About me

Photo: Ian Harrison

Welcome to my blog – a collection of health, food, fitness and ethical living inspiration

I’m Yanar and I launched this blog about ten years ago to champion brands and products doing good for people and planet. The blog has gradually evolved to include my other passions in life: fitness, wellness and food.

Here’s a little bit more about me…

✨ I WORK IN MEDIA PUBLISHING: I head up fitness product testing at Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Men’s Health Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and other Hearst UK magazines. I manage a team of testers and we test fitness products for content in our mags. Previously I was a freelance health, fitness, wellness and beauty writer for over 15 years for national print and online media.

✨ I LOVE FITNESS: If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I work out and train a lot. I’ve been featured in The Telegraph, Metro.co.uk and Women’s Health talking about the importance of strength training for women, not just for body but for mind too.

✨ I USED TO RUN MARATHONS: I spent my 20s and early 30s running and racing. I ran six marathons (including one on Snowdonia) in total before I transitioned to CrossFit and Olympic lifting, both of which I’ve been training in for over six years.

✨ I’VE BEEN VEGETARIAN NEARLY ALL MY LIFE: I became vegetarian at nine years old (when I first realised the chicken on my plate was an animal!). I then banned my family from going to the circus and eating dolphin-unfriendly tuna to support animal rights. I switched to a vegan diet in my mid-20s, when I realised the dairy industry and farming was as unethical as the meat.

✨I LOVE TO SUPPORT BRANDS THAT DO GOOD: Through my editorial work, I’ve tried to back brands and products that tread more carefully on the planet and people. I’m also proud to be a Weleda Arnica Ambassador.

✨ I LOVE TO LEARN: I’m often on a course! I’m a qualified Level 1 British Weightlifting and Level 3 Personal Trainer. I’ve also just finished a diploma in Yoga Therapy from The Minded Institute and am now a registered yoga therapist. My specialist interest is in yoga for Parkinson’s and I run a monthly in-person yoga class for people with Parkinson’s in Stratford east London, in association with Parkinson’s UK.

✨ I LOVE TO COOK (AND EAT): Food is a big part of my life. I’m passionate about eating well and fuelling for my sports.

✨ I LOVE VINTAGE: I used to shop for vintage clothes and things (read more about this here) a lot more than I do now. My vintage shopping habit has probably slowed down because I have enough. I still have an eye for something preloved and old and if I was to live this life again, I’d definitely have my own vintage store.

Feel free to say hello here or on Instagram @YanarFitness.

Would love to hear from you and any news, tips or products you want to share.

Thanks and enjoy.

Yanar x

18 thoughts on “About me”

  1. Dear Yanar, I am a massive fan and love what you do! A vegetarian myself, and personally committed to a sustainable lifestyle, after many years of trying to cut down waste I launched a plastic-free and ethical online shop, with the goal of making eco-living affordable and attainable to most people. I would love to send you a few products to see what you think, let me know if you are interested! Here’s our website: http://www.earthbits.com. Keep up the amazing work, I love reading it! :)

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  2. Hi!

    I’ve been following your blog for a bit and decided I wanted to send you a sample of Double Helix Water, my company’s recovery product. I also do Crossfit and it’s pretty great when it comes to helping soreness and recovery (and it’s all natural so that’s nice). I figured it might be something you like, no strings attached. Let me know :)

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  3. Dear Yanar,

    My name’s Barney and I’m contacting you on behalf of Andrex®.

    We wanted to get in touch as we’re currently running a campaign to raise awareness around the devastating sanitation problems in Angola. 1 in 3 people in the world don’t have a clean, safe toilet & this lack of proper sanitation affects people’s dignity & assists the spread of serious diseases that can be fatal for children & their families. At Andrex® we believe that every child should have a clean, safe toilet and together with Unicef, we’re working to make this happen.

    We’re helping Unicef to empower families & communities in Angola to build their own clean, safe toilets. Angola has the highest rate of child mortality in the world. Around one in four of all child deaths in Angola are from diarrhea-related disease, mostly caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene.

