Positive February

For the last two years I have felt really motivated in January embarking on Janathon as a way to kickstart my fitness journey. For those of you who have never heard of Janathon, you are encouraged to exercise and then blog about it daily for the whole month and if January is too cold then you can also give it a go in June too. This year I am afraid to admit that I have been lazier and greedier than I have been in a very long time and I have done absolutely no exercise. Janathon is a great way to get you moving but I decided that it wasn’t the way I wanted to approach things this year. Exercise is important but I have learned that it is also important to give your body adequate rest too. I can be a woman of extremes and I’ve most definitely taken the rest days to a different level in the last month. Don’t get me wrong, I have been busy with other things such as work and eating it seems, but this is where it stops!

In my experience I have found that February can be pretty miserable. No more gloss of the fresh start of a new year, resolutions well and truly forgotten and cold miserable weather that is no longer a novelty. Yes snow, I’m talking about you! You were fun when you first arrived, we all built snowmen, went for family walks and bored everybody on every social media channel with as many photos as we could possibly take.  So please, no more until next year because the frozen grey sludge just makes everything that little bit harder.

 

I’m not big on New Year resolutions. I’m a lady who likes to work towards goals and I continually stop to check in on my progress. I feel strongly that every day is a new day so why wait until Monday, next month or next year to make changes! I’m very, very aware that I can’t go on the way I have been in January. I’m not beating myself up about it. I’ve enjoyed slowing down a little, eating naughty food and being a little lazy but I’ve got things I want to do and goals I want to achieve.

The first challenge on my radar is the Paris Half Marathon. It was my very first big running challenge nearly two years ago and I am excited about going back. If you want to read about the first time round check out this post. I’ve neglected my training recently but I am confident that I can pick it back up. Training is very important but in my experience positive attitude is just as important as I found out when I ran my first marathon last year.  I will be running regularly and I am going to start back on the Spartanfam homework videos every morning and evening. Me and my Lycra are going to become very familar with my lounge floor. When training for the Berlin half last year, I really noticed an improved fitness level by doing these regularly. I am going to try and document my training to help motivate me and maybe I will motivate others in the process. The pressure to blog when doing Janathon makes it harder to not exercise.  

 

 

 

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram you will know I’m a bit of a foodie when I flood your timelines with dinner pics. Sorry if it’s not your thing but it is mine. I like good, healthy food with colour. No anaemic beige food for this girl! I am going to share some of my favourite recipes in the next few months and I’m also going to try and cook as many new things as possible. I love to experiment and try new foods.  I don’t have lots of spare time but there are definitely ways to eat healthily if you get yourself organised.  Diet is so important when you are training. I realised this when I was training for my marathon. Once you start running for more than a couple of hours, you notice that your body really needs the right fuel.

I’m also going to be doing a sponsored walk with my family in March to raise funds for the Royal Marsden.  TheMarsden March will take place on 17^th March and the route will take us 14 miles from the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea to the Royal Marsden in Sutton. This is a really big deal for my family, especially for those who didn’t even own a pair of trainers until we signed up. My 4 year old niece Ciana has been very poorly as some of you know and we want to acknowledge her amazing bravery and courage as well as show our thanks for the fantastic care she has received. She is out of hospital at the moment but still has a way to go. I think it’s really important to stick together with friends and family and show support and thanks.  If you’d like to make a donation, no matter how small, you can go to www.justgiving.com/princessciana ( Apologies that the page isn’t prettied up yet but there seems to be some kind of glitch with the system and it won’t allow me to update it to include her story or photo).

My next focus is my beauty routine. I am a beauty junkie and love nothing more than a new product, as anybody that has visited my home will know.   I have a regular routine when it comes to my face but I tend to neglect my body so I am going to make an effort to do more at home pampering. I have the products, I just need to make the time. I work, live and breathe beauty and I am going to try and share some of my experiences. Because I’ve always had an interest, I forget that some people are really out of their depth when it comes to shopping for beauty products. I’ve always had problem skin and I don’t want to speak too soon but it’s better now than it has been in a long time. I’m no expert but it may be useful to some people and I love the chance to talk about beauty in any capacity. Up until now I’ve tended to avoid it on here as the running took over but it’s time to get some glamour back in my life. I’m not just about trainers and lycra!  

In the last two years I’ve experienced a lot emotionally. It has made me realise that life is short, life is precious and things can chance in a second so appreciate everything that you have. February can be miserable but life is what you make if it. Starting from now I am going to make a conscious effort to be more positive in all aspects of my life. I will be using the hashtag #positivefeb to remind me this month but I don’t plan on turning into a glass half empty grump in March. Feel free to join me and let me know what you’ve been up to and any positive changes that you make.