Ironically (or I think ironically, some grammar person will probably tell me it’s the incorrect use..) after I wrote my first entry, I had a bit of a bad night. Bit of a break down actually. I went to the bottom of the bottle, and then moved onto several more. One day I hope to write more about these negative experiences, but for now, that says enough. My night shifts broke me. Again.
So instead of starting off as the queen of healthy on Saturday morning, and running a 10k that afternoon, I was desperately mentally and physically hungover. And was so for several days, ruining my annual leave.
I had to take baby steps. And this, I think, ultimately, is key to finding your healthy and happy. Whilst I hope not many of you start your journey in quite a pit of despair, it is most likely that in looking for this blog, you were unhappy and at a place where things needed to change. A crash diet is not sustainable. A new commitment to go the gym daily, always, will more likely make you feel horrendous, rather than super fit. Becoming healthy: it’s a marathon; not a sprint.
And so I have started. And whilst I started with lesser tasks than I thought would be on my to do plan (“take a shower today please”), it was progress. It is about not placing too much pressure on yourself. It is progressing without expecting too much. So my beginning contained pizza, and ice cream and a lot of sofa time. And that’s OK – there will always be set backs. But each day had a little improvement compared to the day before, and that was enough. To be able to achieve the aims you set out, you need to not set yourself up to fail from the get-go. And this will apply for diet, exercise, meditation – whatever the area in your life you want to improve.
Today I went to the gym for the first time in a long while. And whilst this is 5 days after my glorious “beginning”, it was how I could do it. To push myself to go days ago was not right for me. And that is the key thing: working out what is right for you.
I thought I would launch my blog with a beautiful home page, stunning visuals and incredible educational content ready to go. But, I feel my journey is starting properly. And I want this to follow in real time. Not when I think it’s perfect – which is why it’s been years and I’ve never started it. I’ll develop this as I go. In future entries, I hope to expand on how I began. And as I learn more about the science behind it all, will share the knowledge/evidence (or lack thereof?!) behind it. For now, I will continue. Little steps. And hope it ends up somewhere better, with you following me.
The PMA Way 