👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hey everyone! My name is Alyssa Hotrum, I am 26 Years old from Ontario Canada. I really enjoy living out in the country and have been back and forth between the city life and the country life.
I am employed as a Before and After School teacher as well as working at a daycare too! I have my BA in Child and Youth Studies, and have been working with children for a while now, it’s a strong passion of mine.
I am currently taking an online program come September for “Business Marketing”. I love to blog in my spare time and have always enjoyed social media platforms with a passion.
I love expressing my creative side and I feel this would open up more opportunities for career choices later on down the road.
I have a boyfriend who lives 45 minutes away and we usually see each other on the weekends.
He works in finance and adores what he does! We do not have any children yet but would be open to the opportunity later on down the road.
I recently have found a new hobby which enjoy doing and that is fitness.
I recently have found a new hobby which enjoy doing and that is fitness.
Honestly, it has taken me a while to join the fitness world, but I am so happy to have found this new passion of mine. I am extremely proud of myself for finding something that makes me feel mentally amazing as well as physically.
What made me start to workout and change my lifestyle is that I was tired of feeling “tired” all the time.
I was living a very unhealthy lifestyle, and one where I didn’t take too much care of myself. I was eating terribly, not exercising, skipping meals and just flat out didn’t really “care”.
I decided to put my foot down one day and change my life. It has been the best thing I have ever done.
I don’t play too many sports, I used to play baseball but quit when I went to highschool.
As I mentioned earlier, I love to blog in my spare time, often writing on topics based around fitness, mental health, fashion and lifestyle related topics. I enjoy having this free space to express myself.
In regards to sponsors, I have worked with multiple companies in the past. I have reached out to a few of them, and some have reached out to me via email or Instagram.
I love working with new companies and individuals, as I love to create new connections and friendships. I am have recently partnered with a few fitness brands that I am excited to collaborate with!
Since I have found a strong passion for fitness, I believe this is a great path for me to follow.
What I love the most about fitness and working out is how you feel afterwards. You feel so motivated and you literally feel on top of the world.
More importantly, you feel great mentally, like a weight is being lifted off your shoulders.
I often look up to my boyfriend Dayten Pottruff when it comes to fitness. He is really involved in it and has taught me a lot of things in regards to supplements, workout routines and how to push yourself.
I truly thank him for helping me find the proper motivation I needed.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
I love to incorporate dumbbell weights within my workout as well as resistance bands.
When it comes to a typical day of working out, I love to stick to the same routine but change up a few things here and there.
I am somebody who loves routine, if I fall out of it I feel flustered. I have found a really amazing and balanced fitness routine that is working quite well for me each day.
Since we are stuck at home, I do all of my workouts in my basement. I love to start off my workout in the morning, I find I am more motivated to do my workout at this time as opposed to later on in the day as I am usually tired or busy.
I love to grab my “BCAA’S” from the company “Xtend” and head on downstairs to start stretching and to begin my workout.
I typically like to workout for roughly around 1 hour and an hour and a half.
I start off my routine by fast-walking on the treadmill for around 30 minutes. I find that by starting my workout on the treadmill, I keep the heart pumping, get the blood flowing and I begin to loosen up.
While I am on the treadmill I like to put on some Youtube videos that I enjoy watching. I find this distracts me and makes the time go by faster too!
After the treadmill, I proceed to move on with what body part I am focusing mainly on that day whether it be abs, legs, arms, back you name it.
I love to incorporate dumbbell weights within my workout as well as resistance bands.
I am extremely new when it comes to workout out, but I love to search on Pinterest for home workout routines I can do and trust me…. there’s a lot on there to choose from!
I love to do my workouts every single day right in the morning time. This is a routine I have been recently loving and has worked for me.
When everything returns back to normal and the gyms are open to the public again, I really want to join one. I have joined gyms in the past and have really enjoyed them.
I feel like this is something I would really love to get back into but for now its workouts in my basement!
I usually love to workout by myself, I find I am the most motivated when I do this, that way I have no distractions! But I wouldn’t mind going with a friend to the gym when it opens and I sign up!
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
So let’s be real, it can be super hard to find the motivation to workout each day. Trust me, if I woke up everyday in an extremely motivated mood I would be living life!
