Have You Started A New Year Fitness Plan For A New You ... But In your Old Clothes?

Stylish Running Outfit

Hopefully those who started a New Year Fitness plan are still sticking to it ... and even better are now getting fit and healthy and not embarrassing themselves too much by puffing and panting around the running track or in the gym. Yep, I have been out pounding the streets after work and at the weekend, trying to revert to my former relatively fit state when I ran in the London Marathon. However, too much sitting on my comfy sofa or tapping away at my laptop keyboard in the evenings has left me with some catching up to do. I did go out this evening however, and as you do, caught site of myself in bus-stop window. Oh dear, I thought, who is that scruff in the old woolly hat and mis-matched tracky top and bottoms - it didn't help that it was also pee-ing down at that point as well.

Yes, even when coming to then end of a 5K run, I am still sad enough to worry about meeting friends or acquaintances from my village, who will no doubt look at me askance when they see me back in my "normal" attire after seeing a lunatic in soggy pink hat and baggy trackies plodding towards them along the pavement, yelling "Hi!". Thinking on this as I made my way back home, I decided to put together a list of essential and funky items that help you keep your street credibility from falling into the gutter.

Essential Cool Items For A Fashion Conscious (But Also Health Conscious) Girl:

  • Whatever you wish to start with go for a colour scheme - if your favourite colour is pink then go for it - you don't have to be pink from head to foot. (For some reason I just thought of someone such as Paris Hilton in a pink glitzy jogging suit - eeeeugh - enough of that!) But pink mixed with black or grey, or grey and black will look stylish.
  • It's better to choose more than one colour as you can build up layers which are important for working out whether indoors or out, as when you commence your workout you will need more layers which can be removed as you warm up and put back on as you cool down to keep muscles from getting stiff and injured.
  • Look for jogging pants and tops in a fabric with wicking which means that the clothing will move sweat away from the skin to the outer surface of the fabric, where it evaporates. This is far more comfortable than an old cotton t-shirt which sticks clamily to you. Plus, running tops are in brilliant styles and colours and also cut to be flattering as well as comfortable.
  • If you are addicted to wearing a hat to either keep your hair from your face, keep your head warm or to stop your iPod earphones falling out of your ears you might fancy a change to a fleece headband such as skiers wear. These are great, they look brilliant, come in designer brands at reasonable prices, and can be adjusted to fit different sizes.
  • Running or gym shoes - it would be pretty stupid to choose these on looks alone - go to a specialist fitness shoe store and they will advise you on the best style for you, and even put you on a running machine and video you to assess your "gait"!. But it doesn't mean that you have to be running around in a pair of ridiculous dayglo shoes - there are plenty of styles to choose from.

Yes, the above may not seem important to some as they pound the treadmills and tracks, and running or exercise is definitely not all about looks ... but looking good and also feeling good will just help in a teeny-weeny way to motivate some of us who might be teetering on the brink of "I really can't be bothered/I'm too tired to go out tonight - I'll go tomorrow instead". Plus, if you keep it up there's plenty of opportunity to get a picture of yourself running over a finishing line in a race ... wouldn't you rather see youself looking smart!