fitness inspiration

Body shape goals – a holistic approach through fitness & diet

AlisonLoveofDance

Major news! I’m now a Certified Nutrition Coach in addition to being a dance and Pilates instructor! I can now help my clients to achieve their body weight and shape goals through both fitness and nutrition.

Many of us want to get a more toned stomach – and sit ups can form a part of the toning of the abs…but to burn adipose subcutaneous fat tissue, we need to build in a regular full body fitness plan to burn total fat and look at improvements in the diet to support that weight loss – a quick few sit ups aren’t going to cut it in this fat burning piece. That’s def where the 20 mins minimum of fitness a day enters in – it’s proven that the rate of calorie burning can slow down during longer endurance stints…may make fitness less of a chore for some 😉 ! Having a fitness and nutrition coach is an excellent way to help keep accountability and on track to achieve body shape goals.

Ways the diet can change the body:

Weight Loss: The age old formula of what you put in to your body needs to equal less Cals than what you burn each day also needs to be considered if you want to lose weight. A nutrition coach will help calculate these two factors and guide a client through the mechanism to make a plan like this stick to get results

Building Muscle: You might actually want to build body mass… bigger muscles – legs, arms maybe…bum (!) 🤷🏻‍♀️and a protein controlled diet would support the goals here.

Detoxing and finding glow and energy: I’m on a 30 day cleanse to support my own detoxing and weight loss goals to find more energy, and I’m not going to just achieve this through cutting calories – that isn’t necessarily the right approach for everyone.  I’m using protein shakes and supplements to help my journey on to make sure I’m getting all the right nutrients and to aid my health goals. 
Just to add the dress in this pic is the one I’m wearing to the Guides For Brides Wedding Awards – this was one event I wanted to find my glow and feel a little more confident in my skin for…and I definitely feel better for the cleanse, two weeks in!

A good nutrition coach and fitness coach can help you work out the best diet and fitness combination to support your ideal body shape. Working out your macronutrients with a good nutritionist: healthy fats, proteins and carbohydrates is really important, to re-assess the right diet plan at every stage of life, as our bodies, metabolic rates and circumstances change. 

If you would like to chat through your health goals with me, or would like more info on the 30 day cleanse, feel free to book time in through the calendar below to help work out your body weight and shape goals and how we can achieve them!

21 Days to KickStart a Healthy, Fit & Mindful New Year

AlisonLoveofDance
  • Do you need some all round health and wellbeing TLC?
  • Has 2020 left you feeling just meh, stressed and mentally drained?
  • Do you want to know how to strengthen the immune system with foods that we eat?
  • Have you lost motivation for fitness and self care and need some kick start motivation?
  • Do you need to revive your lust for life?
Be Kind To Yourself & Shine 2021 - Health & Fitness Motivation Challenge

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a pretty challenging year, but what if it’s given us a gift? What if it’s given us a fabulous new vision, helped us to re-evaluate what is important in our lives and given an eye opening wake-up call of what’s got to give.

Can you say in 2020 you gave yourself a break, were kind to yourself and allowed yourself to step into your power?

Whether you answered ‘yes’ to the above and now need some 2021 motivation to elevate into that immense power, or if you answered ‘no’ and have acknowledged that something’s gotta give, we’ve got a 21 day plan to give you a guilt free opportunity to be kind to yourself and Shine into 2021: 4-24 January 2021!

Join Be Kind To Yourself & Shine 2021 Here

We’ll be running this for FREE, in exchange for a donation to our chosen charity: The NEED Project, Bedfordshire.

Your hosts will be Alison (@DancingMamaFitness) and Sandi (@SandiRatz PT) – fitness and lifestyle professionals, focussing on prioritising health, balance in wellbeing and passions within busy lives, not just for 21 days, but for longevity.

