The importance of a regular fitness routine in our lives can be crucial towards our health, happiness and success. Regular exercise is important for everyone no matter your age, young or old. Science has already proven that exercise can prevent deadly diseases as well as keeping us fit and healthy. And there are also many other benefits to exercising regularly too! Such as weight control/ loss, boosted moods, relieving stress, gaining confidence, disease prevention and many more. Let’s take a look at some of these benefits in more detail…

Improved mental health

Everyone knows that excerising helps you physically but not so many people are aware of the incredible mental benefits it has too. You might be wondering, how? well, exercising releases endorphins which send pleasure to our brains as well as reducing stress and anxieties. It will boost your phsyical and mental energy so you have a clear and stronger mind to take on tasks. Without exercise it’s common to feel mentally drained and it’s not uncommon to hear of peoples mental health signficantly improving after starting to exercise more. So get moving and feeling good!

Maintained body weight

It’s no secret that exercising is the key to weight loss. However, you must exercise regularly to maintain this weight loss over time. Hitting the gym once or twice a month won’t keep maintained body weight. Also, exercise will increase your metabolism greatly, so yes that’s even more calories burnt woohoo! If your goal is to lose weight then you must ensure that you’re not eating more calories to compensate for those burnt in the gym though. Getting a personal trainer and dietitian/ nutritionists can be extremely helpful if you’re starting out your fitness journey. They will help you plan your fitness routines/ goals and meal plans so you can reach your full potential. And feel confident with your progress!

Increases your life expectancy

Regular exercise has been proven to increase someone’s life expectancy for up to seven years! This is because of the many health benefits that come with regular exercise. Such as mood-boosting, strengthening bones and prevention from life-threatening diseases. Research has shown that people exercising for 70+ minutes a week will live an average of 1.8 years longer than someone who does none. That’s only 10 minutes a day! If this fact isn’t enough reason to exercise regularly, then what will be?

Reduces your risk of injury

Exercises will reduce your risk of injury significantly by strengthening and increasing the range of movement in your muscles. For example, if you opt for strength training in the gym (with exercises such as lifting weights, circuit training, push-ups, pull-ups etc) then you will become much stronger over time. This will help you perform significantly better in all different types of sports and strenuous activities. However, whilst strength training helps reduce the risk of injury it’s also important to focus on flexibility and we’d highly recommend yoga or pilates classes! It will improve your flexibility so you increase your range of movement in joints and also improve posture.

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Self-confidence is extremely crucial to our success as an individual. It can impact your life in many different ways. If you’re confident within yourself, you’re more likely to take on new life experiences with a positive and optimistic mindset. This means that confident women are more likely to take on opportunities, move forward and grow in all aspects of life. Also, confident women are usually not knocked back too much if things go wrong or they fail at something. Having confidence means you’re willing to try again and believe that you will succeed eventually. In comparison, less confident women may shy away from opportunities and get knocked down easily. It’s important to trust in your abilities, qualities and judgements so you don’t hold yourself back.

It’s time for all of our strong boss independent women to learn how to become more confident and reach their full potential. So, let’s look at some steps that will help you become confident in yourself…

Step 1: Know your worth

You must get rid of self-doubts and know your worth. Learn to replace any doubts with positive thoughts, this can be achieved by focusing on your strengths rather than weaknesses. It’s also very important to ensure that your inner dialogue is kind and understanding towards yourself. Talk to yourself in a way that you’d talk to a friend if they had self-doubts. Always believe in yourself, your abilities and your potential. If you’re struggling, ask your family and friends what they love the most about you. Write them down and revisit them each time you’re having self-doubts. YOU are important and deserve the world, never let yourself forget that. Without knowing your self-worth you run the risk of selling yourself short. Whether this is in your career, relationships or any other aspect of your life. To live a happy and successful life you must know your self-worth.

Step 2: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself

Many women feel pressured to strive for perfection and this can be very detrimental to their well-being. Perfection doesn’t exist and you should never compare yourself to others. It’s extremely likely that the people you think are ”perfect” are having struggles too. That’s a part of life! So focus on being kind to yourself and following your own path. Once you realise that everyone has different timings in life, you will be able to take pressure off yourself and let things flow. Being too hard on yourself can lead to a lot of physical and mental stress. Ask yourself – am I putting too much pressure on myself? if the answer is yes it’s important that you find ways to change this.

Step 3: Self-care

You should make sure that you’re taking care of yourself, physically and mentally. Make sure you’re eating a healthy balanced diet and exercising regularly so you feel and look good. And no, self-care doesn’t mean being vain! It simply means looking after yourself so you can feel confident and at your best. We all know the feeling when you’ve just got a fresh haircut, new outfit or shoes… it feels good, right? make sure you’re doing something every day to make yourself feel good. It’s not selfish it’s an act of self-love and care.

Step 4: Follow your dreams and passions

Let me tell you this – following your dreams and passions in life will leave you feeling more fulfilled than ever before. You are capable of following yours and should not let anyone tell you differently. No matter how out of reach they seem! Doing something you love and succeeding in it will make you feel confident and value in this world. This isn’t always an easy road of course but one that will give you feelings that are so worth the hard work and journey. Trust in the process.

