I get it. It’s SO easy to want to put your comfy clothes on and chill out with Netflix – and with Christmas mere weeks away, it’s easy to want to stuff your face with rich, delicious food while you’re at it. You need to ask yourself what the cost is if you do that. Are you going to be undoing the hard work you’ve put in getting your body shape exactly the way that you want it? Are you going to end up watching the weight creep back on that you’ve spent time to get down to a weight that is healthy for your height? Whatever the motivation has been behind you getting up off your butt and going to the gym, you need to keep it firing while you get used to the colder weather.

The one thing that you have to remember on the days that all you want to do is snuggle up and eat, is that you are not a bear. You do not need to add layers and layers of fat to your body to keep you snug and warm while you sleep for a few months. Overindulgence can feel great – for the five minutes that you’re feasting – but in the long term, overindulgence leads to negative feelings, sluggish feelings, and the potential invitation for colds and bugs. What you need to do is continue to maintain the dietary balance you’ve been putting in the entire year so far, and you need to keep working out. You don’t have to keep going out in the freezing air for a run though, especially if you can afford luxury home gym equipment that will keep you going. If you have the means, turn a room in your home into your very own gym! Then you’ll really have no excuse except to keep working out!

Workouts may fall down a little in the Christmas period, but you don’t have to weld yourself to the sofa under a mountain of blankets if you don’t want to. Your motivation hasn’t got up and gone; it’s still there. You just need to hang onto it! If you need some more reasons to get up and get moving despite the chilly weather, here they are:

Your Mindset Matters

Cold, rain, snow, slush – all of these excuses can feel like the right reason to forget your workout for the day. If you don’t want to go outside, do your workout inside. Put your favourite TV show and get moving while watching it. March on the spot, run with raised knees, burpee your way to the ad break – whatever you do, move and keep going until the end of the TV show. Before you know it, you’ve kept your heart rate up for 45 minutes without even trying. That’s a Game of Thrones episode right there.

Do Something Different 

If pounding the pavement as a runner is your thing and the cold air is putting you off, what about weights? Indoor HIIT and cardio are great, but floor weights and Pilates also have their place in your workout schedule. If you are loathe to get outside and head to a class, there are plenty of online classes on YouTube that you could get involved in, instead.

What About A Trainer?

Did you know that you could hire a personal trainer to come to your house? If you have the equipment – and the cash – you could do your usual outdoor workout in the comfort of your own home. The personal trainer? He’s just for motivation. There’s no need at all to feel like you’re too sluggish to get up off the sofa, not when you can utilize the skills of someone else to come and encourage you until you do. It’s a costly way to do things, but when the snowy weather steals your mojo it may be what you need to get going.

SAD Has Answers

It’s common to feel a little low when the Christmas season is over, but SAD is something else entirely. Seasonal Affective Disorder can make you feel like you cannot get off the couch, but if you move your body and workout, the hormones along can lift your spirits and make you feel good at the same time. You can also invest in a lightbox, which when used for half an hour a day, can help to reduce some of the sadness that you may be feeling.

You Haven’t Overdone It 

The Christmas Lunch with all the family, the treats on the side in the kitchen, the cakes, and mince pies – they’re all there to tempt you through the season. It’s okay if they do; because you haven’t overdone it. Keeping an eye on your calories while you’re letting yourself have some food freedom is essential, and if you’re doing it right, you’ll know that you didn’t eat 3500 calories per day – equalling 1lb of weight. As long as you are burning more than you consume, you can have those treats and enjoy your Christmas lunch. There’s nothing saying that you can’t count the calories a little closer and workout harder, is there? There’s no motivation like a cheeseboard and crackers!

The winter months bring gloom and darkness, but there are plenty of reasons and ways that you can keep going with your workout and emerge into January without starting all over again. Take the time to work out what works for you, and you’ll be patting yourself on the back as 2019 turns in.

