Even if you are small, you should wear a sports bra. The breasts have very little natural support, they only have ligaments as the first support and then only skin as secondary support. That’s all. Once these ligaments, known as Cooper’s Ligaments, are stretched too far that’s it, they never go back again.

So even on a cosmetic point get a good sports bra and help stop your boobs from heading south. On a health point of view, by wearing a good sports bra you can prevent pain and tenderness while working out, and especially around that time of the month.

It is best to get fitted by a professional (so many women are going around wearing the wrong size or shaped bra) and then try on as many bras as possible to see which you are most comfortable in. We are all different shapes and sizes: what I like might not be right for you. If you’re not 100% sure, don’t buy it.

On my travels around town to the various shops I found it hard to get a sports bra in my size. Every shop could order it for me but only one place had it in stock. Most shops usually only carry one type, so make sure to visit as many shops as you can. Don’t settle for the 1^st one you see, they cost enough so make sure you are happy with it and that it fits correctly.

There are different types of Sports Bras to choose from. An Encapsulation Bra covers each individual breast and keeps it from bouncing from side to side. A compression bra pulls the breast as close to the body as possible to try to reduce up and down bouncing. It is best if you can get a bra that does both. Your boobs should be completely inside with no bits spilling out. Straps should be wide and soft so they don’t indent on the shoulders and should be made of a fabric that wicks away moisture to prevent chaffing.

When you have the bra on, make sure to do a full range of movements similar to the exercises you would do in your workout, to make sure it is comfortable.

Another thing you should realize about sports bras is that if you are loosing weight, then make sure to get measured regularly as you will drop in size. I had to buy a new bra just after 6 weeks starting the bootcamp as I dropped in size.

So now that you know all that, we decided to help you get control of your boobs. We have teamed up with Paula from The Lingerie Boutique on Barrack Street to give away a free Sports Bra and Fitting in our competition. And for those of you who are not the lucky winner Paula has kindly given us €3 vouchers off the Freya Sports Bra making them only €40, you can get the vouchers from us the next time you are in the gym.

All you have to do to win our fab prize is Like and Share this post on Facebook.

The lucky winner will be drawn on Tuesday 11^th June.

The post Competition Time – Orla’s guide to choosing a Sports Bra appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.

On Thursday, day 9 I tried cabbage for the 1st time on the detox, and maybe overdid it a bit, as my stomach did not take to it so well. I had a bad reaction to it, which lead to me not eating that evening or the next morning. That night the girls and I made Chocolate Rice Krispies Squares for the school sale of work the next day, which I can tell you was not easy. I have never made anything nice without tasting it or being able to enjoy eating afterwards. I didn’t stick a finger, spoon or knife in my mouth the whole time, which amazed me. This from the woman that would fight the kids to see who gets to lick the bowl.

On Friday, day 10, I trained and thought I was going to die for the first 2 rounds of the class, but then I got a little bit of energy towards the end. I got back on track with eating that day and started to come round again.

On Saturday, day 11, I woke up all stuffed up, coughing and I felt like crap. I’m not sure if it was part of the detox or if I had just caught a cold, as I did feel extra chilly all week. I just put the cold feeling down to the fact that I was losing all my insulation (my extra layers of fat). So it was a glass of vitamin C and back up to bed for me to try to recover. Later, I had a clove of garlic mashed into my cauliflower and broccoli, and got to sit on the couch in peace catching up on a lot of TV programmes.

So, Sunday morning I woke up nearly all back to normal and was very impressed that I was not miserably sick. But I was tired and around midday I just decided that I had done enough and was going to start eating some solid protein. I started with salmon and on Monday I got to have carrots with my dinner. Yippee, they were yummy. Today I’m on turkey and tomorrow I get to try another type of veg – I’m deciding between peppers or tomatoes.

From the very beginning this has not been about weight loss for me, it was about cleaning out my body and starting fresh. I am amazed at what I have learned about myself over the last 14 days and I now have a whole new attitude towards food as a result. Which to me is equally important as the other results. Now I don’t think of food as being there to comfort me, it’s there to keep me healthy, fit and strong. I lost nearly 6kgs over the 14 days (some of which will go back on as I begin to eat more normally) but I will work very hard to keep it off.

The thing now is to find a balance between eating healthy and enjoying life and food. There’s a big part of me that’s afraid that I will just get sucked back into old bad habits like sitting on the couch and munching my way through a big bag of crisps, chocolate and half a bottle of wine, but I know you have to have some fun too, so that will be my goal now to find a happy medium.

This detox is not suitable for everyone as it is extreme, but it does not stop anybody from doing some type of detox, even on a smaller level. A detox is simply giving your liver a break from working so hard and can be any length, even as little as 1 day.

I had tried a similar 7 day detox, back in Oct 2010 and didn’t even last 5 days and was absolutely miserable from it, so what’s the difference now? Since January last year I have cleaned up my diet so much, by making a small change every week and learning to choose the healthier option. By the time I started this time, I was really only eating meat and veg for dinner anyway, with my “bad” carbs being rice cakes and chocolate.

