We love a bit of self-care and all this time at home has really given us an excuse to look after ourselves inside and out. Each week, we'll be asking the celeb lot to share their Sunday self-care routines, because taking care of yourself is more important than ever.
This week it's all about SophThickFitnesss, the self-loving PT otherwise known as Sophie Lait. She's refreshingly relatable, honest and on a mission to show you can love fitness without having to conform to washboard abs. Her message? Strive to be unapologetically you.
She tells heat, "I think people at the moment are trying to be non-human and denying total human things like not accepting body hair or that they sweat or fart... we're human, we're meant to do human body things!"
Her growing platform is a safe space online for her 120 thousand followers on Instagram and career highlights so far include modelling for Meggan Grubb's Bo+Tee collection.
Sophie talks exclusively to heat about confidence tips, self-care and how others can be kinder to themselves in 2022...
On confidence
Sophie shares how confidence comes from faking it until you make it and reminding yourself that you DO deserve nice things. Honestly, you may want to bookmark the below for all those dreaded 'bleugh' days...
"I've been literally bedridden this last week, I put mascara on and did my brows today for the first time in forever, I think it's really important to understand that showing up online can be really difficult, but I really want to show my vulnerabilities online as well.
"Someone recently in my DMs told me how they didn't feel confident enough to wear a bikini and hated the way they looked. But you know what, the one thing I promised myself that I would do, no matter what my body shape is, I would always wear a bikini and not a swimsuit. Always wear the bikini. It doesn't matter how my body looks or how I feel. I just know as an underlining moral that I deserve to wear it. It doesn't matter if I feel confident wearing it, I deserve to wear it. If I can go out of this house and wear a bikini because I know that I deserve to wear it and that will just like just gives me the confidence to do so.
"Even if I'm faking it till I make it, it doesn't matter. You're gonna have so many better experiences in being your authentic self than trying to be somebody else because you're not put on this planet to be anybody else. You're supposed to be the main character of your own life. However cringy that may feel, you literally cannot embody anybody else and I think it's really unfulfilling to try to be. I think even if you can just respect yourself and who you are, that builds confidence."
On self-care Sundays
Self-care not only looks different to everyone, but Soph explains how it can also be different depending on your mental state. Sometimes it may be fancy face masks, sometimes it may be finishing a project and sometimes it means staying in bed all day with a Disney film.
"If there is one thing I've learned is that self-care might look different every time and that's okay. Sometimes I might be feeling really, really low and the last thing I want to do is have a shower. My endometriosis gets me down quite a lot, so I feel fatigued quite a lot of the time. So sometimes, it might just be, "Okay, let's just wash my face" and that will pick my mood up.
"A big thing for me is Disney movies, they are my absolute favourite. For me, the perfect self-care Sunday would be snuggled in bed with my cat watching Luca with a big bowl of granola.
"Also, there is one product from Mallows Beauty that I love, it's the Pineapple & Mango Enzyme Face Maskwhich you leave on for five minutes. I'm a very unorganised person and don't like doing things for a long period of time. This one you can just put on, wait five minutes and wash off."
www.feelunique.com
On budget beauty buys
"I love NYX Professional Make-Up Brow Glue. It's really cheap and probably lasts me three-quarters of the day. My eyebrows are really light and it just helps shape my face a little bit more. I've only had it a few weeks but I'm obsessed with it."
On podcasts recommendations
"I love Fearne Cotton's podcast, The Happy Place. She had a creator on there called Megan Jayne Crabbe who used to be called Body Posi Panda. I never used to listen to podcasts, but my mum suggested this episode to me and I absolutely loved it. There are a couple of creators who host podcasts that I absolutely love, including The Dear Body Podcast by Jessi Jean. I recently did a podcast with her as well, which was really cool. I also love Mary's Cup of Tea Podcastand The Papaya Podcast."
On tips for content creators
Sophie is absolutely smashing it online so what are her biggest tips for someone who fancies themselves as a budding online creator?
"Just wing it. I still don't know all the features of Instagram. TikTok? I tried it and am never going back. I'm physically past it, I can't! I would say, find out the basics, find out how to create some really cool reels, find out what's trending and go from there.
"Just have a message that you want to spread, and stick with that and build an audience through that. Because then those people will come back to your page, because of that consistent message. I think it's really, really important. And I think that's where I struggled before when my platform wasn't really growing was because I felt like I had to be one of two categories, fitness or self-love. But then I realised, I could merge them and be fluid between the two."
On really great advice
"The best advice I've been given comes from my dad and it's literally, 'whatever you are be a good one'. He was like, "If you want to be a bin man, be a good bin man. If you want to be an astronaut, be a good astronaut." That's always inspired me because in every field I've gone into, I've given it everything.
"When I was working in summer camps, I got awarded 'Best Camper Relationships' and I wasn't even a counsellor, I was just a lifeguard because I just always want to go the extra mile to be good in whatever I'm doing. I just want to inspire people.
"So if anyone is reading this, I think it's really important that if you're going to do something, do it 100%. But remember to give your body time to rest as well. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to work every single second of every single day. But just know what you want and work towards that. Don't let anybody stand in your way."
Quickfire round:
What show are you currently watching? Me and my partner are rewatching the Marvel marathon at the minute with all the extra series that have come out in the last couple of years, like the Loki series and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
How do you like your cuppa? I'm a sucker for peppermint tea.
Go-to loungewear brand? I love Gymshark for loungewear.
Favourite face mask? Mallows Beauty Pineapple & Mango Enzyme Face Mask
Go-to takeaway order? There's a pizza place in Exeter called Old Firehouse, They do incredible massive square pizzas for around £12.
Favourite candle? My friend has got a beautiful little business called Free Spirit Living. The candles smell unreal, I am obsessed.
Make sure to follow Sophie on Instagram @sophthickfitnesss
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