Strong Is The New Sexy: IdealFit UK Launch at Hale Country Club

The fastest growing sport’s nutrition brand in the USA – IdealFit – has just landed in the UK, and last week I was invited along to the luxurious Hale Country Club and Spa to celebrate and find out more.  Priding themselves on not promoting the messaging ‘skinny is beautiful’ and instead on celebrating strength and powerful women, IdealFit creates sports performance products (that’s things like Protein and supplements, if like me you’re not in with the sports chic lingo) formulated especially for women. In fact, they’re created for women, by women, with a unique vitamin blend for added beauty benefits. Strong is the new sexy, dontcha know.

When I arrived at Hale Country Club, I was greeted by IdealFit official spokeswoman and professional Personal Trainer and Nutritionist, Trainer Lindsey. Yep, ‘Trainer Lindsey’ is how everyone refers to her and you can totally tell why; she lives and breathes the fitness industry and at once she was asking me about my gym habits (zero) and whether I was going to take part in a workshop later (absolutely not). I did however say I was open to learning more and would definitely get involved with everything else.

Once a whole host of real-life gym bunnies arrived, we decided to get started with some samples of IdealFit products to try, including Pre-Workout drinks (yes, specific drinks to have to give you an energy boost before you visit the gym) and BCAAs (Branched Chain Amino Acids) – yes it really is a whole other world – which help you recover post-workout. As we sampled some of IdealFit’s products, which were delicious and super sweet despite being very low in sugar, fat and calories, Trainer Lindsey told us about her journey to her fitness success; an inspiring story where she championed real women for wanting to get fit and healthy despite their busy work and family routines.

Once Trainer Lindsey had got the crowd pumped, we were invited to one of the luxury studios at Hale Country Club to be put through our paces by the lady herself. Like I said, I was far too shy and inexperienced to take part in this myself, but it was so motivating to see a room full of women pushing themselves with Trainer Lindsey in action. Although I didn’t take part in the workout on the day, I have since worked out along to IdealFit’s workout videos at home, and trust me, Trainer Lindsey gets you just as hot and sweaty through the telly as she does in person!

After the workout, we were invited back down to have a Q&A session with Trainer Lindsey and the IdealFit UK team. We learnt about the difference products on offer, and more than that, the workout regimes and challenges which are free for customers to take part in. During the question and answer session, I asked Trainer Lindsey what I should do to start on my own journey – and she recommended her 15 Day Challenge; a completely free challenge created by the certified nutritionist and personal trainer herself, with 15 days’ worth of workouts, meal plans, advice and tips to get you started on your fitness journey. And that’s exactly what I’m trying right now.

If I needed a wake-up call to rethink my health and lifestyle regime, this was it. Forget ‘summer bodies’ and ‘bikini bodies’ (heck, those are any type of bodies!), I mean a lifestyle change to make me think about what I’m eating – and drinking – and what I do every day to ensure I’m fit and healthy. I’m totally open and honest about the fact I despise exercise, we all know I love a glass of wine (or two, or three…) and would always choose a pizza over a salad, but sometimes you can get a little too carried away with holidays, and socialising, and snacking and then one day, bam, you realise you’re carrying a little extra weight and you don’t feel as comfortable in yourself anymore… This was it.

I’m always going to enjoy my food, visit my favourite restaurants at the eekends, crack open a nice bottle of vino on a Friday night, but what I’ve neglected recently is the balanced part of it. I’m always pretty good at reigning back when I realise I’m not feeling as great in myself, but with a combination of long days at work (I’m talking getting into the office for 7.30am and not getting home until 12/13 hours later), trying to buy my first home, blogging/Youtubing in my ‘spare’ time and then with any other time just wanting to simply chill and spend times with my boyfriend and mates, well, the balance went out the window and now I’m gaining back the control.