Tag Archives: fitfordisney

#fitfordisney – Superfood Favourites

Superfoods are really becoming all the rage, and while some of the claims made about some of these foods might be a little exaggerated, personally I think there is nothing wrong with adding good food to your diet!

No, I’m not telling you to only eat celery, or that goji berries are going to make you skinny overnight; superfoods primarily get their powers from the anti-oxidants they contain, that work behind the scenes to keep you nice and healthy.

I’m also not recommending you eat all of them, just find those that work for you and that you enjoy eating, otherwise healthy eating becomes a chore. Today, I’m going to share a few of my favourites:

1. Matcha

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Matcha is a highly concentrated green tea; personally I use the powder from Teapigs. I love it because one little scoop is packed with goodness, and I add it to my morning juice for a subtle kick of green!

2. Blueberries

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These little guys are my heroes! I add them to cereal, porridge, yogurt, and for a treat, frozen blueberries are great to crunch on.

3. Spinach

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I used to think spinach was the worst thing in the world, until I actually started eating it! Now, I add it to lasagne, pasta sauces, and also really like it raw as a side to fish or steak.

4. Broccoli

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Bet’cha didn’t know how good broccoli really is for you? My latest favourite broccoli use is in my morning omelette!

Are you a superfoodie?

xoxo

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#fitfordisney – Fitness Motivation

The biggest response I get from people when I tell them about my training routine is ‘how on Earth do you find the motivation to: wake up at 7 to go to the gym/go for an 8 mile run after a 9 hour shift/choose a salad over a burger?’

Motivation is a funny thing really; different things work for different people, and I’ve written before about what motivates me, but there are a few methods that in my experience work really well:

1. Tell everyone what you’re doing

Be prepared to annoy people. Tell everyone about what you’re up to, post photos of your healthy meals on social media, share those pre/post gym selfies! While you might feel like everyone’s getting bored of it, by making your actions public, you’re more likely to keep it up because it feels like more people are involved; if you slip up, its not just yourself who knows about it. (I probably haven’t put this into words very well, but it works, promise!)

2. Never forget that end goal.

Surround yourself with your vision. Personally, I’ve plastered pictures around the edge of my bedroom mirror to remind me of the body I want and the clothes I want to look good in. I also follow a lot of fitness accounts on social media, so whenever I check what’s going on in the world, I’m greeted with motivational images.

3. Reward the small steps

Sometimes the bigger picture can seem so far off that it can be a struggle to keep fighting for it, so don’t forget to reward the little victories eg. a new PB, another step towards your goal weight etc with a little treat.

4. Surround yourself with like-minded people

Friends, family, coworkers, whoever, seek out other fitness boffs around you who you can talk to about your training, share advice and keep you motivated!

5. Don’t do it alone

If you struggle to motivate yourself, find someone else to motivate, and they in turn will keep you going! Get yourself a gym buddy or a running partner, or join a class – being surrounded by others gives you the umpf to work harder.

6. Dress to impress

Its not a superficial thing, its genuinely true that wearing nicer workout clothes makes you feel better about yourself while you’re sweating yourself fitter!

7. Do it for yourself, and don’t let anyone get in your way

°o°

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#fitfordisney – Me and my Fitbit

I feel like its about time I wrote this post because I’ve been meaning to for ages!

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This is Zip. She’s part of the Fitbit activity tracker family, and I’ve had her for almost two years (this isn’t strictly true, following an unfortunate incident with a washing machine, I had to replace my original one). Zip goes everywhere with me, either in my pocket or clipped onto my underwear, and counts my steps, calories and distance. She’s like a tiny fitness Tamagotchi; the more you do, the happier it gets!

This Zip is the bottom of the range from Fitbit (around £40), so doesn’t have all the fancy features of some of the other trackers – sleep, heart rate, waterproof, etc – but personally I don’t feel like I’m missing out. Its battery powered, but it lasts about 5-6 months before it needs replacing, and automatically syncs to a USB Bluetooth dongle when its nearby, but while other Fitbits can sync automatically to your smartphone, the Zip doesn’t.

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The Fitbit Dashboard is where you can check out all your stats, as well as link up with other Fitbit friends, and log activities, food, weight and more! Because my Fitbit can only really track my step movement, after a workout I can log all the extra stuff I do; you can select popular activities from a pre-prepared list, or add your own custom workouts, and this also updates the number of calories burnt, as well as your ‘Very Active Minutes’. The Dashboard is really motivating – nothing better than seeing all your targets go green!

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You can also win badges by reaching certain targets – I just won the Monarch Migration for reaching 2,500 lifetime miles!

I really love my Zip, its amazing how motivating this tiny tracker is! I would definitely recommend it to anyone; despite the lack of some features, I don’t feel like I miss out on anything, and the Zip is way cuter than other trackers, and a great price!

If you’re looking for fitness motivation, look no further!