Step 5: Have fun

What’s the point of being an independent, successful and flourishing women if you can’t have fun? It’s important to let your hair down every once in a while and let yourself have fun with friends and family. It’s a great way to relieve stress and induce happiness. Without fun, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel fully fulfilled and free, and these things will directly have an impact on your confidence. Live life to the fullest every day, you deserve to!

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We are always reading and hearing how important having a balanced diet is for your health. But many people lack the understanding or knowledge or what a balanced diet actually consists of. It’s important that we educate ourselves on the foods we need to eat to ensure good nutrition and health. It’s no secret that a healthy balanced diet can also prevent many deadly diseases, such as being obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, osteoporosis, specific cancers and much more. So why aren’t people taking the food their consuming more seriously? we have all the information we need to realise it’s essential to living a happy and healthy life. It’s crucial that we take care of what we put into our bodies, not just for our phsycial health but our mental health too.

What does a balanced diet consist off?

There are 7 things you need to consume weekly for a balanced diet: carbs, protein, fat, fibre, vitamins, minerals and water. Here are just a few examples of some of the foods/drinks you can eat to ensure you’re getting them all…

⦁ Carbs: bread, pasta, potatoes, milk

⦁ Protein:

Meats = beef, chicken, lamb, pork, turkey,
Seafood = fish, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, prawns
Dairy products = milk, yoghurt, cheese

⦁ Healthy fats: avocados, dark chocolate, nuts, chia seeds, nuts, whole eggs

⦁ Fibre: whole wheat pasta, bread & cereals, fruits (berries, melons, oranges), vegetables (broccoli, carrots, sweetcorn), nuts, seeds, beans, peas

⦁ Vitamins: (you’ll need A, B, C, D, E, and K)

⦁ Minerals:

Calcium = milk, cheese or any dairy product
Potassium = bananas, oranges, apricots, raisins, and dates, cooked broccoli, potatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, cooked spinach
Iron = raw spinach, beans, tofu, lentils, cashews, fortified breakfast cereals

⦁ Water: say no more

What benefits does a balanced diet give? (physical and mental)

1. Improved moods

Have you ever been hangry before? when you’re so hungry that you actually become angry and irritable. Typically in this situation, you want food fast and your food choice probably won’t be the best for you nutritionally. You’ll probably end up grabbing a big bag of crisps, rushing to McDonald’s (we’ve all done it) or turning to any other unhealthy food option. Eating too much junk food will starve your body of the nutrients that it needs to function and will decrease your energy significantly. Studies show that getting the right nutrients can lead to improved moods. And we all know how much a good mood can impact our day. In fact, it’s even been proven that the right nutrition triggers the same pleasure centre that addictive drugs do. Crazy, right?

2. Improved ability to focus

Getting the right nutrients through a balanced diet is proven to help your brains ability to focus, retain information and help your memory. This happens because the nutrients activate enzymes that stimulate the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain. So surely that means better performance at school, in your job or any other activity that requires brainpower? If that doesn’t want to make you eat good, I don’t know what will.

3. Energy for daily tasks or exercise

We all know that our energy comes from the foods we eat. Therefore, if we’re getting everything we need, we’ll have enough energy to last throughout the day. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats will provide you with your main source of energy. It’s important that you’re getting enough energy to keep yourself re-energized and active (mentally and physically). There’s one thing for sure, if you don’t have enough energy, you won’t be achieving much. Sufficient energy will aid growth, development and even success.

4. Maintained healthy body weight

A balanced diet will help you maintain a healthy body weight because you won’t be eating too much of the same unhealthy foods. Getting the right nutrients will help digestion and metabolism too. But don’t forget the importance of regular exercise accompained with your balanced diet!

5. Can fight off diseases easier whilst and also make you significantly less likely to catch them in the first place

If your body is fulled properly with a balanced diet, you will become stronger. Healthy foods will boost your immune system significantly. So you’ll be ready to fight any nasty infections and viruses. Having a healthy diet will also help prevent you from catching any deadly diseases in the first place. As previously mentioned, a bad diet can make you more suspectable to diseases such as obesity, heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes and so many more. You can prevent them through a balanced diet because the healthy nutrients boost “good” cholesterol and decrease unhealthy triglycerides. Which directly impacts the risk of diseases. Look after yourself and your wellbeing! Sometimes it’s easy to forget about what you’re putting in your body. But it’s vital to look after yourself, you’ll thank yourself further down the line.

6. Better sleep

Because who doesn’t love a full night sleep? We all know the endless benefits that a full night sleep can give us. Such as improved attention span, reduced stress levels, the ability to take in information and retain it, making memories and so much more. Many studies have been made linking the correlation between sleep and health. These studies show that people with a bad, unbalanced diet have more trouble sleeping at night than those with a healthy balanced diet. It’s proven that diet choice has a direct impact on your sleep, so be vigilant about what you’re putting into your body.

7. Brain power

The healthier the foods are that you choose to fuel your body with, the better functioning your brain will be. And that’s a fact! Let’s look at an example to put things into perspective. Think of one of the most expensive cars you can buy… a Lamborghini Veneno? This car will only function best on premium fuel. Think about this when it comes to the food you’re putting in your body too. The more nutritious and healthy foods (premium fuel) our body is receiving, the better we will perform. Eating high-quality foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourishes the brain and protect it. So you can use your brainpower more efficiently.

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