Congratulations! You’re running! Or at least I assume you are if you’re here seeking advice on how to stay motivated to run.
As I previously mentioned in How to start running: tips for beginner runners, running is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, so it’s not surprising at times your motivation to run can be lacking.
Having stuck with it for the past 7 years now (my longest commitment to anything so far other than my husband!) I have a few tricks up my sleeve which keep the running motivation going.
Mindfulness, and in particular, mindfulness meditation has increasingly been touted and implemented as a way of improving our mental well-being.
Its focus on connecting our body and mind to become more self-aware and present has been evidenced to help reduce our everyday stress and anxiety.
But mindfulness stretches in its helpfulness far beyond reducing stress and anxiety. In short it’s a really powerful tool that can help you in multiple ways every single day. All gained from very short but regular practices. Plus to top it all off – it’s quick and completely free!
Running is my sport of choice – it’s been of massive benefit to me both physically & mentally. If you’d like to find out more about my story and experiences, you can in: Why I run: my running story
Having run for years now (not continuously – I’m not Forest Gump), people often stop to chat to me about it. More often than not the comment – I want to run but I don’t think I would be any good at it – is given. Well let’s put it this way, every runner started somewhere. Usain Bolt didn’t come out of his mother’s womb carrying a relay baton now did he?
I truly believe that as long as you don’t have a physical condition preventing you – anyone can run. Yes, anyone.
You might not want to run (and that’s totally acceptable) but that’s not the same as not being able to run.
If you’re ready to start your own running journey – but not quite sure how – then you’ve come to the right place!
Hopefully long gone are the days you believed the magazine model’s amazing skin had nothing to do with airbrushing and 100% to do with the product she was promoting – or maybe you always knew the truth?
Regardless, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least expect our skincare products to perform as they claim to – we’re all entitled to skin that is the best version of itself (even when it isn’t being airbrushed.)
Sometimes though we can seriously sell our products short and never fully allow them to deliver what they offer – which not only negatively impacts our skin but also our wallets!
Despair not! You only need to remember a few simple things (and follow a few easy steps) to allow those products all the opportunity they need to work the magic they were created for.
It’s all too easy when you’re new to running (or considering running for the first time) to look at more experienced runners and feel inadequate. Maybe making the judgement that it’s somehow out of your reach.
This post is here to tell you it isn’t.
As a runner, I felt it important to share my story about why I run and how it all began. The hope is that anyone reading this – who may want to take up running or is feeling unsure or incapable – will gain some confidence from my experience and perhaps even the drive to start their own running story.
Freshly opened in 2018, Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham is keen to make its mark within the Merlin Group of UK attractions.
Located on the doorstep of Arena Birmingham (we used the Arena South carpark to access) Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham is essentially an indoor Lego playground created to inspire and delight the under 10’s.
Some describe Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham as a more compact version of a Legoland theme park but I believe if you go with this expectation you will be disappointed. Let me put it this way, if you want a Legoland theme park, go to a Legoland theme park. They are two very different experiences.
If anything, this place focuses even more on the Lego without the potential need for a theme park poncho or oversized-reusable slushy cup!
With a young Lego master builder in the family (and dare I say it) feeling like we needed a break from visiting Legoland Windsor – we ventured to Birmingham on a cold winter’s day for our alternative Lego experience.
Physically and mentally exercise is very good for us – period.
However, I can more than appreciate not everyone enjoys working out. You may have even been advised against certain forms of it by your medical practitioner. Sometimes the thought of the effort, the expense, the weather looking shifty – can be enough to make you place your trainers into the first charity donation bag that lands through your letter box.
But all is not lost! There are numerous exercise hacks available to allow you to still reap the benefits working out can provide without a gym membership in sight.
These exercise hacks are so simple and require so little extra effort from you, that I wouldn’t blame you for questioning how effective they actually are. With this in mind, allow me to explain…
Exercise is any physical movement that elevates your heart rate. What really matters the most is that you’re working your muscles and getting moving. Even if you’re doing this completely subconsciously.
A small-ish side note:
First and foremost, I’m an advocate of exercise for improving your overall well-being. As I mentioned in 5 Ways exercise makes you happy – weight loss is not my main driver for exercising. For me, exercise is about improving your physical and mental health. So, whilst I won’t be focusing on the calorie burn potential for the majority of these exercise hacks, I do want to note that they will contribute to higher calorie burn (if that is of interest to you.)
There is one gift – regardless of the occasion – that rarely fails to delight. From birth through to our final moments – flowers have been there. They are a speechless gift that says so much. Flowers let people know they are thought of, loved, appreciated, celebrated, missed, and supported. They have a unique ability to provide a moment of happiness in the darkest of times. That is the true power of flowers.
