Exercise and fitness has always been very important in the Sole family. Growing up with my Mum a PE teacher and my Dad the self-proclaimed Peter Pan of rugby, my brother and I have basically had no choice but to involve ourselves in sport.
I'm not going to lie, I haven't always been the most athletic child. My brother, on the other hand, instantly becomes an expert at any sort of physical activity he puts his mind to. With a personal training qualification under his belt, and studying sports science and nutrition, its safe to say that health and fitness are his life, and it shows. The guy has a casual 9% body fat and is basically built like a brick s*&t house.
I have always been a 'slim' child. Thanks to genetics and a metabolism like a racehorse, growing up I never had to worry about eating too much or exercising. I was 14 when we moved to Australia, and since then have become a lot more physical and co-ordinated. This is the little girl who was running the 40m sprint in year 2 coming first, but stopped to wait for her friend (who was actually in last place) to hold her hand and skip over the finish line together. FYI, my Mum was my PE teacher at this time. She was less than impressed.
Thankfully my desire to move and sweat has changed over the years and now exercise and sport are an integral part of my daily life.
I like to think of keeping fit in two different ways. Firstly, I think of playing sport. The majority of my life I have played team sports, from football to touch rugby to softball, water polo and most often, netball. OBVIOUSLY when one participates in such sports they are exercising, but to me it is much more than that, its being part of a team. These days I play netball at least twice a week. Australian netball is inevitably superior to the standard in Dubai, but that doesn't mean it doesn't get competitive and physical out here. I love playing, and don't think of it as 'dreaded exercise' but a fun way to get my sweat on and have a chat with my friends at quarter time.
The second way of keeping fit I see as much more of a personal choice. It's the fitness classes, yoga sessions, the 10km runs, the laps of the swimming pool and circuit training in my garden that I classify as EXERCISE. This sort of elective movement takes dedication, motivation and commitment. Luckily I have morphed into a highly competitive person, especially when it comes to self improvement. I am constantly working on myself, trying to run that last km faster than last time, complete 2 more extra burpees in the time, or hold that pose longer.
But despite my commitment, I have been through phases where I have been extremely uncomfortable with my body. Up until the age of 19 (and subsequent discovery of booze and hangovers) I have been a long-legged, lanky bean, who could eat more than her dad and never see an inch of excess. The next few years saw me gain 12kg. Being 5ft 10 and a half - got to get that 1/2 inch in - I carried it alright, but I constantly felt 'thick', 'bloated' and uncomfortable in anything without stretch. My usual size 8 to 10 expanded to a size 12. All this time I was still exercising, but to extremes, doing spin classes every day and spending hour after hour on cardio machines. Team this with inconsistent yo-yo dieting, hungover binges and cheap, quick microwave meals and you have a recipe for disaster. I was starving myself of the things I loved best (cheese, chocolate, fruit) and exercising to the point of injury and exhaustion, but I was NOT HAPPY with my body.
Things SLOWLY started to change when I started dating my boyfriend. Exercising daily started to become less important in my mind. I started to relax a little with what I ate, and that way I didn't crave the things as much. I was happier because I was in love and slowly but surely the kilos started dropping.
Now, nearly 4 years on I have discovered what works best for me. Sure, I still go down to the beach running track once, maybe twice a week and pound the pavement for 8 to 10km, but that's because I LOVE RUNNING. No more spin classes (it's taken me 5 years to get my thighs back to normal size!) or relying on cardio to burn calories. 3 to 4 times a week I do 30 minutes HIIT (high intensity interval training) in the form of Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guides and the occasional hot aerobics class. Seriously, if you haven't tried these Kayla workouts yet, get onto them. I'm on my third round of 12 weeks and LOVE/LOATHE them. Hard is an understatement but they work!
In the past few years I've discovered yoga, and Bikram Yoga I especially enjoy because I love sweating. However, since being busier at work I haven't had much time for the 90 minute classes, and recently discovered BARRE PILATES (LOVE) at a new yoga and pilates studio around the corner from me, Inspire. As well as their amazing Barre classes (I imagine myself as an elegant ballerina every time, the reality is I am way to uncoordinated and inflexible for that dream to ever manifest), they have these classes called Hot Sculpt which are brutal but amazing. 1 hour of intense circuit training with a pilates feel in a hot room. Killer. But boy does it get those endorphins pumping.
Now, 9kgs down from my 'uni weight', as I like to call it, I feel a lot more comfortable within myself. Granted, there are still days when I feel below average, but on a whole I am a lot more willing to throw on a bikini and strut up and down the beach, pooch and all. I've still got areas I'd like to tone and things I'd like to 'tighten up', but doesn't every girl? I'm never going to be the skinniest girl in the room, despite probably having the smallest cup size, but I have learned to embrace what I've been given (the bootay don't lie) and have finally figured out what works best for ME.
Next time I'll delve into my eating habits (I don't like the word diet), but for now, all I can say is don't get trapped into one way of exercising. Mix it up, try something new, and for goodness sake, if you don't like it even a little bit, STOP! Life's too short to do things that don't make you feel good! And finally, always remember to streeetchhhh out those muscles to avoid getting sore! It's the best thing I ever started doing! Elongate those bad boys!
Just Keep Moving.
V x
