HOW CAN FITNESS HELP YOU?

HEALTH & FITNESS

My name is Lauren, I am the founder of EMPOWERED WOMEN FITNESS. I am a mother, a qualified personal trainer, and fitness instructor. My passion is fitness and my mission is to help as many women as I possibly can to gain strength and confidence through the power of fitness. www.empoweredwomenfitness.co.uk

How can fitness

HELP YOU?

Our Health & Fitness columnist, Lauren Green, is here to guide you through!

speak to a lot of women who say they want to start their

Ifitness journey, but they don’t know where to start. Some women don’t have the confidence, some women don’t think that they are fit enough, some women think that they don’t have enough time.

Some women say they will start on ‘Monday”, set themselves health/ fitness goals and stick to them, and some women don’t.

The thing is when we break promises to ourselves, by making excuses, by putting off the things we want to do and need to do, we are only cheating ourselves.

THINK- when you had that thought of training/ exercising/ starting on ‘Monday’, what were you feeling? Why did you think to yourself you need to start?

The answer more often than not is because we want to become a better version of ourselves, we want to build strength, we want to build confidence, we want to become fitter, faster.

TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED ON YOUR JOURNEY

1.

Pair and activity you want to do with an action that you need to do. For example, I WANT to see the sunrise, I NEED to exercise; therefore, I go for a long walk/ run somewhere beautiful and scenic

and get both done. 2.

Join a community where your desired behaviour is normal. For example, @empoweredwomen_membersonly we have an online fitness community and a support WhatsApp group where we discuss goals, diet, exercise and exchange helpful tips daily. Sign up today via www.empoweredwomenfitness.co.uk 3.

Set your intensions, be clear on what it is that you want, make a plan and be consistent. Make a plan, write it down and work on it every single day.

EMPOWERED WOMEN FITNESS

THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES IS CREATED BY THE QUALITY OF OUR HABITS

Habits are simply actions that are repeated regularly. Most successful people don’t become successful over night, they become successful because of consistency, they become successful because they regularly repeat actions that day by day get them closer to their goals. The problem is, a lot of people have a goal, make a plan, but don’t repeat the actions consistently to achieve that goal. Take (pre lockdown) the gym in January- absolutely packed, have to queue for the squat rack/ treadmill. Then a month later, they’ve all disappeared and it’s back to normal. Successful people form habits that most people don’t like to do or feel uncomfortable doing...

- WAKING UP EARLY PUSHING PAST COMFORT ZONES - WORKING HARD - MISSING OUT ON SOCIAL OCCASIONS - PRACTICING GRATITUDE - SELF-DISCIPLINE - GROWTH REQUIRES DISCOMFORT - DONT GIVE UP ON YOUR GOALS SELF-BELIEF VS SELF-DOUBT

We all have a voice inside our head that either fills us with self-belief of self-doubt. We are all going to have days when we feel motivated/ energetic and days where we don’t want to do anything at all. I have days where I feel so confident, so goal driven, and days where I question everything I am doing. This is all completely normal. We must listen to our minds and our body’s and accept all of our feelings negative and positive. But what we must do is believe in ourselves, speak kindly to ourselves, and be patient with ourselves. My mindset about four years ago was completely different to what it is now. I would talk to myself so negatively, and guess what, the more I did, the worse my circumstances became. One day it all just clicked, how was the universe ever going to believe in me, support me, push me towards my dreams if I didn’t even believe in myself? So, I started from the bottom, I set myself mini goals, I worked hard to achieve them and then when I did achieve them I started to believe, little by little I started to believe in me. “Whether you think you can or you can’t you are right! “ How you talk to yourself is crucial! MY ADVICE IS THIS...When you set yourself a goal, always keep your why in mind and in the forefront. My why is the reason I the set the goal in the first place. My why is the reason I am never going to give up. My why is fire in the belly that burns every day!

ITS OK TO FEEL TIRED, ITS OK TO HAVE BAD DAYS, ITS OK TO REST, ITS OK TO FALL, ITS OK TO FAIL. THIS IS HOW WE LEARN, WE GROW, WE EVOLVE AND IF WE WANT IT BAD ENOUGH WE PICK OURSELVES BACK UP AND WE GO GET IT!

EMPOWERED WOMEN FITNESS

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN CONFIDENCE

Things I did to build my own confidence up from rock bottom... - Take action, don’t just talk about it, be about it, put the work in every day. - Make decisions, stop sitting on the fence, worrying about what others think, decide and proceed. - Push past your comfort zone, get comfortable in being uncomfortable, growth requires discomfort. - Trust your intuition, if something doesn’t feel right, trust your feelings, if something does feel right GO FOR IT! - Take calculated risks, what have you got to lose? - Use every one of your losses as a lesson, take these lessons as blessings, learn, grow, get up and keep pushing. - Start saying NO! If you don’t want to do something you don’t have to, simple as that! - Set yourself goals, work hard to achieve them & watch your self belief & self confidence begin to grow -Surround yourself with people who believe in you, people who support you and want to see you win!

EMPOWERED WOMEN EMPOWER WOMEN HELPING WOMEN TO BUILD STRENGTH & CONFIDENCE, PHYSICALLY & MENTALLY THROUGH THE POWER OF FITNESS

Expert care every step of the way

With Spire Cardiff Hospital you’ll see a leading specialist in a hospital where safety comes first. When you book an appointment with us, you can be sure that you’ll receive expert care in a secure environment.

Safety first

We continue to screen our patients and colleagues for COVID-19 symptoms and maintain extensive protection protocols.

Fast access to diagnosis and treatment

You can see one of our specialists quickly, because less waiting means less worrying.

Advanced technology

We use the latest technology and techniques wherever possible to get the best outcome for you.

Book to see an expert today Search ‘Spire Cardiff Hospital’ Call 02920 601 630

Interest free finance – 0% representative APR available

Credit is subject to status. Spire Healthcare Limited is acting as a credit broker, Omni Capital Retail Finance Ltd is the lender. All named parties are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spire Healthcare’s registered address is 3 Dorset Rise, London, EC4Y 8EN.