bakery section of Lidl to buy alllll the pastries and donuts. 

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Life Lately: July

If you follow me on me on Twitter, you probably know that June and July have been a bit of a whirlwind for me and my health. I've decided to write this post not for the sympathy of my lovely readers, but as more of a diary entry where I can share my current thoughts and feelings, track my progress, and basically set goals for the future. 

I've not really talked about it on my blog (or anywhere for that matter), but I suffer from Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) and consequently have a lot of issues with my joints. Occasionally I have flare ups, where joints become painful and I have to take a few days off here and there to get back on track. On the day of the UK referendum (I blame you for all of this Brexit), I woke up with a lot of pain in one of my ankles. At first I thought it was one of my flare ups and decided to rest for a few days. Eventually the pain got so bad that I was having panic attacks and crying for ~75% of the day. I just couldn't cope with the pain and I wasn't even able stand up. Just the weight of even a blanket or a sock made me scream out like a banshee. My mum rang the 111 service to see what she could do, and they recommended I go straight to A&E. I was seen almost immediately and given some prescription-strength painkillers to help reduce the pain, and told to come back in a few days if there were no improvement.

I left another week in the hopes that it would all just go away and I'd be back doing burpees and dancing erratically to Taylor Swift before I knew it, but in the end I had to go back as I was still in unbearable pain. I'd been taking a combination of all the painkillers known to man, with doses big enough to knock me out for a few hours but nothing even touched the pain. I had an X-Ray to see if I'd broken something, but the scan came back fine. The doctor (James the bae), said he was stumped and didn't really know what was causing all the swelling and pain in my ankle. He gave me some more painkillers and sent me home to try and walk on it more and more. He said that the Codeine should numb the pain, however in the 2 weeks I had been taking the Codeine, I'd had every other side effect on the information leaflet (including the rare ones) except the desired pain relief. I felt sick ALL THE TIME, I kept fainting, I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating, and I lost over a stone (15lbs/6.8kilos) - ALL IN THE SPACE OF TWO WEEKS. At this point I decided to stop taking the medicine as it was doing way more harm than good. 

The following day I received a letter in the post saying my X-Ray had been reexamined and I needed to go back to the hospital. I got really excited thinking that they'd found a crack or something, and I'd be sent home in a cast and it would heal and all would be fine. But as soon as I saw the doctor I could see it was more serious than I'd thought. After 3 weeks I was given the diagnosis of a Talar Osteochondral Defect. Essentially I had chipped the main bone in my ankle at some point or another and the joint space had been continuously filling with water and God knows what else for quite some time. I had a blood test (complete with the worlds biggest panic attack) and It showed I was perfectly healthy, with zero signs of infection. The doctor decided to refer me to an orthopaedic specialist, gave me some crutches and a walking boot, and sent me home.

Four weeks to the day since the pain started and my orthopaedics appointment rolled around. The doctor (who was an actual psycho btw) started the appointment by shouting at me for being referred to the wrong clinic. He then proceeded to tell me that this was a life-long condition that would never go away. At this point I burst out into tears because I took that he meant I would never be able to walk again, but my mum  later reassured me he simply meant the damage to the bone was permanent (#phew). He told me I would need weekly physiotherapy appointments for the rest of my life and referred me to Radiology to have an MRI scan. On the day I'm writing this (the date of publishing), I have just received my appointment for my MRI scan, and the amount of information that came in the envelope was daunting. I'm not bothered about having the actual scan as I've learnt about them at uni and I know that they are completely painless. I'm more worried about the actual results, because if the scan shows that the bone fragments have collapsed into the joint space, I will need surgery to clean it out otherwise I would go on to develop arthritis in my ankle. My anxiety has been through the roof, and the thought of needing surgery makes me physically sick. I don't cope very well with even dentist checkups, so the idea of being admitted into a hospital makes me want to curl up into a ball and go to sleep forever.

