Falling off the health and fitness wagon!

For two years, this regime served me well until January, when I fell on an ice rink and damaged my shoulder and needed 6 months of physio.

I was also told to stop my normal exercise regime in order to give myself a chance to heal.

Then I got Covid and suffered from extreme exhaustion for quite a few weeks after.

Then the demands of my work meant I found myself sitting at my desk for over 12 hours a day every day and even ended up asking others to walk the dog to give me more time in my day.

Being out of a healthy regime affected my mood, and slowly I found myself turning to old habits, starting to comfort eat again on unhealthy food as I had no energy or time to spend shopping/cooking/preparing healthy meals.

And so, a year on, I’m ashamed to say I’ve fallen so badly off the wagon; I’ve piled on at least half the weight I so proudly shed, and as I sit here on holiday with my family, I’m frustrated and angry with myself that I let it get this way when I had done so well. 

Why am I telling you all this? 

Well, I guess because I feel guilty that I’m meant to be a role model for all the women I support across our platform. 

But I also guess that I’m only human, and it’s important to admit that it’s not always so straightforward or easy.

I’ve been beating myself up and feeling pretty low about it, wondering how I will ever find the energy or motivation to get back on track when I’m home in Sept (and I know my workload will be ramping up then, not down, at least until end of Oct!).

So I spoke to one of our platform nutritionists and personal trainers last night, who gave me some really good advice that I want to pass on to any of you who may also be struggling. 

She simply said …. 

“Take it one day at a time. In other words just do today. Don’t look at the potentially long road ahead as that will overwhelm you. 

Go back to creating those small manageable habits that can fit into your daily routine and if you have injuries or limited time just find some kind of daily movement and easy meal planning that you can cope with.”

When something derails your routine

When something derails your routine, try to take stock of what it was, learn from it, adjust your work/life balance wherever possible and remember that nothing is more important or should come in front of your own health and happiness because if we are not well or happy then what good are we going to be for all those who rely on us?

I was sitting with the amazing Michelle Griffiths Robinson a few weeks ago at Andrea Mclean's launch of the This Girl is on Fire app, and she said something that has really stuck with me -

“Katie my morning exercise regime is non negotiable - that’s not selfish that is self care.”

So I’m going to follow that advice, Michelle and put it as a daily meeting in my diary and make damn sure that moving forward, that meeting is never cancelled !!

Related article: Losing it midlife weight loss

Ps. If you want to join me with some motivation to get moving again in Sept then you’d be welcome to join our next masterclass in our membership with Kate Rowe Ham - “The importance of movement in menopause”  

Katie x

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