You’ve probably seen me mention that I’m currently using the Couch to 5k app to help me get back in the swing of things with running. Back in 2015 I fell in love with running, never before had I felt so mentally free in my entire life but a few months in I really hurt my knee and that left me unable to run comfortably for years. Last year I briefly picked running back in the summer but when the weather turned I didn’t fancy doing it in the freezing cold so it wasn’t until I rejoined the gym did I start opening the app again a few times a week. And this is everything I wish I knew about running before I started.

This January was the first time I didn't feel myself itching to get back into the gym after the festivities. Mostly down to having the flu but also because my relationship with fitness has changed so much. For so long it was the thing that helped my mental health stay somewhat in check as well as being something I genuinely loved. I never thought I'd be the girl who felt that way about the gym but last year I really saw myself go through a lull with the whole fitness thing, which I resisted for so long mostly because I thought my brain would fall apart without it. Very dramatic I know but if you have that type of relationship with fitness you will understand where I'm coming from and why I was in such despair about it. Over the past few months, well since we've had Josie really I've changed what I do to keep myself active so much and it's completely changed my mindset. I have a little bit of strange urge to know what people do to say active so this is what I'm doing right now.

For years, going to the gym was such a big part of my life. It was something that I truly fell in love with, which is never something I expected to happen as for so long I hated exercise. At school, I used to dread P.E and would find any reason not to do it so when I got into the middle of my twenties and found myself regularly going to the gym it was a shock to the system. But this year I felt a change at the gym and between moving house and getting a dog I've really fallen off the fitness wagon and I'm actually really ok with that and here's why...

Health is something that's become important to me now I'm in the latter half of my twenties. As a teenager and even in the very beginning of my twenties I just presumed my body was always going to be super resilient and could always handle what I was throwing at it and all the junk I was eating but it can't. And it's always such a topical issue when it comes to what makes for a healthy lifestyle and it's of course, very very personal but for me and my life, it's all about balance. So I thought today I'd share some of the small steps I've made towards living a healthier lifestyle that I do and the difference that they've made in my life.

Physically I'm without a doubt one of the weakest people I know, there is no denying that. So writing a post all about wanting to be stronger is something that I never ever thought that I would be doing. Exercise is something that I've never really been too interested in because I never found it enjoyable, it always just felt like a lot of hard work and I never gave it much time. And it wasn't until I realised how much it helped my mental health that I made a real big effort to make it an important part of my life. I don't have the easiest relationship with fitness that's for sure but I'm not sure anyone finds it that straight forward. 2017 is the year that I've decided that I want to try and work on my strength so are some thoughts on that as well as a few honest reflections on exercise in general.