°o°

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#fitfordisney – What’s in my gym bag?

I love reading ‘What’s in my bag’ posts on other people’s blogs, so I thought it would be fun for a #fitfordisney post to do a ‘What’s in my gym bag’ post!

I’ve written before all about my gym bag itself, and how much I love it – its the Fabletics Sophia Satchel, and you can read all about it here – but today I’m emptying it to share the essential items of my gym kit that I love.

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For starters, I have a LOT of hairbands; everything from scrunchies to headbands. Because I have such long hair, keeping it all out of the way when I’m at the gym or out running is damn near impossible with just a simple hair tie, so I generally keep a skinny headband on me at all times, either to wrap my ponytail up into a bun, or to control the wispy hairs around my face which drive me mad! The wider headbands I tend to wear more around the house, or when I’m doing yoga.

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I generally walk to and from the gym, so don’t use the shower and changing facilities there, which means I don’t carry a massive amount of toiletries, but I cannot be without lip balm so I keep one of my many Eos balls in with my kit, as well as Vaseline hand cream in a vague attempt to keep my hands soft after doing weights! I also always have my combination lock, because you have to provide your own at my gym, and the nifty tool that opens my Fitbit when I need to change the battery, just in case!

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While hygiene is important in most aspects, I feel that foot hygiene is pretty high up there on the list of most important places to keep clean, and generally fairly forgotten about. As a runner, my feet are the most used body part in my workouts, so I always keep a can of shoe deodorant in my bag to spray my trainers after use, as well as a spare pair of socks. On the topic of feet, I also keep my pair of yoga socks in my gym bag, should I need them. They might look weird, but they’re crazy comfy, super grippy and I love them.

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Then there’s the gym essentials: a water bottle and a sweat towel. We all sweat, its entirely natural and you can’t do anything about it, but you can be considerate to other gym users by wiping down your equipment after use, whether you’re super sweaty or not, and for your own good, keeping hydrated is vital for replacing the water you lose while you’re working at your hardest. I have an Aladdin water bottle which is 600ml, and I generally will end up refilling it halfway through my gym sessions because I try to drink as much as possible.

So that’s me and my gym bag, what’s in yours?

#fitfordisney
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#fitfordisney – My Top 20 Disney Workout Songs

1. When Will My Life Begin – Tangled

2. I’ll Make A Man Out Of You – Mulan

3. Zero to Hero – Hercules

4. One Jump Ahead – Aladdin

5. I Wanna Be Like You – The Jungle Book

6. I Just Can’t Wait To Be King – The Lion King

7. Under The Sea – The Little Mermaid

8. Let It Go – Frozen

9. He’s a Pirate – Pirates of the Caribbean

10. A Star Is Born – Hercules

11. Belle – Beauty and the Beast

12. Strut – The Cheetah Girls 2

13. I’ve Got A Dream – Tangled

14. Get’cha Head In The Game – High School Musical

15. Almost There – The Princess and The Frog

16. Hasta La Vista – Camp Rock

17. Digga Tunna Dance – The Lion King 3

18. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo – Cinderella

19 – We Belong Together – Toy Story 3

20 – Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride – Lilo and Stitch

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Why get #fitfordisney?

Alongside a number of other upcoming events in my life, Disney is a big reason for improving my fitness levels.

‘Why do I need to be fit to go to Disneyworld?’

Yes, its a theme park, not an assault course, but there are still a number of reasons for hitting the gym before your trip;

1. You underestimate how much walking you’re going to do – the average guest covers around 7 miles per day in the park (I’m going to do some research on this during my trip with the help of my Fitbit), and if you’re not accustomed to walking long distances, or if you’re going in the scorching summer season, it can be a shock to the system.

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2. Disney food is to die for – the last thing you want on your holiday is to be on a diet; where’s the fun in that?! With ice-cream sandwiches, bakeries on every corner and some of the coolest restaurants in the world, you shouldn’t have to be concerned with calorie counting, skipping meals or feeling guilty about what you eat.

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3. Disney workout clothes – check out what Lookhuman have to offer, but Etsy and other places have amazing stuff too!

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4. If you’re going to run just one distance race in your life, runDisney – runDisney organise running weekends and festivals, and yes, the course you run is around the parks! Each weekend/festival usually has a 5k, 10k and half marathon, as well as a Fitness Expo, and these events run throughout the year at both Disney World Florida and Disneyland California. A runDisney half marathon is very high on my Disney bucketlist!

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5. Looking good on your holiday – whether its a summer bikini body or just slimming down for photos, a holiday is one of the most common reasons people give for wanting to get fit. It also gives you an excuse to splurge on new clothes, especially if you’re going to be hitting the outlets!

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I’m not a total selfie nut, promise! These pictures are from my Instagram @lottiedoesdisney and I tag my workout pictures with #fitfordisney 🙂

Now.. how #fitfordisney are you?

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