This however, doesn’t always happen all the time, and that’s okay! It’s finding that motivation deep down inside you and pushing yourself to get up and just go for it.
When I am working out, I love to keep my phone near by. Not because I love to text up a storm when I am in the zone, but simply to look back on a fitness motivation board I created on “Pinterest”.
I swear by Pinterest! There are so many motivational pictures to look at on there that give you the extra push you may need at times!
I love to look at a motivational image when I am working out and do this every single day. Sometimes I even have a motivational image as my wallpaper on my phone just to give a positive friendly reminder to myself.
If I am feeling really unmotivated I don’t kill myself when working out, I simply lessen the time of my workout routine and that’s okay!
How I look at it is that 20 minutes is better than nothing, not everyday is going to be an hour and a half.
We can’t be so hard on our bodies but have to act more of a best friend, a positive push here and there isn’t a bad thing. Becoming negative towards ourselves is not what we want.
Something else that I do to find that motivation for a workout each day is giving myself something to look forward to when it’s done if I am having a hard time getting moving.
Whether it be watching my favourite movie afterwards, blogging on a topic or enjoying the sunshine this will get me moving!
Something I want to emphasize that has helped me when it comes to working out is that you have to enjoy what you are doing. If you constantly feel that you have to push yourself every single day maybe try changing up your workout routine!
If it’s something active that you enjoy doing chances are you’ll look forward to it everyday!
One of the main reasons why I love to do my workouts in the morning time is because I have to full day ahead of me to make time for family members and other things I may need to accomplish each day!
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
I am really enjoying the workout routines and this new fitness journey I have accommodated into my life. I love experimenting with different exercises, seeing what I enjoy and maybe what I don’t enjoy as much.
Looking into the future and for the next 5 years, I see the start to a new healthier lifestyle, one that I didn’t think I could ever do but something that has changed me for the better.
I personally did not think I had the motivation in me to make these changes. It truly has helped me to make small changes first like cutting out pop or maybe replacing milk chocolate with pieces of dark chocolate.
By incorporating all these small changes, I have now moved onto bigger ones and it doesn’t seem as scary. I want to continue treating my body better and nourishing my body with what it deserves.
I want to pursue my dream in marketing, find my dream career within that field and just go for it. I want to find that perfect balance between social gatherings, fitness and work.
I am excited to see what the future holds but at least I know what I want to encourage. If I had to restart my fitness journey and do this all over again from the beginning, I would have asked myself one simple question, “why didn’t you start early?”.
I would’ve given myself a bit more credit and had a bit more confidence in myself that I could actually make these lifestyle changes.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
When it comes to recovering from injuries and overcoming this, I love to listen to my body.
If I am super sore the next day from workout out maybe I’ll take a rest day or just incorporate a routine focused more on yoga and relaxing/stretching my muscles.
I don’t overdo things and I think that is one of the biggest pieces of advice I would offer to someone is to listen to your body and what it is telling you.
Before I begin my workouts and after I complete them I love to stretch my muscles. This really helps me prevent any serious injuries.
I also love drinking my BCAAs during and after my workout which helps with muscle and cell repair. I have found that this has helped me a lot, and this is always a must when I am about to start a workout.
Again, I have been using the brand “Xtend” when it comes to my BCAAs in the flavour mango!
When it comes to changes within my schedule it can really feel like a setback for sure. I first experienced this the other day when I had to push back my workout due to events happening that certain day, I have to admit… I did feel a bit lost!
I was out of my routine and I am a person who lives for routines and loves to stick to them. What I have come to realize is that sometimes things happen and things come up.
This is not something to sit there and dwell on but in fact just accommodate.
So what if you had to push back your workout routine or cut it a bit short, things happen and everything will be okay. It’s all about finding balance and just working with that. Balance is everything.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
Personally, I am not a huge fan of diets, I feel like I am just setting myself up for failure or I won’t end up sticking to it.
Something that has truly benefited me is just changing the food you intake each day to healthier options. This may sound scary, but it can be tiny things each day!
Instead of having a piece of white bread maybe try having a piece of brown bread. Instead of having 2 helpings of dinner try having one and lots of water.