Create Your Own Home Gym

Why go out to a gym if you have one in your very own home? Just find a corner of the house which is not being used and invest in some basic equipment. To start off with, you may simply need an exercise mat, some music, and some light free weights. Over time, you can start to build up your equipment to make your home gym more comprehensive. You could even look into hiring an in home personal trainer. This will really help to take your workouts up to the next level!

Go Out Hiking

If you are always getting behind the wheel of a car to go anywhere these days, it is time to rediscover the lost art of walking! To start off with, you could do a walking tour of your city – or else explore a neighboring town. This helps you to stay in shape and explore an area which you have never seen in the past. Otherwise, you could head out to your nearest park or wilderness area to reconnect with nature – something which is good for the mind as well as the body.

Join a Team

There is nothing like the spirit of camaraderie and togetherness that being part of a team brings you. Perhaps you could rediscover a sport you used to play as a kid – or else take up a new one entirely. Just remember to enter at a level which is right for you so that you don’t end up getting disheartened if people are at a more advanced stage than you are. Otherwise, you could look into joining a local health class – perhaps yoga, karate or dance!

Turn Your Chores into Workouts

If you are working up a sweat while you are completing your annoying chores at the same time, you really are killing two birds with one stone. Scrubbing the bathtub or vacuuming are a couple of examples of workouts which will get your heart rate pumping. Even tidying up can help to get you running up and down the stairs. Another option of home fitness which you could practice is to workout while you are watching the TV. Pushups, situps, squats, burpees…there are all sorts of exercise varieties which are perfect for multitasking!

As you can see, you don’t necessarily have to become a fully-fledged gym member to get a good workout. Try taking part in one or more of these four activities instead.

Wireless headphones have become such a big part of my gym necessities. No more getting tangled up in your wires while you’re exercising. Or having to keep your giant phone in your sports bra and getting it all sweaty (anyone else feel my pain?). I can just leave my phone off to the side and use my apple watch to operate the music playing in my wireless earbuds. IT IS THE BEST. Don’t know how I ever lived without these babies.

If you like how these Sudio earbuds look, you can use the code ‘speakoftheangel’ for 15% off your order. They also have wireless headphones as well!

Lululemon 7/8 pants

I’m 5’8 and my biggest issue with leggings is how they fit. “Cropped” means Capri to me and Capri always cut me off above the largest part of my calf. And I HATE that. So shout outs to Kat and Jessie from the Richmond Centre Lululemon for helping me discover the 7/8 pants. They are the perfect cropped length for my height and are SO flattering. My favourite styles have got to be the Align pants or the High Time pants. So. Damn. Comfortable. Not to mention the fabric is very breathable. They are essentially my perfect gym tights.

Lululemon Sports Bra

Since I have always been a part of the itty bitty titty committee, I always choose sports bra based on their comfort and style rather than their support. So if you’ve been blessed with above average boob sizes, these are NOT for you.

My favourite bras of all time have got to be the Lulu Free To Be bras. They have minimal padding and a great stylish backside. There are 4 styles in the Free To Be line. The Free To Be Zen bra, the original Free To Be bra, the Free To Be Serene and the Free To Be Wild bra. I love all of them ?

Lululemon Gym Bag

I still have yet to find a gym bag that I like better than my Lululemon gym bag. It’s my favourite for two simple reasons. First off, it has SO MANY COMPARTMENTS AND POCKETS. As someone who is slightly obsessive when it comes to bag organization (I have pouches for EVERYTHING) I really appreciate a well-made bag that has built-in compartments for different things. Mine has pockets for shoes, bottles, change, dirty clothes, accessories… Pretty much everything I need. I also love it because of its size. It fits my clothes, shoes, and even my foam roller without being excessively large like those Adidas duffel that I see sometimes. I usually keep two outfits, a pair of shoes, a foam roller, deodorant, hair ties, a water bottle, a lock, a brush, and resistance bands in my bag.

