Good advice!

Pretty good advice, as the old adage goes “smiling is infectious” just as “bad moods are contagious!”

I loathe having to change my plans, I’m a creature of habit, like to write lists,to be fair this is as much for the plan itself as for my horrendous memory.

Last Thursday didn’t go according to plan. If I’m working or Chris and I both aren’t I like to get up at 5.30am to train that way I get it done before anything can derail me. That day I got up expecting to be able to train later in the day because Chris was meant to be working. I’d already deviated from the norm, normally I’d be working in St Davids that morning but Ellie had a brace fitting at the orthodontist so I’d moved working to the Friday because she needed taking but Lewis was sent home from school unwell on the Wednesday and I had to arrange for my mother to take her instead. Then Chris didn’t work. The garage was locked and he couldn’t get hold of the owner he was meant to be doing a welding job for so I didn’t train. Such was the state of derailment I literally sat down all day!

I haven’t been able to get back on track though, I’m assuming from previous experience it’s not because of the deviation of plans but the lack of physical activity.

My everything has suffered from not training. We’re designed to be active, this sedentary life style is quite literally killing us. I’m not suggesting exercise is the be all and end all to everything health related but it seriously can’t hurt. My mental health very definitely suffers if I’m not active. I don’t even mean balls to the wall HIIT or heavy weights but simply getting in those steps or cleaning the house. It’s amazing how much better I feel having got my heart rate up, even a little. In the 6 days since then I’ve only physically trained 3 times. I believe it’s having a real effect.

Today I got up ready to go, as a rule I train at least 5 days a week but today I changed my mind, I know I’ll feel better, even got weights and kettles ready but talked myself out of it. ‘Everyone’s sleeping, it’s half term, Chris has a days work, (it’s been in short supply if I’m honest.) So I’ll definitely do it later, blah blah.’

I checked the bank at 5am when Lewis woke me, did a few quick calculations and panicked. February’s a short month for some reason everyone likes to take their cut on 1st, there’s other stuff going out tomorrow and “panic”… I know once I’ve trained it won’t seem insurmountable but at one and the same time it’s a motivation sedative, the anxiety in my throat and chest, almost like nausea is crippling.

I haven’t been so inactive since I was pregnant with Daizy, she’ll be 5 this year! Although this is in no way a scientific study it’s interesting to note life’s not been interspersed so often with this anxious, stressed, unhappy feeling until now despite very little being different, actually there’ve been much more difficult times financially and on a personal level and yet I took them in my stride.

I have no doubt once Chris has left in about an hour I’ll do something, probably some kind of resistance training with a yoga type finisher and it will restore me to default but it has taken this period of mindfulness to both motivate me and show me the necessity and significance of exercise in the quality of all areas of my life.

In my opinion people should move more, it can’t hurt if you start small and build up slowly to prevent injury but can very definitely help!

Happy days

A x

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