MY FAVOURITE AT-HOME WORKOUTS

The major downside to blogging about food is that I actually make all of the food I blog about - obviously. Sometimes I'll make three recipes to blog about in one day...and then eat them all. It's all well and good when it's a salad or a healthy dinner recipe but it gets a bit problematic when the cakes start piling up!

I'm a total gym-ophobe and I'm terrible at running; I walk about an hour a day while commuting and it definitely helps me maintain my weight when I'm eating well, but sometimes you just need an extra helping hand. I try to workout at home about 3 - 4 times a week so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite at-home workouts.

GET STARTED WITH A DVD
I think starting with a DVD is always the best way to get back into exercising at home. Find the right one and it almost acts like a personal trainer, teaching you how to do the moves, how to breathe properly, how to stretch, etc. 30 Day Shred is the DVD that really got me into working out at home. I was overweight and unhappy with how I looked and this really kick-started everything. It's hard: the first time I put it on I could barely get through the first round (and I had no idea what a burpee was) but you really see results and I'm a huge fan of all the other Jillian Michaels DVDs too. The workouts are based on High Intensity Interval Training, using short bursts of exercises that work a variety of muscles and bump up your heart rate, in turn boosting metabolism, burning fat and toning your body. The idea is that you do the workout 6 days a week, but they're only 25 minutes each so it's an attainable goal.

LONG-TERM PLANS
Bikini Body Workout: Kayla Itsines' 12-week plan has gone global thanks to her instagram which shows insane body transformations. The workouts are fairly easy to follow once you know the basics and they're tough - you could definitely get similar workouts online for free, but having them all laid out on paper makes them instantly accessible.
Project Me: Get The Gloss' 12-week programme used to be called Project Bikini and I think I prefer it to the Kayla Itsines one. The download that you get is beautifully designed, visually really exciting to read and refer back to and it includes some really tasty looking recipes, which makes it more worth the money for me. The workouts are circuit-based; they look easy on paper but they are pretty challenging!

DIY WORKOUTS
Once you have all the moves down and you know what you like and what works for you, it's really easy to mix and match to create your own DIY workouts. One of the things I like doing is just adding a pair of small hand weights to a cardio DVD workout like this one. I also like doing a pick'n'mix of short YouTube videos - the Blogilates ones are really great. Sometimes, I just keep things really simple, put on some music, set an interval timer and just do whatever moves come into my head!

QUICK FIXES
These short workouts are perfect, self-contained minis with a quick warm up and cool down included - that's why I didn't include the Blogilates in here as I wouldn't launch straight into 5 minutes of abs without doing a few jumping jacks or stretches first.
10 Minute Yoga: this video is nothing fancy or 'trendy', but I found it randomly on YouTube a few months ago and it's easy, relaxing and I can do all the moves ;)
5 Minute Arms for Abs: Karen Lord is a goddess. She recommends doing this (killer) mini workout every day and I'd love to see what kind of results it would give if I stuck to it.
ModelFit workout: while this workout definitely gets your heart rate up, it's pretty chilled and good if you don't want to break a sweat before dinner.

Of course, sometimes you just need to get outside and blow off some steam and for that, I'm forever grateful for Nike's FREE Nike Training Club sessions around London and the UK. What are your favourite workouts? Leave a comment or a link so I can check them out :)