Healthy body, healthy mind.

My journey to fitness. [25/06/15 - forever] 30. 5'10. Was 220lbs, now 137lbs. 3 years down. 83lbs lost. Blue belt kickboxer. Serious asthmatic.

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My health journey this year is to recover from COVID. My symptoms started about 10 days before Christmas and I'm still not 100%. My sense of smell and taste is still off (this is normal, it can take between 6 weeks to a year to return and in 20% of cases it won't). I get random tinnitus in my left ear but not as bad or making me deaf like it did when I was infectious.

The worst is probably that my bowel is super inflamed. (I have IBS to start with) I'm very sore in my belly region and to eat is a bit of a struggle. I'm hungry but my body shuts down after very little these days.

See my morning bagel:

Yes I am a heathen, I didn't cut or toast my cinnamon and raisin bagel because I was so hungry. But that's as far as I got.

I'm hoping that once the inflammation settles down then it will ease and I can eat properly again but with COVID it's not a linear or even well known process. So, we'll see!

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For anyone starting your health journey today, good for you.

Diet culture has a lot to answer for, but picking the first day in a new year to prioritize your health isn't a terrible thing. Good luck!

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Me: has gained 14lbs since my lowest weight.

Me: Still 70lbs down from my highest weight and this jumper was my favorite thing to wear because it wasn't uncomfortably tight. (It's a US16 and I'm a US6).

Every version of you is valid. Sometimes life just has different things in store.

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This is your happy May Day, it's fine to gain weight in quarantine post.

You're not going to know the exact biomechanics of your body because it isn't an exact science. You may gain some. You may lose some. It's fine. It doesn't affect your value as a human being.

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Happy 2020!

I don’t believe in ‘fitness’ or ‘weight loss’ resolutions because they should be life long commitments. But I do want to recommit myself to honoring my body with nourishing fuel and movement. 2020 is the year to dance it out and feel good about life again.

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Nothing like a bit of interior decorating to pump up those baby arm gains.

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I'm decorating my apartment so to keep me well fed I meal prepped this delicious chicken and veg.

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I don't know whether it's comforting to know that after more than 4 years of trying to be my best self I still crumble at stress and eat giant cookies.

Draw a line under it as always, I just know the sugar is going to upset my digestive track and no one wants that.

I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner on Wednesday as I plan to make eggs and bacon prior to my decorating shenanigans. I need to do something with these eggs after it took me going to the shops five times over the course of a week to remember to get some.

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Just a few of the things I've eaten over the last week.

Clockwise: Ramen noodles with added veggies; made my first excellent café au lait; filtered black coffee from Costa while I was reading an excellent new book ('The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck); absolutely delicious black grapes; sausage casserole; and chicken, piri mayo and salad wraps.

Let's put into perspective that my bloating (I have IBS) was so bad I've 'lost' nearly 8lbs in 9 days. I have not exercised once. Just went back to my normal eating routine. No wonder I felt awful. Down from 152 to 144.4lbs. I'd like to be a strong 142, but I may end up in the 130s again.

Hope everyone is achieving their goals this week.

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I know. I know weight loss is not linear but catch me being mad that despite my best efforts the scale went up this week for what seems like no reason.

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Life update: in a word, fucked.

I went through a lot. My mother passed away in May, my brother and I had to make the decision to put our 18 year old dog to sleep 8 weeks after she died, I started a new stressful job 7 weeks after she died, and I moved three months after she died (we lived together and I cared for her previously) to avoid being served an eviction notice at 6 months (due to underoccupancy). All of which occurred 18 months after I lost my father.

I also gained 7lbs. It roughly translates as an inch on my waist and 1.5 inch on my hips. My clothes still fit but they're tighter.

Am I disappointed with myself? No. We do what we have to to survive. But now is the time to care for myself again. To nourish what I've neglected. To feed my body good foods to help me feel better in this awful time. Food is such a big part of your mental health process and it can never be underestimated.

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Barely managed to survive the chocolate portion of the resurrection. Every year I say I don't want eggs but here we are. Only my mother listens.

It's not even a calorie conscious thing, if I consume too much chocolate, and also salt (I don't add salt to anything, I never have), it physically makes me ill (heart races, palpitations if it's a lot a lot and increased anxiety to heaven). It's part of the reasons why health in relation to what we eat is so important. You can eat whatever you want in moderation but whether it will make you feel good is entirely something else.

You're probably thinking I could just throw the chocolate away but a it was a gift and b I never waste food so I have to suffer my own dumb self.

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Lesser known fact: low blood sugar can increase anxiety.

Catch me always being surprised when I start worrying obsessively about everything because I haven't eaten for 3 hours. #dontgohungrykids

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Did my first martial arts training session in nearly a year and pulled my groin (adductor). Not hugely, it's just a bit tender. It just goes to show; I prepared for my back, for my hip joints, my known problem areas, which are all fine, and this still happened.

Will this stop me? No. Might slow me down for a week or so while I figure out how to strengthen everything up again.

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me when my brain just remembers i didn't stretch my piriformis: :O

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Leaning back a little to catch the light/ natural light problems. 😆 I love these shorts, I just got them, but they're a weird cut on me so I just tuck them up to above my quads. It's not like anyone can see me. 😂

But the difference of a few hours, let me tell you, because now I'm in my pjs, living on Tylenol, drinking chai tea because my family gave me plague.

Well, at least I got half my physio in if nothing else. I decided to leave off my upper body/core work because my back and ribs were killing me. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. It's just a crying shame because I was supposed to go to a friend's certified boxing class tomorrow and it's looking like that won't happen. 😭 I'll go next week, but I was really excited, y'know. It's been so long since I trained with them and I have to wait...still.

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If seen this posts a few places, I thought it needed to be here too! Volume on!