    We’ve been following your blog for a while and think it’s fantastic. We wanted to bring this topic to your attention as we thought it would be something that you would be interested in. We’ve created a video to share these facts to help raise awareness around the issue and wondered if you would be happy to share this on your blog or social media channels?

    Looking forward to hearing your response!

    All the best, Barney

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  4. I would love to send you some samples of my new women’s sportswear brand- Sweat & Grace. Our missions is simple, to provide the everyday woman with- ‘Desirable, Good Quality, Affordable Sportswear’. Suitable for all women, even if you are more than a downward frog than downward dog!
    Love Jasmine
    x

    A cheeky 30% off for all of your readers with code FACE30
    http://www.sweatandgrace.com

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    1. Hi Angela, thanks so much for dropping me a line! Would love to try as I’m actually working on some editorial for aluminium-free deodorants at the moment. What email can I get you on?
      Thanks again x

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  8. Hi Yanar!

    My name is Amanda Powell and I stumbled upon your awesome blog while looking through green blogs that might like to try Eco Nuts – the healthiest and most environmentally friendly way to do your laundry and clean your home.

    I would love to send you a sample of our product, and just to simply tell you about it because I feel like although many people are making great strides towards healthier and greener lifestyles, laundry and household cleaning products are often overlooked. Even though some brands have eliminated harsh chemicals and opted for plant-based solutions (which is great!), they still bottle and sell in plastic containers. And we all know the devastating statistics of how much of that plastic ends up in our beautiful oceans.

    Eco Nuts is a USDA organic cleaning products company and we package with little to no plastic. We utilize berries that grow in the Himalayas that naturally contain soap in many of our products, and we also have natural wool dryer balls that are an excellent alternative to dryer sheets because they are reusable and free of chemicals. We were featured on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank and we’re a quirky, fun, multiple award-winning company.

    One of our most popular products are the berries themselves which you can use for your laundry, though we also have “normal” detergent products like USDA Organic liquid detergent and powder – both packaged without plastic. In addition to our laundry products, we offer household cleaning products that also use our soap berry extract including a USDA Organic multi-surface cleaner, glass-cleaner, clean-all powder, and a veggie wash. Our company name is a play on words that can be used to describe these soap berries (which resemble acorns) and a term for people who are crazy about the environment.

    We’re proud to be:

    – GMO Free

    – Certified USDA Organic

    – Certified Cruelty Free

    – Made in the USA

    – Nut Allergy Safe

    – Free from Added Dyes

    – Free from Artificial Fragrances

    Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

    All the best,
    Amanda Powell
    EcoNuts.com

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  9. Hey Yanar, first let me say you have a great health blog! It is great so see how inspirational are!
    Secondly I’d like to introduce you to a unique product, just launched on the market and incomparable with other similar products – our Arawak 100% Pure Cacao bar!

    The product format is a raw one, 100% Pure Cacao, rich with the cacao oils and butter emitting a rich evocative aroma of cacao and an amazing taste. All of the qualities of raw cacao are present with no processing or separation of cacao butter or cocoa liqueur. The sophisticated process protects the nutrients, vitamins and minerals in their natural state.

    Our 100% Pure Cacao products are unsweetened and unrefined. Unique and incomparable to anything on the market, they contain vital nutrients and minerals, such as Anadamide – an endorphine that the body naturally produces after exercise, Coumarin – which has appetite suppressing and blood thinning proprieties and Chromium – a very important chemical that helps regulate blood sugar and detoxify the liver.

    If you are curious to discover the authentic taste of cacao, simply fill in your details at http://www.arawakapurecacao.com for a free sample!

    We are looking forward to hearing your feedback!

    Best,
    Nova Pavel
    Arawak Team

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  10. Hey Yanar, Loving the blog! Think you would love GiveMeTap – a social enterprise that helps people stay hydrated in a sustainable, economical and ethical way. Reducing plastic waste, increasing water consumption and helping people in Africa! Check them out at givemetap.co.uk!

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