A Beginner's Guide To Being Fit & Healthy

With being active and keeping fit playing such an important role in my life, I am often asked what it takes to not only embark on your happy and fit journey but also stay true to it. I have now shared some thoughts with The Sweat Experience in an interview here: http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6045a22fbb43c6e28c22b6166&id=a8789eb299&e=%5BUNIQID

This Shoutout goes to Inna Semenyuk, also known as Innavation, lifestyle blogger and founder of www.startupyourhappiness.com. We talked to her about what it takes to start up your happiness and how she incorporates health and fitness into her everyday life. What are your motivations for living an active and healthy lifestyle? I grew up in a little town back in Russia by a river where I pretty much walked everywhere and generally enjoyed outdoors (which was really easy with hot +35C degree summers). My parents also had a little house in the countryside with a big fruit and vegetable garden so we always had fresh produce that we harvested ourselves. That was before the word ‘organic’ emerged! I then started running in the mornings with my school friend and going to the gym when I was 13, so I guess being active has always been natural to me. Having them moved to Moscow where people drive literally everywhere I realised that keeping active is not just a good thing to do - it’s essential if you want to be healthy. Having now lived in London for a few years I embraced Londoners’ passion for exercising in all shapes and forms (from spin classes, running and yoga to long strolls across the city), and it feels amazing. For me exercising is not just about burning calories and staying fit - I love the way it makes me feel! We have looked at your Startup For Happiness blog, you have some great posts by the way. We are interested to know what inspired the blog and how much health & fitness activities played a part in it? Thank you! I started Start Up Your Happiness Blog following my curiosity and adventurous character. I love to explore and discover new places and events - whether it’s new organic restaurants, innovative fitness concepts or quirky immersive theatre performances. I started ‘documenting’ my experience and sharing it with my friends - they loved it, and the audience of the blog started growing quickly. And that’s what keeps me going and exploring further. I’ve always been active so health and fitness has naturally become a big part of my blog. Staying healthy can be fun and exciting and incorporating small healthy habits into one’s day-to-day life can make big impact. Since I started the blog I became more conscious about my food choices - I like going to organic and raw food restaurants (but a cheeky truffle pasta meal or a burger once in a while do not hurt either!) - and dedicate much more time to fitness: I exercise with Zova app, go to spin classes and love going to yoga retreats, whether in the UK or outside. We can see through your social media that you have incorporated health & fitness into your everyday life. How have you managed this so easily?  Haha, it looks easy but it does indeed require some effort and discipline. With all the temptations of the big city it’s very easy to skip the gym and go for a few drinks with friends (and there’s nothing wrong with that, I am often guilty of  this myself! So the best one can do for themselves is being realistic about the changes they want to make, start making small day-to-day changes and not being too hard on themselves! In terms of fitness, I love to mix and match and keep it short and fun. The last thing you’d want is be bored (and our mind and body do get bored and get used to routines easily so introducing some variety to the fitness routine is a good idea). I often exercise with Zova fitness app (an Australian app that helps women stay fit and active with a set of guided exercises) - I learn new exercises with the app and I can exercise both at home and in the gym so I don’t really have any excuses to be lazy! :) In fact, I am working on my own curated set of exercises for the app! Do you have any advice for people who would like to do the same? It’s really about finding what excites you and keeps you going. In my opinion, the key is to make small healthier choices day-by-day and thinking long-term, as well as keeping active through the activities you enjoy. If you don’t like treadmills - go running outdoors, if you are scared of cycling in the city - go to an indoor spin class, and when in doubt - just go for a long walk! We've noticed you're into a variety of things from yoga to indoor cycling. What is your favourite health and fitness activity? My top three favourite things are having quick workouts with Zova app - whether it’s in the gym, at home or outdoor, spin bootcamp classes (I love the energy I put in and it’s a real full-body workout - try Belinda Shipman’s Edge Cycle Bootcamp class - it’s insanely crazy!) and yoga for mind and body relaxation and balance (I enjoyed a WellbeingYogi retreat in Sussex with Adventure Yogi and Suryalila Yoga Retreat Centre in Andalusia in Spain). Inna in Yoga Mode. We have looked at your Startup For Happiness blog, you have some great posts by the way. We are interested to know what inspired the blog and how much health & fitness activities played a part in it? Thank you! I started Start Up Your Happiness Blog following my curiosity and adventurous character. I love to explore and discover new places and events - whether it’s new organic restaurants, innovative fitness concepts or quirky immersive theatre performances. So I started ‘documenting’ my experience and sharing it with my friends - they loved it, and the audiences of the blog started growing quickly. And that’s what keeps me going and exploring further. I’ve always been active so health and fitness has naturally become a big part of my blog. Staying healthy can be fun and exciting and incorporating small healthy habits into one’s day-to-day life can make big impact. Since I started the blog I became more conscious about my food choices - I like going to organic and raw food restaurants (but cheeky truffle pasta meal or a burger once in a while do not hurt either!) - and dedicate much more time to fitness: I exercise with Zova app, go to spin classes and love going to yoga retreats, whether in the UK or outside. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to 'Startup Their Happiness’? First - it all starts with you. You are the source of your happiness and it’s up to you how you decide to feel. Don’t rely on other people to make you happy - do the things you enjoy. If you are not sure about what things you like - go and explore. Put things you’ve always wanted to do in the calendar and stick to your plan. There are lots of ideas at my blog - so pick a few and go with it. Go climb to St Paul’s Cathedral’s viewpoint, watch a ballet at Royal Opera House (you can get tickets to most of the performances as cheap as £6!), go to a city farm in Shoreditch or go for a run in a park - just keep going! :)  Do you have any future ventures planned for your blog for us to look forward to? Yes there are many exciting things under way - such as more interviews and happiness insights from interesting people, videos and even more ideas on how to be happy in a big city! Stay tuned! :) Visit Follow on Twitter and Instagram (@innavation) and visit Inna's Start Up Your Happiness blog to  discover new and exciting things to do when you're out and about.#startupyourhappiness