I never feel like I am depriving myself of food and I think that is one of the biggest things. If you do this you’re bound to binge eat on really unhealthy foods.
I have just tried to replace really unhealthy foods I have been eating in the past to heathier varieties! This is working super well for me, and I am surprised at how easy this has been!
I have also been drinking a ton more water which I highly recommend doing! Before, I would always drink tons of pop… no wonder I always felt bloated!
I often find that water can taste extremely dull and boring, I simply add in my BCAAS or an Arbonne Enrgy Fizz Stick in the flavour Pomegranate to help enhance the flavour.
Not only does this taste phenomenal but these options are such healthy too! Best of both worlds! I never count my calories ever, I just simply stick to my healthier eating choices.
When it comes to social events or gatherings, I simply bring a protein bar with me or just indulge on one unhealthy snack there, I know it’s not going to kill me especially if it’s one night out!
I sometimes need to remind myself this because there are times when this gets the best of me and I kick myself for having that drink at the party.
To be honest, I would rather live my best life, enjoy my time and indulge a little bit. This is how I view these kind of situations.
When it comes to snacking, I love to purchase so many healthy snacks on Amazon. They have so many different kinds of yummy, delicious and healthy snacks to choose from.
I often get my sweet fix on there and don’t feel bad about eating it! This helps me when it comes to energy too, and so do the Arbonne Energy Fizz Sticks which I absolutely adore! So yummy!
I usually have my one cup of coffee right when I wake up in the morning to help get me started for the day! It helps a ton!
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
I am proud of the person I am becoming and have become.
There are a lot of things that inspire me when it comes to my fitness journey. I love following inspirational fitness accounts on Instagram and often Pin a lot of things on Pinterest that inspire or motivate me.
I love to read so many different inspirational books and listen to lots of podcasts on Spotify when it comes to feeling more upbeat and positive.
I love to be around people who encourage, support and motivate me. I love to have that positive atmosphere around me which helps tremendously!
I sometimes Unfollow accounts on Instagram that I feel are discouraging, maybe I compare myself in unhealthy ways to and so forth. Kind of like an Instagram cleanse you could say! It does help!
When It comes to my fitness workouts, I love jamming out to really upbeat, fun, loud dance music. I need something that is going to keep my energy sparking and something to make me want to jam out!
I usually always ask ALEXA for a music playlist to play for me! She does wonders and always finds the best playlists!
One of the best pieces of advice I have received is to “be kind to yourself”. I am a firm believer of this and this is now always in the back of my mind.
It is so important to be kind to yourself and your body. This is your temple and yours to keep, take care of yourself. In the past, I was always putting myself down, shaming my body, and hating how I looked.
I spoke to myself poorly, ways I would never speak to my best friend that’s for sure.
Lately I have been realizing how I have been speaking to myself and paying more attention to this. I speak more kinder to myself and have patience.
I am proud of the person I am becoming and have become. I will keep her around for a while!
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
If you are new to the fitness world and atmosphere, I highly recommend doing your research and finding out what you really enjoy doing.
There are so many different activities to do everyday that is active. You don’t necessarily have to lift weights each day to be working out.
I personally enjoy lifting dumbbells and going on the treadmill so this is what I stick to. There are so many different things out there such as bike riding, going for walks, playing sports!
I highly recommend checking out Pinterest as well, there are so many cool workouts on there and there are so many motivational images as well to save!
Something that I often find that works well for me is wearing cute workout attire. Sounds dumb I know but trust me, there’s something about wearing a cute workout set that makes you motivated to actually being active!
I have recently just purchased a few workout pieces and sets from @Firsthealthapparel. Love this company and they offer so many awesome workout sets and supplements!
Going to be looking into ordering some supplements very soon from them!
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
I love just working out for myself, I am not a personal trainer by any means but I love to share what has worked for me and is currently working for me!
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
I have various social media sites in which you can visit and get ahold of me on.
I am most active on Instagram feed which is @alyssahotrum_xo. I love to post motivational, positive and upbeat content ranging from fitness, mental health, fashion and lifestyle content.
You can also check out my blogging website that I am active on as well which is itsthelittlethingsinlifethatmatter.com.
Looking forward to meeting new people!
