Aly Rauff is one of Singapore’s top fitness, yoga, and wellness stars. Today she shares how she turned her life around by focusing on her health and how she plans her new healthy days.
What is your top wellness habit?
Get up early and go for a walk/jog/run. It makes the biggest difference to your day and that alone can get you to make better choices for the rest of the day.
What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received?
To treat your body the way you would treat your son or daughter. Nourish it with the healthiest food you can get, give it enough exercise, always shower it with love and affection and never bring yourself down. You would want the absolutely best for your child and never want them to hurt themselves physically or mentally, so you should also want the best for yourself.
Describe your “O”:
I try to start my day between 7 am to 8 am but there are definitely days where I choose to sleep in. If I’m awake before 8:30 am I have a glass of water then go out for a walk or a jog and do some yoga at the beach or park. Then I get home, have a quick shower and make breakfast by 9 to 9:30 am and start work. If I sleep in, then my day starts around 8:30 to 9:30 with breakfast and work.
Lunch tends to be between 1 pm to 2 pm and then I go back to work until about 5 pm. This is when I normally relax by coloring or watching tv. If I slept in then I’ll have my walk or run and yoga at this time. I’ll be done by about 7 pm and then have dinner, followed by down time which is usually writing for my blog, reading, spending time with my family or doing chores.
Once I feel like dinner has settled, I get started on my workout, right now I’m doing Fresh Body Fit Mind by Amanda Bisk or The Jungle Body, depending on the day. I do some yoga after, then shower and go to sleep usually around 11 pm to midnight.
Do you do anything special to prepare for sleep?
I try to get into bed by midnight so I can fall asleep soon after. But it really depends on each day. I don’t do anything that’s really special, sometimes I do some coloring or reading before bed to relax myself. If I’m really tired I just check my phone, set my alarm, and get comfy enough for sleep.
Tell us about being stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you broke free:
The truth is my whole life up to the point where I started my fitness journey was an unhealthy cycle. I rarely ate well, I hated exercise and sports, and I was constantly making excuses for myself for not starting a healthier lifestyle. Since most of the people around me were doing the same thing, I was just “normal.”
When i moved to Perth, Australia for university, I met a whole new group of people who really showed me what it was like to be healthy. There was a bigger emphasis on sports and fitness and healthier food was easier to come by.
My biggest inspiration was definitely one of my closest friends and my boyfriend. My friend, Emma was telling me how she wanted to get healthier by working out and eating better and my partner has been eating well and exercising regularly for as long as I’ve known him. If it wasn’t for the two of them talking to me about food and gym and what it was doing for them, I never would have wanted to start any of it.
When i came back to Singapore i started running. Eventually I added swimming a few times a week, then switched from running to doing Jillian Michaels’ workouts. I had already started living a healthier life. I was eating better, exercising and doing yoga. Aside from that I was also taking better care of my hair and skin. And now I was really seeing the difference it made.
What is your favorite part about living a healthy lifestyle?
The way it makes you feel. I look better than before, I’m stronger, I like knowing that I can do all these exercises that I couldn’t even dream of before and it was all because I decided to. Overall it makes me feel so much happier and satisfied with my life.
Whose “O” would you most love to see?
It’s honestly hard to pick! I guess more than anything else it’s kind of fun to know what Amanda Bisk does in a day since I’m following her workout plan right now!
If you could give only one piece of health advice to your kids what would it be and why?
Your health is always a priority. There’s something for everyone so finding a sport you love and a healthy diet you enjoy is a lot easier than it seems.
Favorite Vegetable:
Okra
Favorite Exercise:
Right now I particularly love doing The Jungle Body.
Favorite way to Center:
Coloring. It’s works magically.
Personal Motto:
Everything I do, I do for me.
Aly R is an International Fitness Celebrity, Blogger and Aspiring Yoga Instructor.