They currently don’t have the exact style of bag I’m talking about but this sleek black one is quite gorgeous I’ve gotta say, and it’s got a few of the awesome compartments I’m talking about, including one for your hot hair tools! I also love this men’s version with a dedicated pocket for your shoes.

Aritzia The Constant Top

As I’ve been working out more, I’ve been more inclined to rocking the sports bra and leggings look. Something about working out in a sports bra empowers me and pushes me to work harder. Probably because all the other women at my gym in sports bras look like fitness models with their abs and legs and bums. But of course, there are days where noodles for lunch make me feel a little iffy about baring my stomach. That’s where The Constant Held top comes in. I bought these babies in both of the offered colours because that’s how obsessed I am.

I think they are the perfect length and cut you off in such a flattering spot. Especially when paired with high-waisted leggings. ??

Unfortunately, they are currently sold out online, but the long sleeve version is still available.

Bench Leggings

Some of my favourite leggings that I own are by Bench. I’ve been wearing Bench since grade school. And even as my style has grown past the athleisure feel of Bench’s collections, I still absolutely love their active wear. Their legging fabrics are all high quality but aren’t super thick like some of the more popular brands. I personally prefer a thinner, more breathable fabric when it comes to my gym leggings so that I don’t burn up while working out. This gray pair is probably my favourite one that I own. Their plain black leggings are great as well!

The prices aren’t super affordable but they do have sales quite often, so if you subscribe to their newsletters you can usually catch a few good ones.

Swell Water Bottle

I don’t care what the stigma around S’well bottles are, they actually are one of the best water bottles I’ve tried in a long time. I personally own a gray one in the largest size they have. It keeps my water SO COLD. Which I think is extremely necessary for the gym! Not to mention they are SO sleek and cute!

Foam Roller

I can’t live without my foam roller. It has become a crucial part of not only my stretching and recovery routine but also my gym routine! Before I start every leg day, I make sure to roll out my quads and hamstrings to prepare them for the workout. Being someone who is “quad dominant” I find that rolling out my quads before my leg days ensures that they don’t take over during my exercises and let my glutes and hamstrings grow and activate. But more on that another time.

I purchased my foam roller at Winners for about $20. You can find them at any sports store!

Resistance Bands

Another tool that I don’t ever go to the gym without, I use my resistance bands for the same reason that I use my foam rollers. Doing “activation” exercises before my workouts help the muscles I want to work activate when I actually do my workout. Comment below if you want a more detailed post on my workouts!

I purchased my resistance band at a fitness equipment store but they are much more affordable on Amazon. This set of 5 is a great price and provides 5 different levels of resistance for your different needs.

Hope you found some new products to try out for your next gym sesh! I am a firm believer that having great (and cute) gear is a huge motivator when it comes to maintaining a good gym schedule. At least it is for me ??

Until next time,

You can find all the new Bench performance pieces here. Definitely been on a workout gear bender lately and Bench has definitely played a big part in satisfying my wants!

Until next time, 

But I will definitely work towards it this month… and the month after that… all the way until the end of this year. And hopefully, at the end of this year, I will have at least rid myself of my lazy habits.

I find that one thing about having a gym membership, or a yoga membership.. or any membership… the hardest part is forcing yourself to leave the house and go TO the gym. That’s why I find, at least for now, at home workouts in between school work and blog work are my best bet.

SO, I thought I would share with you 5 at home workouts that I’ve been enjoying.

1. P90X

P90X is intense. I definitely do not do all the workouts that they offer. I could do some of them when I was in high school (I was a lot more fit back then), but even then I would be huffing and puffing and dying after their workouts. Nowadays, the only workout from P90X that I still do is the Ab Ripper X . It’s probably the only thing I can still complete. I linked their website above, but honestly (should I be saying this?) I torrented it.

