Keeping up with my kids is a tiring, draining (and fulfilling!) journey. It does take its toll on your body and recently, I’ve been feeling drained, the combination of early morning school runs and trying to keep up with a social life has my body telling me I’m not 21 anymore!

I wanted to make sure that physically, especially internally all was well, so after a few visits to the doctors, checking vitamin and hormone levels I had a few things to correct, but I’m now back up to scratch with all the internal stuff; but sadly I still feel  more tired than I should come the end of the day…

As a result, I have slowly but surely come to accept the fact that I am unfit. My stamina is low and those 3.5kgs I want to shift aren’t going to fall off themselves and as a result this causes me to be more fatigued than I should be.

I don’t get the best nights sleep, and I am getting older, some would say that’s more than enough to explain my lack of energy…. but at 32 years old and a mother of two, I want be able to keep up with my kids in the park, rather than feeling desperate to sit down, or leave the park a short 20 minutes after arriving!

If you’re feeling this, and know you’re okay on the inside….but not very active (I mean getting your heart rate up kind of active) – then it’s more likely down to fitness and diet.

What am I doing to change this?

The husband suggested I sign up with a personal trainer, I did have one, not too long ago, and honestly I didn’t enjoy it at all. It wasn’t the instructor, she was actually amazing. I just didn’t like being told what to do, I literally felt like I was paying to be tortured. I was scared, and still am very scared!

So this time I have decided to try a different approach. Inspired by IG I decided to start small but consistently….with 7 minute workouts! 7 min HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)  workouts that are equivalent to a 30 min jog on the treadmill!

I needed something easy and simple for beginners and more importantly a workout I can do in the comfort of my own home (in my pyjamas!). 

       Easy step exercise

So, I started with using my kids’ sink step and some hand weights (bottled of water), put up something on the tv and just started stepping up and down. I moved onto using the free app ‘Pacer’ (available on app store) – which has guided step by step workouts ranging from an intense 7 mins to heart-racing 30 mins). The daily rush of endorphins was fun, I genuinely smiled at the end despite a few body aches initially using muscles that were last used during school netball and tennis!

Pacer – a free app available on app store

With the motivation in full force, I’ve also taken on swimming and In Trinity Pilates (with Evolve). My workouts work around me, my comfort and my schedule and how much time I have on that given day. The minimum workout is 7 minutes on Pacer which is pretty difficult to skip!

As for the diet, I’m hoping it will follow soon, I’ve yet to find the motivation. I personally work better when i take small steps rather than diving straight into something crazy. For a start I’ve started to reduce the sugar (Coke!) intake which is the worst thing about my diet!

Are you struggling to get started or have you got any tips?  

Let me know, and lets see what we can achieve, together. 

Update: 

I started my fitness journey approximately 3 and a half months ago, I switch between the apps that I use (Nike training club, Pacer and Fitbit) , and the sessions have got longer and the intensity from beginner to intermediate.

Have I lost weight? To be honest, no. Why? That’s my own fault really, the hope that eating more healthy and saying no to sugar would come naturally, has not. But I do try actively to take the step to say no to unhealthy items, and have cut down, but not enough.

How do I keep myself motivated? 
Simple, a few weeks ago, at a playground I was about to try and hold myself up on the monkey bars, my husband knowing me fully, bet I couldn’t hold on for 5 seconds, and guess what I held on for those 5 and 20 more. I no longer feel exhausted, even if I do wake up before 6am everyday, and I am able to keep up with my kids. All these factors show me that my efforts are not being wasted, and I am hoping if I keep it up, I’ll see more benefits.