Despite everything that's going on I've remained quite positive with only the occasional emotional breakdown. The pain has reduced dramatically, and I've started my physiotherapy which is making me feel a lot better in myself. I've been given lots of exercises to improve the mobility of my ankle, and the physiotherapist showed me how to walk up and down stairs safely with my crutches so I don't need to crawl as much anymore. Since my first appointment, I've been able to bend my ankle into more of a standing position, bear some weight on it, and even take a few steps. I'm really hoping that I will continue to progress at the same rate as these last couple of days. Before my orthopaedics appointment I was worried that I wouldn't be able to return to university in September, and was thinking through all the worst possible scenarios in my head. At this point I would like to set myself a few goals for the month ahead; by the start of August I plan to be the same as I am now whilst relying on one crutch as opposed to two. By September I hope to be off crutches for the majority of my day, and by the time I go back to university I hope to be able to drive and walk as normal. I'm not expecting to be able to walk long distances, or do all the things that I would usually do - but I am hoping I will be able to at least commute to and from university every day. 

I remain optimistic, although I do realise that my goals may be completely unachievable. My friends and family have been incredibly supportive over the last few weeks, and one of my friends has even offered to let me live-in at her house on the days that I have lectures, so she can help me travel in and it not be as far to get there. It's times like these when you really do realise how much people care for you, and my friends and family would well and truly do anything to make my life even the slightest bit easier. I will probably continue to share little updates of my progress over the coming months, so apologies if you really didn't like this post, but I'd rather it wasn't happening for me to write about too. I promise I won't go into overkill, but the progress I'm starting to make is more exciting than anything else in my life to date. After not being able to stand up for 4 weeks, I see it as being reborn and being able to watch myself grow up and take my first steps in the world.  

Thank you for reading and for your continuous support during this moment in my life. 

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Fitspiration #4 - Getting Back On Track

A photo of my friend on our trip!

I know, it's been a while since I last did one of these posts. But it's been a while since I made any sort of progress - or effort for that matter. The last post I wrote for this series was at the start of March, and by April, all of my New Year motivation was gone. It lasted 3 whole months, but was ruined when I took a trip away with a friend. 1 whole week of eating pizza, fish and chips, burgers and donuts reminded me how much I was missing them. If I was more determined, I would have dismissed the week and worked harder when I got home to make up for all the crap that had entered my body. Over the first few days of the trip, I tried my hardest to count my calories, but quickly gave up and put on some (thank goodness not all!) of the weight I lost - now I'm at a 9lb loss rather than 14lb! But that still better than I was! If I'd have put it all back on then I would have probably given up on life ha!

It has taken me a whole month to have some sort of motivation to get outside and actually do a workout. This morning I woke up with lots of energy (probably the 4 hours sleep I had) and went for a run - which I haven't been able to do for a few weeks due to an ankle injury. I only managed half a mile before my ankle was playing up slightly - I decided to stop as a preventative measure just incase. But that half a mile is more than I've done in a month and I decided to slowly get back into it rather than jump in at the deep end!

As the saying goes, you can't change what happened yesterday, but you can decide what happens tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Fitspiration #3 - The iPhone Apps

I find my iPhone incredibly handy when it comes to tracking my diet and working out. I use it constantly whether I'm working out, or eating cake. I always have it in hand to log everything.

MY FITNESS PAL

This app has been in my phone for years. Every new phone I've got, it is downloaded straight away. It helps me keep track of how much I eat and how much I burn. The app even allows you to access your account online where you can get more detailed information about your lifestyle.

NIKE + RUNNING

A cult app for all runners and fitness fanatics. It tracks how far you run, how many calories you burn whilst running and with GPS it even sees where you run! As with myfitnesspal, you can even login online to track your progress and even view other runners' routes in your local area!

SPOTIFY

I don't just use this when I fancy a little boogie, I use this when I work out too. I have saved playlists and even made my own playlists for whatever type of workout I want to do - whether it's cardio or yoga! Using Spotify also means that I don't have to spend time updating my playlists as someone else does it for you! Yay!

