COLOUR ME HAPPY.
This post is a promotional feature in collaboration with Danone Light* & Free
As we get older, our bodies change, it’s a natural thing of course, where your tummy starts to get a little plumper and nothings quite as ‘together’ as it once was - but it’s crept up on me and it’s left me feeling a little uneasy.
When it comes to fitness I’ll be the first to say I’m no professional. I know I’ll never be a gym bunny or someone who’ll only eat my favourite foods on a cheat day. I suppose I’m the one who sits somewhere in the middle – I’m the girl that wants to feel amazing, exercises ever so occasionally, but who doesn’t have the desire to put the strenuous hours in to making it a by-the-book, strict routine. I’ll sometimes find myself looking at friends, sporting rippling abs and pert bottoms, feeling the jealously bubbling inside. It’s the kind of thing that can leave me feeling a bit gross and lazy, you know?
Of course it’s easy to look at people and think ‘I wish I had that body’, but it’s also important to remember everyone has their own personal hang-ups, too. Just like how I wish my boobs were that little bit bigger, or that any weight I do manage to put on didn’t just sit on my tummy. Looking in the mirror and not liking what you see as a woman can be totally crushing.
At a time where I’ve been feeling lower than ever about my body, Light & Free got in touch, it’s like they knew and somehow managed to lift my spirits.
They challenged me to do something completely spontaneous and share it with you, to live a Light & Free life, as it were.
Their email was a breath of fresh air and so whilst I was feeling motivated, I booked myself and Jamie on to the Color Run. A 5k circuit where powdered paint is thrown over you as you run around the course.
We received a parcel in the post, including our color run t-shirts, headbands, glitter paint and temporary tattoos - the marketing alone was enough to get me excited. It was an early start, so we packed up a hamper of fresh fruit and of course the Light & Free yogurt from Danone and were on our way.
Parking up and walking down amongst the crowds of excited strangers instantly picked us up – as we got closer to the starting line the floor was thudding from the baseline of the music and the DJ shouting words of encouragement across the speakers to the people all ready and raring to go.
It didn’t feel like we were preparing ourselves to exercise – it felt like we were there to simply be happy.
Never before have I put exercise and fun in the same sentence (well, not without being totally sarcastic anyway) – but I genuinely felt lighter. Looking around at everyone taking part and seeing nothing but waves of colourful, smiling faces was overwhelming. Thousands of bodies, completely free of judgement, simply there to start their morning in the happiest way possible. Placing Jamie’s hand on my chest so he could feel how fast my heart was beating from the light jog we were doing and holding hands through the bursts of paint - without sounding like a massive cliche, in that moment, it did feel like time stood still a little bit. We were having fun, nothing more, nothing less. It was the first time I’ve been in an environment for exercise where I’ve felt totally at ease.
And the thing is, I do want to live a healthy life - and I’m starting to learn there’s no right or wrong way to do that; there’s just my way.
Life is busy. And for me, living Light & Free doesn’t need to mean that I have a structured fitness routine - it means I can find ways to stay fit but in a way that I find fun. Exercise may not be my favourite thing, but when it’s teamed with a hype-DJ, my boyfriend, buckets full of colourful paint and a great tasting, completely fat free yoghurt, what’s not to enjoy?
