Online shopping is huge! I remember watching news bulletins over the December period, and shop owners were stressing because people were abandoning the High Street in favour of online shopping – it’s quicker and easier… especially over the busy Christmas period.

And I suspect that the trend has stuck.

The only thing that is difficult to shop for online is clothing – you just never know how it’ll fit. Most outlets have return policies but it would be nice to buy clothes, knowing that they’ll fit and you won’t have to do an exchange. To help avoid this irritation, Tesco has launched a virtual 3D fitting room.

Basically, customers can create 3D digital versions of themselves from a photograph uploaded on to a virtual 3D fitting room page, and then “try on” the clothes from there.

The F&F virtual 3D fitting room also gives customers the opportunity to try out various hairstyles to create different looks and even the option to share their favourite outfits with selected friends on Facebook for feedback.

How it works: simply upload two photos, or (if preferred) enter body measurements, and a photo of your face.

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I’m a big fan of magazines. I’m not one for trying to keep up with all the celebrity mayhem, though, so anything with the latest Big Brother winners or losers on the cover is not for me. And I do not work all hours only to go and blow a month’s earnings on one handbag and a stick of concealer.

No, my magazines of choice are homes and gardens magazines, anything that promises me a capsule wardrobe for under £50 (I’ll never learn on that one!) and fitness magazines.

The homes and gardens magazines are my eye candy, and I never throw a good one away (so now I have a stack almost the size of a roll-top bath). Any time I feel the need to choose paint colours or redesign my window dressings, I dive back in.

The ones that speak to me about capsule wardrobes also usually promise miracles from shampoo that costs 49p, so I will sometimes choose those for a pick-me-up and may even let them twist my arm into buying something different from the supermarket cosmetics aisle or clothing section, for a quick fix without the accompanying credit card bill.

And the fitness magazines are my fail-safe way of getting back on track with my exercise plans if I fall off the wagon, such as after Christmas when hibernating with a glass of Baileys has become preferable to getting out of breath with a bottle of Lucozade! For me, there are huge motivational benefits of fitness magazines.

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It’s no secret that the mind and the body are intrinsically linked – we each feel it every day when we get butterflies in our stomach at the mere thought of something exciting or daunting, or start to salivate just at the descriptions of the dishes on Masterchef, or when simply catching sight of a spider in the bath takes your breath away and sends your heart rate through the roof!

Or maybe that last one’s just me…

The point is: thoughts such as excitement, fear or pleasure can elicit physical responses within us. In a similar way, thinking about exercise can trigger physical responses that prepare your body for what it thinks you are about to do.

This is known as ‘anticipation of exercise’. If you think about exercising, your body will start to prepare for it by increasing your heart rate to get your blood – containing oxygen and glucose for energy – pumping around your body.

You may never have noticed this ’anticipation of exercise’ response before, but now that you know about it, you can use it to your advantage. If you’re trying to work yourself up to doing some exercise but are struggling for motivation, get your mind on board and your body will follow.

Close your eyes and start by thinking about your exercise clothes – how they feel and smell, and how empowered your body and mind feel when you are wearing them.

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Last year, I got my pre-baby body back with the help of Shaun T and his incredible Insanity^® workout, a series of 10 workout DVDs that have you sweating in minutes and push you to your limits to completely change your body in just a few weeks.

Available from beachbody.co.uk, it did exactly what it promised it would – within 2 weeks my body looked and felt completely different, and within 60 days I was in the best shape of my life.

While I remain a devoted fan of those workouts and still do them when I have time to spare, life does often get in the way of those hour-long sessions, so I’ve been looking for alternatives that I can fit into my day more easily, giving me one less excuse not to exercise!

Recently, I tried a new DVD that I stumbled upon in the supermarket – Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. After the addictive Insanity^®, I wondered whether anything else would really cut it, and had thought of 30 Day Shred as something of an easy option, but I was wrong!

And best of all, this is a 20 minute workout DVD, so no more excuses not to do it!

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Do you wish you were ‘the exercising type’? Do you find yourself looking at joggers passing you in the park and wish you had their ‘natural’ desire and ability to get those trainers on and get active?

Well, listen up – here’s a motivational fitness tip!It might surprise you to think that maybe the jogger had an internal battle with herself before she finally worked up the enthusiasm and the drive to get her trainers on today, and in fact almost didn’t bother.

But now as she jogs serenely past as you sit on the bench, she feels amazing – strong, powerful and in control, and it is that feeling that she will recall tomorrow when she is struggling to drag herself out of a warm house and into the wind and rain to do it all again.

Deciding that you want to get fit and stay fit is easy, and making plans to run every morning or go to the gym three nights a week can be fun.

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