2. YOGA WITH ADRIENNE

Here’s a little bit more of a chill one. This is a Yoga youtube channel that I followed religiously for a while. She does this great 30 Days of Yoga series as well as separate Yoga videos that concentrates on specific parts of the body that you want to work on (eg. Yoga for runners, Yoga for headaches, Yoga for lower back pains). I think I’m going to restart the 30 Days of Yoga series starting tomorrow.

3. DO YOU YOGA

Do You Yoga also has a great 30 Days of Yoga series. I enjoy Do You Yoga because Erin Motz, one of the instructors for this channel, seems like just your regular girl. She isn’t your super spiritual yogi type, which don’t get me wrong, I love my spiritual yogis sometimes. But other times, when I just want to treat yoga as a work out process instead of a healing session, I enjoy watching Erin more.

4. KAYLAITSINES’ BBG WORKOUT

This is one of my more recent discoveries. How I actually found Kaylaitsines is through her instagram. There was a while when I went on a following binge, and followed about ten different fitspo (fitness inspiration) instagram accounts. And then after seeing the before and after” pictures from her account again and again, I finally decided to research further and see what it was all about. Turns out it is a healthy eating and workout plan that lasts 12 weeks. So I decided to give it a try ! So far I’m only on day 3 of the workout schedule (and no I haven’t been doing it everyday like it suggests… give me a break though, you can’t go from bed potato to fit bitch in a blink of an eye..) but I haven’t been taking the healthy eating plan as seriously. I think for myself, if I’m going to put in a lot of effort working out, I want to be able to eat whatever the heck I want. So that’s what I’m going to do. If I feel like I deserve a lava cake, I’m going to eat a god damn lava cake and you can’t stop me. Anyways, I’m really enjoying her workouts though, and it is definitely worth checking out.

5. BLOGILATES 

Cassey Ho, the instrutor of this youtube channel, is a very upbeat, happy character on her channel. Blogilates is definitely not your relaxing, healing Yoga videos. Her content is a lot more upbeat, and done to pop songs. This channel is a great one to watch if you’re feeling like a “GIRL POWER, F*CK YEAH, TRAIN LIKE A BEAST, LOOK LIKE A BEAUTY” video. Which honestly, a lot of the times I do! Which girl doesn’t need a little extra girl power boost every now and then.

So those are the 5 at home workouts that I try to follow religiously. I’m not going to lie, I definitely don’t workout as hard or as much as I’d like, but I’m definitely going to try a lot harder this year, to get to where I want to be.

If you give any of these workouts a try, or you’ve tried them before, let me know how you like them! OR if you have any other at home workouts that you love, let me know ! I’m always looking for some new ones to try out.

It’s going to be a good year!

More soon,

On Sunday, some friends and I decided to make good use of the sunny day, and do something productive ! We’ve been talking about hiking for some time now, and so we finally found a nice day when everyone was free. It was probably not the best idea to do the Stawamus Chief hike as our first hike of the year, BUUUUUUUT what the hell, definitely showed us how unfit we’ve all become after the winter, and motivated us to be a lot more healthy this Summer.

It took us about an hour and a half or two to make it to peak 2 of the Chief, and only about 20 minutes to get back down. There were signs right at the beginning of the trail that warned us that the Chief is NOT a walk in the park, but oh man, we were a little surprised. After about a half hour, our bodies finally started to adapt to the incline and it became a lot more manageable the rest of the way.

There were even parts where we had to climb along the edge of a rock, or scale a rock, with only a chain to hold on to. It was extremely fun to say the least.

Although it was definitely a challenge for my unfit body and lungs, the spectacular view at the top made it WELL worth it. NONE of the photos or videos I took did it any justice. It’s definitely one of those experiences that you’d need to see for yourself to understand. Absolutely breath-taking.

(and yes I am sitting on the edge of the cliff. YOLO.)

I will leave you guys with this amazing photo of my friend Stephanie KILLIN’ IT on the top of the mountain with her flexibility….

…. And then there’s me. LOOOOOOOOOOOL. so bendy (NOT.)

