Fitness Motivation: Giving Myself A Kick Up The Rear

It’s time to ‘fess up. Before last week, it had been over a month since I last partook in any kind of physical exercise. AND, I bloody loved it. I spent a whole month spending any spare moment I had sitting on my arse, watching Netflix (I was at the point where I was re-watching old seasons of Ru Paul’s Drag Race), eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It was bloody glorious. The run-up to the wedding was kind of nuts and often I found myself in London three or four times a week, struggling to keep on top of videos, posts, emails (THE WORST), planning a wedding and scheduling in workouts. With the wedding round the corner I kept on top of seeing Paul, my PT, as much as I could, although after the wedding day I went cold turkey. Sorry Paul! 

It wasn’t particularly intentional, but I thought that it was just time for a rest. To re-focus on work (and start wading through my inbox), get on top of some projects that I hadn’t been giving enough love and actually try and be a good wife (!!), friend and daughter again. Along with that I took naps, revelled in being kinda lazy and had takeout pizza as often as I could convince Mark to. For two weeks it was amazing – and something I’d totally recommend – but after that I started to feel like a bit of a turd. I felt lethargic and I was no longer being productive. I weirdly started to miss working out; not the actual working out bit, but the feeling you get after when you’re so proud of yourself for doing something you really didn’t want to do.

My ‘Feeling Like a Turd’ moment coincided with my order of Shona Vertue’s ‘The Vertue Method’ book arriving after I pre-ordered it and it was most certainly a sign – ‘Earth to Anna – stop watching Netflix and peel yourself off the sofa’. I tentatively began reading it; you know I love a good health and wellness book, but I have to say that out of all of them that I’ve read this one is one the few that resonate with me the most. Shona’s view on fitness encompasses both resistance training and stretchy stuff, which is how I like to work out, plus her nutrition perspective is all about moderation and eating in a way that focuses on good quality foods and local produce wherever possible. There’s also a tonne of science-stuff in there, which my inner nerd was completely geeking out over.

For the first week after reading it I decided to have a spring clean of my diet, before I jumped back into fitness. Partly because the thought of going back to the gym terrified me, but also because I thought I’d have a better chance of sticking to a routine and making healthy eating a habit if I took it a bit slower. So the week before last I started fuelling myself without a hefty amount of Coco Pops in the morning, I ate fish for lunch and dinner and even ate (and enjoyed!) a salad, thanks to a homemade dressing recipe from Shona’s book. Then it was time to tackle a workout…

The only way that I ever workout is if I schedule them in like a meeting in my diary and go to a PT session or a class. I’m a terrible self-starter when it comes to exercise. It costs a bleedin’ fortune, but it’s the tried and tested format for me. One evening I sat at my laptop and booked in two PT classes for the following week, two Reformer Pilates and a new one that they do at my local studio called Pilates Spring (it was very much like Reformer, but a little bit cheaper – I’ll definitely do it again). In the diary they went, paid for and the deed was done. So last week I worked out Monday to Friday, managed to juggle eating well and keeping on top of my to-do list. I mean I’m still struggling to lift my arms over my head, but overall I feel good.

Aside from the ‘booking in’ trick that I like to use, I think reason why I actually enjoyed getting sweating was that it felt new again. Paul had devised a little 45 minute session for me that felt snappy and each circuit was really quick to complete so I wasn’t having to do anything that felt f-ing hard and painful for too long. I also did a brand new class that I hadn’t done before – Pilates Spring. It kept me on my toes and made me want to try out some other new classes at my local Pilates studio; basically I wasn’t bored. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

The moral of the story is – REST IS GOOD. It refreshes you, allows you to get back on top of things that you’ve been ignoring and brings down your stress dial. If you don’t feel like working out, then don’t. Sometimes you just need to chill and do nothing. It’s glorious. The chances are that once you give into that need, a couple of days, weeks, heck even months later, you’ll be bitten by the bug again. Absence makes the heart grow founder and the body ready to sweat again.

Photos by Lauren Shipley

MY FITNESS FAVOURITES