Let’s be honest, we’re all basically bears come winter time – loading up on comfort food, letting our fuzz grow out and holing up in our caves until the chill blows over.
Stats from Groupon show that almost half (48%) of Aussies say they gain weight over the months with 54 percent blaming it on being cooped up at home with aforementioned comfort food. But staying indoors doesn’t have to be a death sentence for your health and fitness. Groupon has teamed up with Rachael Finch to create a free, high intensity interval training workout to help us stay active without the hyperthermia.
We chatted to the B.O.D by Rachael Finch founder and TV host about where she finds her motivation and working out with her little ones.
Getting yourself motivated to workout in winter is a struggle, what are your best tips for staying committed to your exercise routine?
I think there is a couple. Firstly, switching up your routine is a massive one, in winter time it obviously takes a lot to get out of bed and commit to something. But if you’re trying something new like starting a new program or taking up a new sport that you’ve always wanted to try for a long time, like dance class or something. I think to just switch up your routine and challenge your body with something new is super important.
I think practicing mindful eating is also really important I know you ask about getting motivated and get active but a lot of us have a tendency to put on weight and overeat in winter time and think if we can take on this mindful eating and one, put the technology down while we’re eating, and take some long slow deep breaths before eating, we can really focus on being present while we’re eating. I think that going to help us limit the chances of overeating. We don’t need to be continuously shoving food in our face and I think in winter we do have a tendency to do that so I think mindful eating will help us keep our health on track and keep motivation on track.
And training indoors! You know, it’s bloody cold outside and no one wants to battle the cold especially when a lot of us only have time to do our workout in the morning and that’s even lower in temperatures. That’s the beauty of our program as well, everything can be done in the lounge room, under 30 minutes, with no equipment. Which is something to be super proud of while getting results. So, think just finding something that you can do in the comfort of your own home is powerful.
Some people have this misconception that working out from home might not be as good as hitting the gym but that’s so not the case, what are your thoughts on that?
Yes, gym memberships are great if that fits your lifestyle, if you live close to a gym and it’s convenient and you know what you’re doing, but I think some of us may have a tendency to go into a gym and feel a little bit overwhelmed, like what do I do?
I think the fact is that you need to then get in the car, get out, re-motivate yourself for the workout out, get back in the car, drive another half hour home, that’s an hour driving, times that by your weekly workout, times that by the year, what’s that over 400 hours of travel time. You know, i’d much prefer to get out of bed in my own house have my coffee or smoothie, smash out a workout, turn up the music, feel good, then jump in the shower. But it depends on what your goals are and what you need. Some people need the weights to achieve their goals and need to extra resistances but I think depending on your goals is totally dependent on the program you choose.
The program that we’ve developed is getting results for people with all different body shapes all different body types, all different life circumstances, and people with all different experience levels as well. Because the beauty is that they’re circuits. You’re working the body through high intensity interval training circuits, you’re working for short sharp periods of time, intense periods of time with minimal rest. Then we have two body “move” days, and one body “tone” day – which is a yoga inspired stretch session. They’re very effective workouts that you can choose to modify to your ability. So if you’re more of a fit person you could definitely ramp it up buy decreasing the rest periods and increasing the work period, or modify to specific exercises that we show you as we give options to absolutely increase the word load during that exercise.
Finding the time to work out is an issue that so many mums have, what are your best suggestions for getting it done?
I definitely know how hard it can be, I have two kids, especially with Dominic being so small, when they’re really tiny it’s even more difficult because they’re much more needy. Violet you know if she’s painting, that’s a good 60 minutes where I can go on the balcony, skip, circuit, stretch and I’ve come back in and she’s finishing up her painting. Utilising nap times is a really good one. Not being afraid to ask for help as well. I’m grateful that my husband, is not only my life partner but my business partner as well. We work at home together, we live at home, we often manage the kids together. You know I think if you can reach out to that support network it’s really important.
Get them involved, that’s another massive one that I think we should really be trying to incorporate them and start thinking how my kids can be more involved with my workout. Violet loves it when we put the music on and she’s got the Fiji water and she’s pumping out whatever she thinks she’s pumping out like jabs and uppercuts. You know I she does planks with me, but they more look like downward dogs but that’s ok. And Dom he comes in and walks away, or he’ll be in the pram with a bread stick or something. I think you just got to try to work with them and work within their nap times and getting a routine in place.
Winter is also such a common time to feel not only a motivation slump, but it can really hit your mood too. Is that something you experience and how does working out help with your mental health?
Mental health is massive and working out improves it dramatically. There are definitely days where I am down and I feel like the whole world is upon me and everything’s going wrong and everything’s negative and I think that it’s really important to remember that’s totally natural, and it’s totally normal for the body to undergo these feelings because we can’t feel happy all the time, it’s just impossible.
There are going to be circumstances where things come in and out of our lives that make us feel negative or make us feel down or a certain way. It’s just the nature of the world that we live in. Doing things like staying healthy, living a healthy lifestyle and exercising, practicing mindfulness, meditation, working on your mind fuelling your body with nourishing foods, seeking advice from professionals as well. Seeking a naturopath, seeking a physio, whatever you need to combat and help your body and your life I think is really important.
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