Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers, Vloggers and Instagrammers to Follow in 2017

Like many, you may have embarked on a quest for a healthier, fitter, slimmer and just generally better you for 2017. Still you, but just a little sexier than 2016. Let’s face it… takeaways and duvet days are so last year anyway.

One step on your #newyou quest might well be to follow a bunch of Instagrammers and Youtubers in hope of saturating yourself in motivation every time you pick up your iPhone. But who do you follow? What’s the first hashtag you try to find the perfect healthy lifestyle inspo?

Let me share with you my favourite British Bloggers, Vloggers and Instagrammers who help to keep me on the healthy straight and narrow:

1. Zanna Van Dijk
   

   Image Source: Facebook

   
   I stumbled across Zanna’s instagram last summer and have followed her on every social media platform since, and also bought her book, ‘Strong’. She actively uses Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube, and also blogs very frequently. She is my favourite to follow because she doesn’t condone any crap. It’s usually pretty difficult to tell if the products being described as ‘amazing’ by your favourite Instagrammer are genuinly loved by them, or whether they are just being paid to say so. This is where Zanna stands out; she will candidly tell you what she has been offered to promote something, and doesn’t stand for any brands that endorse meal replacement shakes or weight loss teas (all a load of bull, by the way…). Catching up with her on social media feels like you are hanging out with an old friend. Oh, and she’s just been made a Global Ambassador for Adidas. For workout videos, honest food diaries, and general hilarity, look here:

   Instagram: @zannavandijk (business) or @zanzapan (personal)
   Snapchat: @Zanzapan
   Facebook: www.facebook.co.uk/zannavandijk 
   Website and blog: www.zannavandijk.co.uk
   Youtube: www.youtube.co.uk/zannananny795
   Twitter: @zannavandijk
   Buy her book, ‘Strong’, here. (This book is an amazing starting place for both bodyweight exercises and lifting weights, getting active and understanding nutrition).

    

2. Clean Eating Alice
   

   Image Source – Facebook

   There aren’t many who haven’t yet heard of Clean Eating Alice. A fizzy pocket-rocket of fitness advice and tutorials, Alice is a great go-to girl for workout and yummy meal ideas. She hosts a Facebook Live video session with Rhitrition (see below) covering all sorts of commonly asked fitness and nutrition questions every Sunday at 6pm on her Facebook page, usually Q & A style. For workout videos, recipe ideas, girly rants and inspiring, motivational talks, look here:

   Instagram: @clean_eating_alice
   Snapchat: @CEAlice
   Facebook: www.facebook.co.uk/CleanEatingAlice
   Youtube: www.youtube.co.uk/CleanEatingAlice
   Twitter: www.twitter.com/Alice_living
   Buy her book, ‘The Body Bible’, here
   Buy her book, ‘Eat Well Every Day’, here

3. Rhiannon Lambert
   

   Image Source – Facebook

   
   Rhiannon Lambert is a Registered Associate Nutritionist specialising in Weight Management, Eating Disorders and Sports Nutrition. I found Rhiannon through Clean Eating Alice, and find the daily Snapchat advice really useful. There’s not a bad bone in her body, and it’s clear she is 100% committed to her industry. For daily snaps, on-the-go nutrition advice, recommendations and easily-digestible blogs, look here:

   Instagram: @Rhitrition
   Snapchat: @Rhitrition
   Facebook: www.facebook.co.uk/Rhitrition
   Website and blog: www.rhititrion.com
   Twitter: www.twitter.com/Rhitrition

4. Tally Rye
   

   Image Source – Facebook

   
   If you’re after great low-sugar food ideas, awesome breakfast posts, free live HIIT home workouts and just a really friendly face to ‘check in’ with every day, Tally is your girl. Her at-home bodyweight workouts are my favourite; they can be completed in less than 30 minutes and you don’t need any equipment at all. She is always active on Snapchat and posts some really interactive and watchable content on her Youtube. If good/wholesome food, free at-home workouts and motivation to get to the gym is what you’re after, look here:

   Instagram: @tallyrye
   Snapchat: @Talitharye
   Facebook: www.facebook.co.uk/tally.rye
   Youtube: www.youtube.co.uk/tallyrye
   Twitter: www.twitter.com/tallyrye

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And there you have it. I’d love to know who you follow, as I’m always looking to expand my content sources and learn from different people. So if there’s a must-follow fitness or nutrition social media persona that I’ve not listed above who you swear by, please get in touch!

Finding Balance in Everyday Life

2016 was a year of balance for me. I felt anxious and stressed in most scenarios, and I knew that change was needed. The thing is, I didn’t want to make any drastic changes, nor turn into a person that wasn’t really, well, me. The answer? Balance.

What do I mean by ‘finding balance’?

Finding balance is quite a loose term, and can be interpreted in many different ways from person to person. For me, it was all about returning to my happy equilibrium; the point at which I was living my happiest life without latching too extremely on to something.

In what ways did I find balance?