Sandi and Alison have teamed up with other experts in the holistic wellness industry bringing a whole array of motivational, inspirational and down right life changing knowledge to you, including self Reiki, EFT, self massage and meditation – survival toolkit in times where we can’t always see practitioners face to face, learn how from home!

Throughout the 21 days Sandi and Alison will bring daily inspiration, free fitness and mindset sessions and host parties from Tropic Skincare, DoTerra essential oils, and Juice Plus+ plant based nutrition, introducing some gorgeous, ethically chosen health and wellbeing products to set your 2021 goals off with some quality products.

There will be weekly giveaways, freebies from all experts involved, and two incredible prizes and the end for the winner of a prize draw and the most engaged throughout the 21 days.

Finish the 21 Days feeling Fitter, Focussed and Fabulous. You’re Welcome!

5 Tips to Smash Your Winter Workout

AlisonLoveofDance

Who’s ready for the dark mornings and even darker nights??

Yeah – me neither. Doesn’t always inspire a workout does it – especially one outdoors.

But I prefer workout in the open, and I’m trying to work out how to make the best still of outdoor workouts. Here’s my 5 tips for fitness motivation whilst smashing the winter workout blues:

1. Get kitted out

My best purchase of all time was a Uni-Qlo calf length ‘duvet coat’ as I call it, which I found when I was pregnant in the sales. I could just about fit my daughter underneath in the baby carrier in later years when we went out for our long walks in whatever the elements were throwing at us. I still love it now for those cosy winter walks – I wore it out for a walk yesterday in the crazy driving rain and felt both Snug and Smug at the same time.

Will you need to be warm? Dry? Need certain footwear to match the terrain or gear to match the activity – balaclava underneath a cycle helmet or raincoat with a peak in the hood to keep the rain off your face?

Granted some of the fitness gear can be pricey, but catch the right time of year and you can bag some bargains. That all said, some of the high street brands have their own fitness ranges these days – I quite often buy from Decathalon – it’s reasonably priced, and their clothing lasts me for a good year too!

2. Choose the location wisely.

Start planning some locations that aren’t too muddy – gravel pathways are usually a good shout for cycling, running or walking with good drainage. On road, or concrete pathways good for cycling – I’m not a fan of jogging on concrete as I used to suffer from shin splints – make sure you’ve got good running shoes for harder surfaces. Or what fitness instructors can you find online to save you leaving the house? I’ve been teaching my pilates clients online and it’s definitely helped out for those who have been shielding…and now for those who quite enjoy staying in for their workout.

3. Choose the time to work for you…

An increase in home working has meant we can work a little more flexibly, with some employers becoming more relaxed, and self employed peeps can also arrange their working day and be kinder to themselves to create the space in the diary for a lunchtime workout – some daylight and fresh air to help revive for the afternoon has huge benefits…unless a workout leaves you wanting to snooze!). Timeblock the week so you can make it happen – and sometimes paying for a course will motivate you to stick at it. Quite often with slightly cheaper rates as an incentive.

By far my winning workout situation is when I build the workout in to a part of my existing routine – lately I’ve been cycling my daughter to nursery and doing a route around the houses on the way home to clock up some miles!

4. …which leads me to strategic planning!

Make sure the type of fitness is relevant for the time of day. An invigorating, power workout in the morning or earlier on in the day will keep us mentally focussed, whilst a chilled Yoga session later in the day may help you to sleep, clear the mind and wind down. Different strokes for different folks of course so find out what works for you!

5. Workout with other people.

Nothing like some good motivation from working with a partner or a group of friends. Make fitness social. If you’re not in each others bubbles, fair enough you may not be able to do any contact sports, but team games where you can socially distance are just fun and quite often lead to a social life too. I wanted to join a rowing or kayaking club – might have to find a daytime or weekend club in winter(!), but the clubhouses quite often also have social nights.

Hope this has inspired you to research the options and talk to others about what they’re doing or enjoy. If you can get through the winter without the dark nights as an excuse not to do it, you should fall in to an easy year round workout routine