30 DAY AB CHALLENGE

I'm sure you've all seen people attempting the 30 day squat challenge on Instagram? Well this app is made by the people that came up with the idea. There is a whole range of apps including the squat challenge and even a press up challenge. I like this app as it combines a few different exercises to help you get rid of that dreaded muffin top!

SEVEN

Do you struggle to find large blocks of time to work out? Well this app is designed for people just like you! It gives 12 exercises to do in just 7 minutes (each exercise is 30 seconds) so you can boost your fitness with no excuses!

I find this incredibly useful to do when I don't have the time to do cardio. 

What apps do you guys use/recommend?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x
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Fitspiration #2 - The Workout Playlist

The other week, I mentioned that I have been getting really into fitness and that I have some new found motivation that is inspiring me to keep going week after week. The fact that I have a killer workout Spotify playlist is adding to the motivation levels as it is just so damn good! So here I share with you the tunes that give me the energy to work out on a regular basis…

Lips Are Movin - Meghan Trainor
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars)
Elastic Heart - Sia
Heroes (We Could Be) - Alesso
Outside - Calvin Harris (ft. Ellie Goulding)
Up - Olly Murs (ft. Demi Lovato)
Dangerous - David Guetta (ft. Sam Martin)
Chandelier - Sia
R U Mine? - Arctic Monkeys
Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix) - Lilly Wood and The Prick
Night Changes - One Direction
Rather Be - Clean Bandit (ft. Jess Glynne)
Something I Need - Ben Haenow
Steal My Girl - One Direction
These Days - Take That
Changing - Sigma (ft. Paloma Faith)
Blame - Calvin Harris (ft. John Newman)
Real Love - Clean Bandit (ft. Jess Glynne)
Hold Back The River - James Bay
My Head Is a Jungle (Radio Edit) - Wankelmut (ft. Emma Louise)
Pump It - The Black Eyed Peas
She - Greenday
I Can Talk - Two Door Cinema Club
This Head I Hold - Electric Guest
Dancing Shoes - Arctic Monkeys

Is there anything you think I should add that is on your playlist?
Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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Fitspiration - The Beginning

Towards the back end of last year, I was being really negative about my appearance and I found myself being ridiculously self-conscious. I've never been one of the thinnest of people (like ever), but I decided that 2015 would be the year that I journey on a path of self-improvement. I told myself that I wanted to lose seven pounds (half a stone) over the course of the year. Now usually when I set a new years resolution to lose weight, I get bored and give up within about a week, failing before I have properly begun. Its now been 7 weeks and I have all of this unexplained motivation to do well and make a positive change in my life. It is only February and already I have smashed my weight loss target for the entire year and I have managed to lose 12 pounds! (Queue the applause).

One of the reasons that I have been able to do so well with my goals, is due to my new found "love" for running! Yes you read that correctly... running! Charlotte Sophia Roberts has taken up running. No seriously, laugh - I am still trying to get my own head around this haha!

When I first started, I was running in worn out Converse and Vans as I didn't have any proper trainers and I didn't want to buy any incase I only ended up going running once (I have tried running numerous times before and this has always been the case). But after a few weeks of sticking at it, I decided to invest in these little beauties! And wow they are comfortable! When I first tried them on I felt as if I was walking on air - they were so cushiony. This would mean that my bad joints would have a better time than they would with normal trainers. 

I love that they aren't just one boring colour and that they have a watercolour like print on them. It just makes them a little different from normal trainers, and hey, who doesn't like to look good when they are working out!

I also have been enjoying using these sony headphones that I got pretty cheap on Amazon a few months ago. They don't fall out when you're moving which makes them so much better than the usual in-ear headphones that I'm used to.

I am determined to succeed with my journey and have now upped the weight loss goal to a stone. And I am already so close to beating that target! I've found by increasing my target loss as I go along is keeping me more motivated.

If you're looking, Aloha has tons of recipes that are jam-packed full with goodness and nutrition that can help you make the most of your workout. 

What do you all do to try and keep fit? And to all you fellow runners, how do you stop your legs from aching like crazy???

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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