I’ve got new workout clothes, and that means I’m definitely going to work out, right?

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OK, folks, it’s time. Time for me to give up on my current Henry the Eighth lifestyle, and Do Something to get myself back in shape after the last few years of inactivity. Look, not everyone spent the pandemic going on long walks and taking up cycling, you know. Some of us spent it sitting around the house, eating our feelings and buying clothes we could also sleep in; and by “some of us,” I mean, “Hi, it was me. I did that.”

But it’s time to make up for it now. It’s time to get back into a fitness routine, and start feeling good about myself, and, to that end, a few weeks ago, I got me a brand new Fitbit.*

[*Full disclosure: this was gifted, but it was a gift that I chose, and I wasn’t asked to write about it. I just like it.]

The plan was to make sure that I at least got in 10,000 steps per day, and I was feeling really motivated by that plan… right up until the moment I remembered I had two books to finish by the end of that month. Which really didn’t leave much time for exercise, to be honest.

So I wrote the two books.

Then I went on holiday.

Then I caught a heavy cold.

Then I caught ANOTHER heavy cold.

In this manner, two full months passed without me doing much in the way of exercise. There was only one thing for it: I would need new workout clothes. Because having new workout clothes always makes you want to work out, don’t they?

Here’s what I got:

This outfit is from a brand called Yvette, and I’m wearing their high support leggings, plus this cropped jacket, which ideal for running outdoors at this time of year. Or most of the rest of the year in Scotland, really. Because I’m as cold blooded as a lizard, I rarely find it warm enough to bare my arms, even when I’m running, and this jacket is perfect because it keeps the chill off, without making me feel all hot and sweaty. I was a little bit worried about the cropped fit, because I generally wear longer line tops with leggings, but I actually really like the way it helps me pretend I have a waist, even though I blatantly don’t:

Oh, and it also has thumb holes:

Love me some thumb holes.

As for the leggings, I love them too: they’re a really nice, stretchy fabric which holds everything in, and they’re so comfortable you barely even know you’re wearing them. Also, they have pockets:

(I think I look like the Milk Tray Man in this all-black outfit, but Max informs me I look like “a Baddie”. Because baddies always dress in black, you know? So now every time I go for a run, I imagine I’m a “baddie” running from the law or something, and that makes me run a bit faster.)

Under my jacket, I’m wearing this sports bra, seen here with another pair of the leggings:

This particular bra offers light support, so it’s more suited to something like pilates than running (As you can probably tell by the fact that I’m wearing makeup in these shots, I wasn’t actually working out when they were taken. It’s just pretend.). Did I mention I’ve also started doing pilates? Guys, I have also started doing pilates. It’s mind-numbingly boring, and I’ll probably give it up soon, but at least I have a nice bra for it, and that’s the important thing, isn’t it?

Although these clothes are obviously designed for exercise, and are perfect for that purpose, there’s no reason you have to ONLY wear them to work out. As I’ve mentioned in some of my recent style posts, I tend to wear my workout clothes around the house during the week (With a sweatshirt or something over the top, obviously. I don’t just hang out in my bra all day. Well, you have to have SOME standards, don’t you?), because they’re just too comfortable not to.

I tend to use You Tube to find workout videos, and I prefer to go for short – but intense – workouts, rather than longer ones. I’m still really pushed for time at the moment, and it’s much easier to fit in 15 minutes of HITT than to go for an hour-long run, so that way I can fit in a quick workout whenever I have the time for it, and if I’m already wearing sports clothes, well, so much the better, because it makes it that bit harder to tell myself I just don’t have time to work out.

So, I’ve got my Fitbit, and I’ve got my new workout clothes. There’s really no excuse, is there? I’m just going to have to become a fitness junkie. Tune in next week/month/year/never to find out how that’s going for me…