I’m so delighted that I did this and feel extremely proud to have lasted so long. I’m also very grateful for the fantastic support that I got from everybody, people on Facebook, other class members, friends, family and people that didn’t even know me. A very big thank you to all of you.

The post Diary of a Detox – Part 3 appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.

By Saturday night I was wired, like I had drank a pot of coffee. Normally on a Saturday night I would have a lovely big glass of red wine, sit on the couch, munch on some chocolate brazil nuts, watch a movie and chill out, which was not going to happen that night. Instead I went upstairs and got into the bath, as I lay back down into the lovely hot water I hit my head off the net that has the kids bath toys in it and realised that it had been several months since I had a bath (but I do shower daily!). As any Mammy of young kids knows, it’s the last thing on our To Do List as we never have much time left for ourselves. But it got me thinking that if I had this much energy all the time, I could get more done and have more time for myself more often.

I am still missing food a little bit to be honest, especially when I can smell it. I thought I’d be starving all the time, but I’m not. It really does help to keep busy, without burying yourself of course. There’s just no excuse to sit down on the couch with a cuppa, and of course something small to eat, because before I would be saying “ah have a break, I deserve it” when actually I might be just tired, dehydrated or just not bothered.

This has really opened my eyes to the amount of times I ate for no reason, because I certainly was not hungry at the time and how many times I ate just because I was stressed or tired. It makes me think what I was doing to myself.

Sunday I took it a little easier as I was really paranoid that using this much energy would then lead to a crash. So I did the shopping Sunday morning, and could not get over how quickly I was back home. I’ve never managed to do it that quickly before – again, no messing around, I was just so focused. I cooked the dinner and then we went bowling for the afternoon with the kids. That evening I did get a little tired and had a bit of a rumbly tummy so took a hot lemon water up to bed, and read a book for a while. I did think in the beginning that I was going to have trouble sleeping with the lack of carbs but I have no problems at all sleeping, just need to pee more often due to the amount of water I’m taking.

Monday morning I was feeling more tired than the previous 2 days. I was a little muddled in the head, and did a lot of sneezing but I think it was just more stuff clearing out of my head. So, I just took it one step at a time, packed the girls off to school and headed into work. I trained as hard as I could in class and was still delighted with the effort even though I was really wrecked after it.

Monday afternoon I treated myself to steamed spinach and fine beans, so by the time I was heading back out to work that evening I was back to being on top of the world and happy out!

Tuesday I woke a little tired as I had a bad nights sleep due to sore muscles and up to the loo but after a couple of hours I came round again. I had cucumber and spinach for mid morning and for lunch I had lovely broccoli, fine beans and courgettes.

So back to today and I’m delighted to have come so far and so grateful for all the support and help I have received from everybody in the classes, on Facebook and from family and friends. It certainly has kept me going.

The post Diary of a Detox – Part 2 appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.

My Detox

So, I’m on my 4th day of my detox and it certainly has not been easy but I can’t believe how well I’m managing now. It’s green veg only, a protein shake 3 times a day, and water. It’s suppose to be for 14 days which helps the body cleanse the liver. After a nutrition consult discovered that my liver was toxic I decided it was now time to do something about it.

Since Jan last year I’ve lost 12kgs in weight, reduced my bodyfat from 34.88% to 25.65% and dropped from a size 18 to a size 12(in Jeans). It’s not been easy but it’s so worth it, as now I’m buying lovely dresses and clothes I didn’t even dream of wearing.

I just felt it was now time to pick it up a gear and take it to the next level and so far I’m glad I did. Don’t ask me at 6pm cause by then I’ll prob be the cranky nutcase that I have been the last couple of days at that time, but it passes.

I started Wednesday and muddled through the day and it got harder that evening when I got a headache and a pain in my belly, but I went to bed and actually slept fine.

Thursday I woke up fine with just a runny nose and a little tired, I should have eaten more veg throughout the day but I still managed on spinach and cucumber. That evening again was hard, but thanks to my sister I did not go to the chipper. Instead, I had another plate of spinach and cucumber.

Friday I woke up early and felt good for the first time in a long time. I trained for the 1st time since starting detox and was delighted that I could still lift heavy enough weights, considering I have not been eating any lovely meat (I love my meat). It was great to be able to train as hard as before. I would have been annoyed if I couldn’t and would have questioned if this was going to be worth it all.

So, this morning I had a lovely lie in till 9am and got up with a little bit of a headache but I had my protein shake and a big bowl of Cauliflower and Broccoli and was fine after that. The weekend is going to be harder as the kids are around all day eating in front of me and worst of all, the hardest bit is having to cook and feed them.

I had my doubts that I was going to last another 10 days of this, but I’m feeling good now and think I really can do this, and I know that I have great support from my friends and family to see me through to the end.

The post Diary of a Detox appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.