Lifestyle: Gym For The Win and My Workout Clothes.

As some of you may know (or maybe not, considering the amount of cake and meals out I blog about), I am quite the health and fitness nut. Money Supermarket kindly offered to reimburse a month of my gym membership for me to talk about whether I think the money is worth it as part of their Gym For The Win campaign. I gladly agreed as I can safely say that switching to a more active lifestyle is one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself and I would encourage everybody to do the same.

I have been going to my local Pure Gym regularly for about four months now, and although I pay their special promotional price of just £10.99 a month, I would happily pay the full price of £18.99 as it is a decent gym with all the equipment you need (except for a swimming pool, so if swimming is your thing then it would probably be best to look elsewhere). But most importantly, I love the way that working out has affected me, both physically and mentally. Six months ago I had definitely hit a low point in my life, where my bed, my laptop and chocolate digestives had become my best friends. After waking up one morning feeling the same lethargic, depressed way I had felt for weeks on end, I decided it was time to make a change in my life and I decided to go down the healthy lifestyle route. As well as helping to burn off fat and tone up your muscles, exercise helps your body to produce endorphins which make you feel great. It has definitely helped me feel more confident and happy in my own skin, as well as giving me a better outlook on life.

Although a gym is not necessarily needed to have a healthy and active lifestyle, if you can afford to spend £15-30 a month on a gym membership, I would definitely recommend it. There is something about being in the gym that motivates me to get my workout done. I did start off by working out at home but I found that I was too easily distracted by the internet and the television. Plus, at the gym you have the benefit of having a wide range of equipment to use and members of staff on hand to help you out or answer any questions you may have regarding health and fitness. Give it a go- A lot of gyms these days offer rolling month contracts which means you can opt out at any time if you find that it isn't for you. If you would like to check out Money Supermarket's Gym For The Win campaign and maybe get involved, you can do so here.

I know that it can be difficult to motivate yourself to actually get up and start exercising, but one thing that I firmly believe is that if you feel good about yourself when you are working out, you definitely push yourself to go further. It's a little naughty, but on a few occasions where I have lost motivation I have gone out and purchased some nice new gym clothes to help get me back on track, so I thought I would show you what I wear to the gym as part of this post. There is no reason for your gym clothes not to reflect your personality just like your regular wardrobe, so bright colours and bold prints are the way forward for me. My favourite places to shop for gym wear are H&M and TK Maxx- both stock some lovely pieces for very affordable prices. You also can't go wrong by looking in Primark- I actually own a pair of leggings from their workout range which I really like, plus I always stock up on their super cheap shorts and vest tops.

 Sports bra and leggings: Kyodan via TK Maxx | Jacket: Primark | Trainers: Nike via JD Sports | Gloves: Nike via TK Maxx

Gold Sports Bra: H&M | Vest Top and Shorts: Primark | Base Layer Shorts (Purple): Nike via TK Maxx | Heart Rate Monitor Watch: Polar via Amazon

Do you/ have you had a gym membership?

*DISCLAIMER: Money Supermarket kindly reimbursed one month of my gym membership (£10.99) for this blog post. All opinions expressed are still 100% honest and my own.