This is a sponsored post. Please be assured all words & opinions are my own. Read my disclaimer for further details.
Flowers always make me happy, and they don’t have to be the type you buy in a bunch – just appreciating the ones growing in my garden is often enough.
I absolutely love sending flowers, just as much as I love receiving them. Knowing someone I cherish is going to feel even just a bit of the happiness they’ve provided to me is a massive mood boost.
Before anyone starts eye-rolling at the mere mention of the word exercise hear me out…
Exercise – in my humble opinion -is one of the biggest contributors to unlocking a healthy body & happy mind lifestyle.
It ticks plenty of boxes on the well-being scale (read: Improving well-being: the key to being happy?) and through continued commitment to it (even in bite-size chunks) you will reap happy results.
Sceptical? Thought you might be.
Ready to get your scrub on? To buff like nobody has buffed before? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
If you’re not yet fully aware of the benefits of exfoliating, the different types of exfoliator or the right way to exfoliate, you’d definitely benefit from reading: For the scrub of it: why should you exfoliate and how to do it right!
I’ve been exfoliating for years – tried countless products and here are my recommended favourites…
For years I’ve religiously exfoliated – everywhere – well almost everywhere. So I guess you could say I’ve earned my scrubbing stripes. I couldn’t imagine not exfoliating. However, for a number of people I’ve spoken to, exfoliation doesn’t factor in their skincare regime – anywhere. They believe it’s just one more step in an already exhaustive list of beauty chores to be completed and for what? A few days of smoother feeling skin?
Yes, at the heart of it, exfoliation does deliver smoother feeling skin and that may not be enough to encourage people to do it. But, there are so many further benefits of exfoliation and there are a number of simple, affordable and may I say surprising ways to incorporate it into your routine that if you skip it, you really are missing out.
Improving well-being! Just a few short years ago I wasn’t even aware of well-being and now improving it is at the centre of nearly every personal decision I make. Why? Because when I became aware of the concept of well-being I realised how much power I held over my own sense of happiness, my own level of opportunity, my own destiny (cheesy I grant you, but we’ll go with it).
This ‘improving well-being’ movement has been gaining momentum and is now far more mainstream. Which is great news! Once we all become fully aware of our well-being and begin to work on improving it, we all stand to experience multiple benefits.
But how many of us firstly really understand what well-being even is? And secondly, why improving it will lead to us to feeling happier?
Prior to visiting, I certainly wasn’t aware Budapest was a city of two sides – Buda and Pest – see what they did there? Pest is very much where the action is at, especially if you class ‘action’ as nightlife. However, before you rule Buda out – let me tell you – it has tons to offer! Think historical buildings, laid-back charm, amazing views, shops, restaurants, cafes, museums – not to mention (although I will) the Castle District is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I believe no trip to Budapest would be complete without time spent in beautiful & peaceful Buda.
Have you ever reached a point where life has become so hectic, you’ve started operating on auto-pilot? I surely had by the time the husband and I boarded our flight bound for Budapest.
We were in serious need of this break, life had become a bit off-balance. A focused opportunity was needed to get everything re-charged and aligned again. This was a break minus the kids. A real chance to just…be.
Usually we’ve planned everything far in advance. What are we going to do? Where are we going to eat? But other than where we were resting our heads for night, this time, we planned nothing.
Granted, this is a potential recipe for disaster, especially when you only have 48 hours in Budapest and want to get the most out of your visit. However, we soon discovered – when it comes to Budapest – you don’t have to plan overly hard to discover something amazing.
Recognised as having one of the most outstanding urban landscapes in the world, the Hungarian capital is the perfect no-pressure escape for burnt out people wanting to recharge, rebalance and just have a pretty great time.
I’ve titled this article, ‘what to do when you make a mistake’ not ‘if you make a mistake’ because let’s face it, no matter how optimistic or perfect you try to be – you will make mistakes. These can be small barely noticeable faux-pas’ to full-blown want the ground to swallow you up misjudgements.
Your key focus here should be your reaction to the mistake. If you’re anything like me your go-to response (until now) would have been panic and assume the ostrich position. However, taking responsibility to deal with our slip-ups in the best way we can frees us to turn – what currently seems like – the worst thing ever into a positive opportunity for personal growth.
As I shared within my article – 5 Easy ways to add volume to fine hair – a crucial step in gaining volume is starting with a good shampoo and conditioner. I’ve tried a lot of volumising shampoos and conditioners over the years and these are my recommended best shampoos and conditioners for fine hair.
