The Recovering Diet Addict

5 months ago I gave birth to a pretty awesome human being, but if you read my last blog post you will know that I managed to gain an impressive amount of weight during my pregnancy. I am sure that many women are able to (and should) embrace their postpartum bodies; unfortunately I am not one of them. I have accepted that my body will never be the same again and I am totally ok with that. Well, I will be. But, there are a few signs that it's time to get moving and they are pretty hard to ignore: 1. Your hairdresser looks a little uncomfortable asking if you've already had the baby. I had already had the baby.... Fair enough it was only a month postpartum but seeing as I am still the same weight as I was then, I can no longer use this as an excuse.... 2. You invest in an over-priced teething necklace for your gorgeous baby as, as well as tugging at your hair, she has also begun to grasp at your newly acquired second chin. The pain is real. 3. You head out to w...

Howdy readers. So, it's been a while hasn't it? Well, I can report that a LOT has gone on since my last blog post; it's been pretty intense and, though it pains me to say it, I have completely lost my mojo. It's amazing, how easily you can slip back into old habits. If I'm feeling down then I am used to turning to exercise to pick me back up. If I'm feeling super-blue then I comfort eat and get a bit lazy; a habit that I thought I had left behind - how wrong I was. WARNING: I am about to discuss FEELINGS and incredibly honest truths. It started off around the time of my last post. Without going into too much detail, our lives were completely turned upside-down when my husband and I suddenly (and unexpectedly) became foster carers to twins. For the next 8 months of my life I had to juggle a new and demanding job, caring for the children, the dog and managing an entire timetable of access with different family members and meetings with social services. If I ...

In a mission to find more time to exercise during the working week, this week I tried to wake up 40 minutes earlier to workout before work... Monday 5am alarm: OH DEAR GOD NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why did I think that this would be a good idea?! Just one snooze? Go on then. Another? Oh balls, I have overslept... Cue rushing to get ready to work. That counts as cardio right? Husband was very smug tonight (he found the whole premise of this experiment incredibly comical). Determined to prove him wrong, I announced that I would be sleeping in my workout clothes. This did not go down well. Very cold night so put on extra comfy pyjamas.... Tuesday 4am wake up. I have to get up and exercise in an hour? No thank you. Immediately changed my alarm back to 5.40. Another epic fail. Clearly need more direction. Sneak into bed wearing a sports bra under my t-shirt, set my alarm for 5.15am and decide on a short morning yoga session for tomorrow - something ...

This morning I woke up, scraped my hair into a ponytail and wiped the remains of last night's mascara from under my eyes. I threw on my running gear and decided to head out with Bear for a morning run along the river before it got too busy and there was a possibility that I would run into someone. Clearly I was a little optimistic as it was the busiest that I have ever seen the area on such a cold day. One thing I love about having dog is the amount of people that you meet on a walk; people are so friendly and you never know who you are going to get chatting to. Today I met a woman called Suzie*. As I was running (jogging...slowly), Bear leapt on her dog and they began to have an incredibly energetic game of chase. So, I took a welcome break for a chat; little did I know that this woman would completely change my day. Suzie* was fascinating. We talked for ages and for some reason the conversation moved on to body image. She told me a story about her two...

I had a fantastic day at the spa recently: good food, relaxation and quality time with friends. After a particularly enjoyable full-body massage, I brewed myself a green tea and settled down with a trashy magazine in the "relaxation room". Now, I don't read these often and when I opened to the two-page spread on 'How Jennifer Lawrence gets her body' it reminded me exactly why that is... Now, I love Jennifer Lawrence and this post is in NO way meant to body-shame or undermine who she is or what she does. I mean, look at her, she is bloomin' gorgeous! Image courtesy of GQ However, it is magazine articles like this one that continue to perpetuate unrealistic ideals and strip many women (and men) of the little body confidence that they have remaining. Let me paint you a picture: you open a magazine to a 2 page spread of the beautiful woman above who is looking particularly fantastic in a body-con dress that us mere mortals would struggle to pul...