On my way to being fit and healthy | Lifestyle

If you remember reading my 'Life Lately' post recently, you'll have seen that I'm on my way to a new fit and healthy lifestyle. After numerous medical problems last year, both my ME and back/pelvis problems being a couple, I've had to completely alter my health and fitness plans.

So what am I doing to get this healthy lifestyle?
Well first of all I'm doing Weight Watchers. As I mentioned in that post, I've lost 8.5 in a month which I don't see as a bad achievement, and it's definitely something I can stick to as well.

Besides the weight loss kick, I've been getting myself more active:
- Taking Dexter on really long walks up some of the glorious Yorkshire hills. Trust me, pushing a pram and a child up the hills near where I live is a feat in itself, they are steep, long and incredibly tiring. However, we both really enjoy being outside so I'm vouching to do this more often. Especially now I know that the iPhone takes note of my steps using the Health app, and transfers this to my Weight Watchers app for activity/pro-points. It's a win-win.
-  Going back to the gym: This is mainly for core strengthening and building muscle and strength back in my leg since my accident last year. Although I am really enjoying being able to go back to the gym, it's unfortunate I can't do as much as I used to do, but I'm working myself back up to my goals again which is pretty fun and challenging.
- Mummy and baby yoga with Dexter!: I've just been searching YouTube for good videos on mummy and baby yoga and I've found some really good ones. Yet again, this is something we can both be doing together and we thoroughly enjoy it.
- Yoga on my own: I've been using the Jillian Michael - Yoga Meltdown [DVD] now and then, and wow, it definitely gives me a good workout. It's intense, but definitely works. Rather than doing this daily I've been doing it every couple of days, sort of when I can be bothered really. It's an extra to the gym.
- Blogilates: Ok so I'm trying to do the POP Beginner's 2.0 plan and I pretty much only managed to do half of day one's video. I'm still trying to do this and get the moves correct before I move on, but boy is it proving hard however, I'm still exercising and that's good to me.
- Bellydancing: This is one of my favourite workouts and has been for years. I'm currently using the Belly Dance For Beginners [DVD] [2010] and thoroughly enjoying it. It's great to get your core strengthened and your hips moving. It's really hard on the arms though, they need a good working out. It can be pretty frustrating though as I struggle with coordination and can't quite master the shimmy move yet, but I'm sure practice makes perfect as they say!

What improvements have I noticed?
Amongst the weight loss, and being able to breathe and walk a lot further, I've noticed a reduction in my back pain, my posture is much better, and I can definitely feel my core strengthening; something that is incredibly important to me at the moment. Oh and I can plank, and raise on to both my arms and shift my weight back again. This is a major thing for me as I can't even do a press up. I know I carry a lot of extra weight, but gosh I'm so excited to see how my strength improves over the course of the year!

I've tried a couple of new (to me) things out in my exercise plan, but have you seen some of the latest fitness crazes? If you head over to SimplyHealth's blog here, they've compiled a list of some of the hottest fitness trends for this year. I mean come on, who doesn't want to try anti-gravity yoga?! That sounds right up my street, oh and underwater cycling is something I'd give a go too. I've yet to try water aerobics so that might have to be the first on my list of classes to attend at the gym.

This blog post has been written in collaboration with SimplyHealth, and may contain product sample(s) and affiliate links; all content contained within, images (unless specified) and opinions are my own.