The first thing I did was note down what was bothering me, and the list generally comprised of these following items:

1. No stable control over food/diet
2. No stable control over fitness, health and wellbeing
3. Not getting enough sleep and feeling stressed out when something was keeping me up
4. Spending too much money on the weekly food shop
5. Not looking after myself enough
6. Too much anxiety and exhaustion

I then listed ways in which I could at least slightly improve the situation:

1. Try to eat more healthily without giving up anything, and don’t eat foods you don’t like (lettuce and cucumber salad = BORING. Hello there, roasted Mediterranean veg!)
2. Try to exercise a little more than you are now, but only do exercise that you actually enjoy e.g. Zumba, dog walking etc
3. Aim to get in bed 30 minutes earlier, rather than sitting downstairs wasting time on your phone
4. See if there are any unnecessary items that can be removed from the shopping list, and try not to worry too much about spending money on good food if it is nourishing your body
5. Get your hair cut when it feels scraggy, have a hot bath when you’re feeling cold, invest in some nice clothes
6. Swap caffeinated drinks for decaf and, again, go to bed earlier

This was the start of my journey. There are no radical changes here, just miniscule shifts in my every day routine. I didn’t give up tea, I just switched to decaf. I didn’t embark on an extreme 6 week juice and insanity fitness regime, I just made a vow to do a little more than what I was already doing.

It’s not possible to give yourself a long-lasting ‘happy makeover’ in just a day; the benefits of these changes may take a little time, but the payout will be permanent, and SO worth it.

How else can your incorporate balance in to your daily life?

Had a stressful week at work?
Make sure to have fun at the weekend.

Eaten an indulgent, all-consuming, button-popping dinner?
Have a healthy breakfast and make a mental note to ease up tomorrow.

Been eating super healthily all week and smashed out three hardcore workouts?
Have that chocolate bar.

Spent months neglecting yourself and giving out love to others instead?
Treat yourself to an evening of TLC, book a haircut, and enjoy your own company for a weekend. Love yourself!

Stayed up late for four nights in a row?
Go to bed a little earlier for the next couple of nights.

Lacked motivation and not done any exercise?
Take the dog out for a walk and do 10 minutes of Pilates.

Remember, your tastes and interests are completely unique to you. So many blogs will translate TLC as ‘run a nice hot bath’ or ‘treat yourself to a pamper evening’, but these may not particularly appeal to you. If you’re more about gaming, or comics, or sprinting, or cooking, or swimming, or Netflix-bingeing (you get my drift), then make sure that you are relaxing and enjoying yourself in the ways that you love.

Try and find one area of your life today where you can find balance, and I promise you will start reaping the benefits immediately.

New Year’s Resolutions: Making Them & Sticking to Them

New Year’s Resolutions: Everyone knows about them. Most people talk about them. Some people make them. But not everyone sticks to them.

Why make a New Year’s Resolution?

Making a New Year’s Resolution (or two) is a great way to keep your life in check. Not only can you use it to keep an element of your life in control, but you can also learn a lot about yourself whilst making some beneficial and positive changes.
5 steps towards making and sticking to your New Year’s Resolutions:

1. DO keep it simple

Over-complicating a New Year’s Resolution will only make it harder to stick with, and you may forget what it was you were actually trying to stick with in the first place. Simplicity is key: for example, if you are looking to get fit, maybe choose ‘be in the best physical shape yet’ rather than ‘Drop 4 stone by July by not eating any carbs, whilst trying to hit a 100kg deadlift in the gym, but make sure to run to the gym each time ’.

2. DON’T use negative words

Quit using ‘quit’, and stop using ‘stop’. Switch your New Year’s Resolution round and choose positive words instead; words that will help you to gain or improve. You might be tempted to ‘quit smoking’… instead, trying ‘improve my lung health’ or ‘save all cigarette money in a savings jar’. That way you are improving your health (by giving up cigarettes) and gaining more money by saving the money you would have spent. Win win!

3. DO make sure your resolution is achievable

It sounds obvious, but if you set yourself a ‘failure’ point, then you will never uphold your mantra. Before reading this blog, if your NYR was to ‘give up chocolate’, then as soon as you have a square of that yummy, all-consuming, life-uplifting, wholly-marvellous brown stuff, you will have deemed yourself a failure. And nobody wants to be a failure.

4. DON’T let others choose it for you

Ask yourself why you are setting yourself a New Year’s Resolution. Are you making it because YOU want to, or because someone else has nagged you to do it? Make sure that your NYR is personal to you. Trying to change because others feel you should is not going to benefit you, nor are you going to want to stick with it.

5. DO have fun with it

NYRs shouldn’t be something that you’re dreading! “Oh I really need to drop a few pounds… guess it’s bye-bye to burgers in the new year… Bring on the New Year’s Resolution…*yawn*”. NO! Make it challenging but fun, and you will reap the rewards later down the line. Instead of giving up your favourite fast foods, why not try making your own variations at home?

 

Don’t be afraid; GO FOR IT!