31 Days to a Fitter & Healthier U - Your 17 Day Check In
We’re officially over half way through January and what a year it has been already. We hope you are enjoying our ’31 Days to a fitter & healthier U’ so far. We have covered a lot of ground so naturally you might have missed a couple of stops along the way. But don’t worry, we have got you covered.
At the end of each week, we think it is a great time to take a step back, relax and have a look at what we have achieved this week whilst also taking a quick moment to look ahead to what lies in store for us in the coming days.
If you did miss something last week, not to worry you can catch up on Facebook or Instagram or check out last week’s blog – click here
Working hand in hand with our team of experts, every day has featured something completely different but all have the same goal. To help inspire and educate the U Perform family to ditch New Year’s Resolutions and instead opt for healthy habits that we can ACTUALLY achieve every day and that can make a lasting difference to our quality of life.
So, with that in mind, let’s take it day by day and have a look back at what we achieved this week:
We started the week at Day 11 and the focus of the day, and the new week was GOALS.
What is your number #1 fitness goal? And what are you doing to achieve this?
It is so important to set realistic and achievable goals. So often we kick off the New Year with an extreme diet, fitness plan or lifestyle change. According to a survey by ComRes, the most common New Year's resolutions included exercise more (38%), lose weight (33%) and eat more healthily (32%).
On their own, these look quite simple. But, if you are new to fitness and exercise for example, all too quickly you can become overwhelmed and lose motivation or worst of all, give up entirely.
That’s not to say that these aren’t achievable goals. We just have to break them down into a series of smaller and more manageable goals to guide us and naturally keep us on track.
To help you do this, we caught up with U Perform’s own mental performance coach Charlie Unwin who is taking us on a mindset journey this month to help us set goals that work for us and crucially to set off with the right intent and the right motivation to achieve them. You can watch Charlie’s video over on our IGTV feed – click here
Day 12 and one of the simplest and most important things we can do every day to improve our overall health & wellness; DRINK WATER.
Drinking water little and often throughout the day is a really easy way to not only stay hydrated, but maintain mental clarity as well as aid in post exercise recovery.
We were also really lucky to be joined today by none other than U Perform co-founder Professor Greg Whyte OBE as he shares his expert knowledge with the U Perform family and tackles a really big question…can exercise improve our brain health?
This is definitely not one to miss. To read Greg’s blog – click here
To get us through Hump Day and Day 13, we brought you another ‘HIIT at Home’ with Olympic Champion and Personal Trainer Amy Williams MBE.
Every Wednesday we share another workout from Amy to get you active in these beginner friendly at home workouts. As we all spend more time living, working and exercising at home it is really important mix things up and try new things and Amy has designed these workouts especially for you all at home – there is no need for any equipment. We like the sound of that!
Don’t forget to give them a go, and why not get the whole family involved too. Exercising together not only keeps you fit and active, it is super fun and will create new and lasting memories of your time in lockdown. To catch up – click here
Day 14 was all about NUTRITION. And just how important a healthy and balanced diet is for our health & wellness both physical and mental.
We recognise just how difficult getting your 5+ a day can be, especially when we are already busy working, exercising, shopping and looking after the family.
That’s why we shared one of our favourite recipes: Chocolate Protein Brownies as sweet treat ready for the weekend. To try the recipe for yourself, click here
On the blog we also shared some of our top tips for healthy ways to snack throughout the day which you can check out here
As we approached the weekend and Day 15 we decided to set everyone a little challenge – to do 10 squats every time we stand up out of a chair.
As we all get used to spending more time at home once again, it is really important to try and get active at every opportunity we can and this little challenge is just one way of doing it. How do you keep active throughout the day? Let us know in the comments below.
Another way to get active is through Qigong. Arron Collins-Thomas our U Perform fitness expert and Qigong instructor shared another re-energising Qigong practice with everyone on Day 15.
The benefits of daily Qigong really stack up and it is a great way to both start and end the day. Give it a try and let us know how you get on. You can catch up over on our IGTV feed – click here
Friday 15th January also holds more significance than you think.
If you have been following our social media channels this weekend, you will have noticed that we have been talking about “Quitter’s Day”. And if you didn't know already, the second Friday in January is known as "Quitters Day" as it is the most likely day for people to give up on their New Year's Resolutions.
Research conducted by Strava, the social network for athletes, discovered this after analysing over 31.5 million global January activities and was able to declare the second Friday in January as “Quitters' Day”.
Here at U Perform it is our mission to support the U Perform family in achieving their goals and that's why every day we are sharing our top tips, healthy habits, workouts and more to keep you on track.
Every year, the majority of people will give up on their New Year's resolutions around this time... every year!
All we can say is...Don’t give up!
The hardest part is always getting started and all too often we embark too suddenly on an extreme diet or fitness regimen at the start of the New Year and this just isn’t sustainable.
If you are struggling or about to give up, stop and take a moment to have a look back through our #JanUPerform '31 Days to a fitter & healthier U' plan across our social media channels.
Pick out 2 or 3 healthy habits, nuggets of advice or inspiration that you can focus on instead. This is a sure fire way to keep you going, keep you active and on the way to happier, healthier and fitter life in 2021.
You've got this 💪💯
And that brings us to Day 16 and another round of ‘HIIT at Home’ just not with Amy this time. Amy will be back next Wednesday, so stay tuned for that.
Our ’31 Days to a Fitter & Healthier U’ plan isn’t a fitness challenge but that doesn’t mean we have missed them out completely. Our New Year plan is there is inspire and motivate you to get active and stay active as much as possible and we love sharing our favourite workouts and exercises that anyone can do from the comfort of their own home.
In between business meetings and training sessions we sat down with U Perform co-founder and CEO James Greenwell to find out more about the U Perform journey. How we as a brand came to be and why you can trust the U Perform sports nutrition range to optimise your performance, optimise your recovery and most importantly optimise your quality of life.
It’s been another chocker block week here at U Perform and we hope you are continuing to enjoy the journey so far!!! We will see you bright and early for the start of another week with even more from our founders and experts. Have a great end to the week!