I will definitely be taking a lot more hikes this Summer so keep your eyes peeled if you want to see more of “beautiful British Columbia” !

ALSO I’m going bungee jumping next week ! Definitely come back for an exciting video !

Much love,

So my summer has officially started. Didn’t do that well on my last final, but I’m just glad that it’s all over. Now I’ve got the next 5 months to live it up, before I have to go into full-time at BCIT in the fall. WHICH, will be brutal. And now to mention the end of my social life.

One thing I really want to do lots of this summer is hiking. I definitely am starting to realize I do not do make nearly good enough use of beautiful British Columbia… So I am definitely going to #explorebc A LOT this summer.

Two days before my last final, I was already feeling absolutely drained from all the studying, so I decided to ask Cathleen out for a nice long walk on the Iona Trail. These photos were taken by my GoPro Hero 4, and I’m still playing around with it, so ignore the shitty exposure and quality.

How beautiful is Vancouver though?

I’ve been trying to film more vlogs lately too, so here’s one of my little walk !

Definitely expect lots of photos and vlogs of my summer ! I’ve actually got quite a couple of really exciting things planned for the summer, and I will be sharing all the memories I will be creating, here with you guys !

More soon,

Did anybody completely forget about their goals as soon as school started to get stressful? Because I know I did. I’m not even going to deny it, I didn’t do so well trying to accomplish my January resolutions. It’s February now, so let’s do a quick round up of how I did.

1. Jump back into working out 4/10 (I did do a lot of yoga this month, but that isn’t really the working out I was talking about)

2. Start saving 1/10 (yeeeaaaahhh…no.)

3. No more soda and dessert for the rest of the month. 5/10 (I had no soda all of january..BUT I did eat dessert a bunch more times…)

4. Drink more lemon water 7/10 (I feel like I did decently well on this. Definitely did not drink it every day like I wanted, but I didn’t do too bad)

5. Less Netflix, more blogging and reading 6/10 (I gave myself a 5 because although I didn’t do LESS netflix watching, I did do a lot MORE blogging. soooooo its a 6. Didn’t read enough though)

6. Stay on top of all classes 8/10 (This one I am actually doing pretty well in)

So my overall completion for January is 51.6%. At least I got more than half? That’s something right? Let’s just learn from this and do better this month!

This month, I decided to name #fitfebruary because I want to narrow my goals down to mostly fitness goals. I feel like if I concentrate on one category of goals, it will help me stay on a track a little easier. Another reason for #fitfebruary is because I recently picked up a Fitbit Flex ! If you don’t know what that is, it’s pretty much an activity and sleep tracker that you wear on your arm. I will be writing a more in-depth post all about my new Fitbit, and maybe a review as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that! SO ANYWAYS, let’s get on with our #fitfebruary goals !

1. Take 240,000 steps by the end of february. My daily steps goal on my fitbit is set to 10,000 steps every day. My goal for this month is to actually fulfill those 10,000 steps a day, so that at the end of this month, (there are 24 days left from today) I will have taken 240,000 steps.

2. Drink 2000 mL of water each day. This will also be something that is tracked on my fitbit. 2000 mL is the equivalent to about 3.38 Dasani bottles of water each day. That seems pretty achievable if you ask me!

3. Start doing heavier work outs ! As much as I love yoga, I use it for more as a meditative “me-time” than a workout. So I promise myself that I will actually start doing heavier workouts this month. Whether that means actually taking my butt to the gym, or doing the BBG workout at home.. I’ve got to start actually doing! I’m going to start small and aim for 2 “heavier” workouts each week.

4. Try to eat healthier. Just try. Whether that means opting out when it comes to fried chicken, or actually ordering healthier options on the menu when you eat out… Just try.

5. Yoga at least 4 times a week. Simple enough right?

Just 5 fitness related goals for this month. Seems easy enough. Now to actually remember these……

How are your resolutions coming along?

Until next time,