The arrival of September heralds the return to school and work, which means summer is done, autumn is coming and with that we are all getting back into new routines. I’m on a mission to make the next few months super-healthy ones and I have some great ideas on how you can do the same.
First up, is a post-summer cleanse – whether you need to wash away all the rosé you consumed over the warmer months or simply want to start the new season feeling revitalised, this can be a good time to refocus on your body. I’ve ordered a seven-day Juicemaster programme and would recommend it if you are keen to give a juice detox a go. A whole week consuming juices made of fruit and veg always makes me feel healthy and alert and brings out the sparkle in my eyes. Lots of my friends have queried whether a juice detox leaves you void of energy and, although I know different people have different experiences, for me it works wonders! It makes me feel fantastic, my skin glows and despite the lack of solid food, I actually feel incredibly energised. You also don’t have to buy it already made, you can simply follow the recipes on the app and make the juices at home – just be prepared to buy a lot of fruit, ginger and veggies!
In terms of exercise, I consider myself a keen runner and would run every day if I could. The autumn is a time when there are some brilliant races and running events, from the Great North Run to the Royal Parks half-marathon. If you want to be inspired, go along to a race and watch the enthusiasm shown by the participants – I think it’s enough to tempt anyone to take up this form of exercise.
My advice is to just remember to stretch properly before and after your run and take care when wearing new shoes, as this is how I hurt myself. Disappointingly my running has been hugely impacted as a result of an inconvenient Achilles injury so instead of just focusing on running, I’ve been trying to fill my time with other forms of exercise too.
And this leads me onto the new big thing among women – weight-training. I always panicked that deadlifts, weighted squats and in fact anything that required me to lift 60kg barbells would add bulk to my physique, however this is definitely not the case at all. I’ve been training at Matt Roberts gym for a few months now and I actually look forward to doing deadlifts twice a week!
While weight training is great, if you’re anything like me you’ll also want to combine it with something that gets you sweating. I’ve been investigating a few more cardio aerobic opportunities and as a member of the local David Lloyd gym there are lots of excellent spin classes, aerobic training sessions and general tennis available to me. Or how about Bikram yoga? You definitely sweat in one if those classes! I’m going to sign up for an introductory session – most studios offer a heavily discounted price for the first 20 or 30 days and I’m looking forward to feeling the benefits from stretching and balancing.
So there you go – a few ideas to spring into September the healthy way!
