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Monday 1 August 2016

Ok... let's try this again!


This is one of my favourite quotes of all time and it is with this in mind that today I start a new healthy eating and exercise programme in an attempt to get my physical and mental health back on track.

I love it that today is both a Monday and the first of the month - it seems like the perfect starting point and I'm feeling positive and excited!

It's been an intense, amazing, exhausting and fun 2016 so far with the addition of baby Leo to our family. Whilst I've loved it all, pregnancy and motherhood have taken a toll on my health which wasn't exactly in a great place anyway at the start of my pregnancy in April last year. 

After our wedding in 2013 I found myself suddenly without an important goal to aim for and I lost all motivation to stick with exercise and strict 'clean' eating. Slowly my body went back to the way it was before... unfit and overweight. Add to that the stress of losing a parent to cancer, quickly followed by my pregnancy - cut short by 3 months due to pre-eclampsia - and then watching my baby fight for his life in hospital all within the same 8 month period. The odds really were stacked against me getting back on the healthy living wagon.

So here I am now, age 34 and with a healthy 9 month old baby at home. This should be one of the best times in my life but instead I feel tired and a bit 'foggy' much of the time. The idea of wearing a swimsuit on my upcoming summer holiday or even dressing up for a rare night out with friends fills me with fear. I used to adore clothes shopping and now I'd rather clean the house or do most anything else instead of facing the changing room mirror. I don't feel good about myself or the way I look and it's draining feeling this way all the time.

Due to my poor diet and lazy lifestyle, day-to-day my moods are all over the place and I often feel jittery, anxious and stressed. I have energy slumps, unusual heart palpitations, brittle and weak nails, blotchy and irritated skin on my face, a very bloated and uncomfortable tummy, terrible memory.... the list of complaints is endless and it's all horrible! Definitely not a happy place to be for anyone, let alone someone of my age who should be in their prime.

In addition to all this my doctor recently told me I have something called 'hypothyroidism' which can only be addressed with a healthy lifestyle. I am still learning more about this illness and find it all a bit overwhelming at the moment.

So... I can't go on the way I am - I am just so DONE with feeling shit. In the spirit of my blog I want to take a chance and believe in myself that I can get on the right path again and ultimately feel amazing and look my best.


LOVE this quote from one of my favourite writers!

Thankfully life at home with baby is now in a stable enough place to allow me a bit of time to focus on my health. So I've decided to dedicate myself to losing weight and increasing my fitness levels as much as possible in the coming months. I'm going to exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet similar to my pre-wedding diet plan and prioritise these things above all else. I'm going to set mini-goals along the way to keep me motivated and keep things manageable.

Overall I'd like to lose around 35 pounds and keep it off long term. I would also love to find a few different forms of exercise that I genuinely enjoy which don't feel like a chore. I'm planning to experiment with different things until I find something that challenges me physically which I look forward to doing and therefore is sustainable in the long term. A tall order I think but I am determined to do this!

My first goal is to lose 10 pounds by 1st September. I've made a note of my current weight and body measurements and I've signed up for a month-long bootcamp starting today. I kick started everything yesterday with a challenging 7 mile walk in the Surrey hills and this morning I did a 30min HIIT workout as part of the bootcamp. 

I'm planning to blog my way through this process in the hope that by sharing my successes and challenges along the way I will feel more accountable and therefore will be more likely to hit my targets! 

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