Easter Is Over!! Get Back To Work!!

Wow - I forgot how hard it is to get back on the wagon after a bit of a break. Easter really is a big deal and threatens to sabotage just about everything associated with a training schedule! I had a little think about just how hard these times of year are for those who are struggling with their diet and/or exercise programs.

I've probably mentioned before that I used to be overweight. But it was so much more than just eating the odd piece of crap here and there. I had a full-blown sick attitude towards food and eating, and spent a large amount of my daily life battling my mind with what I should or shouldn't be eating. Throughout my late teens and early twenties my weight ballooned and plummeted uncontrollably. To say I was miserable would be a gross understatement, and my self-confidence was non-existent. I didn't work. I didn't socialise. I just existed. I did plenty of stupid things while in that state and put my family through a fair whack of stress.

To shorten the story a whole lot, I got myself together (sounds way too simplistic for what it actually took - but that's another novel in itself!) and slowly.......very slowly......I mean over years......I started developing some halfway normal habits. These have morphed into healthy habits and bit by bit it's consolidated into the person I am today.

But my original point was that both Christmas and Easter often threatened to de-rail my initial attempts at a new lifestyle. It seemed that both holiday times were viewed as a free-for-all where people should be able to eat what they want, when they want and how often they want. And exercise! Don't be stupid! It's holiday time!!! I acknowledge that, for the moderate person, a few choccie easter eggs and a nice big Sunday family meal might be the extent of their indulgence. That's not what I was like. I would start the Friday morning with a chocolate egg and pretty much not stop eating until late on Monday night, when I would go to bed feeling so ashamed of myself, and full of promises that I would start my new diet in the morning. The thing is, that after 5 solid days of binging, I would generally feel too uncomfortable, bloated and unwell to get anything underway in the following days. And so another Easter would go by with no real happy memories.

Why am I being a bit morbid? Because I know that I can't be the only one that has been this way. I absolutely know it. And I find that honesty is the key to freedom. The knowledge that you aren't the only one that has done something so 'awful'. That others have been there, faced the same and come through the other end. I know it's a bit of a cliche but - if I can do, I know others can too.

And I go to lengths to let people know that I am not an athlete. I'm not from a sporty family and I have no fitness accolades to my name. Not one. I'm Mrs Average who decided not to live that way anymore. It has been 15 years now since I took the most serious steps toward a healthy lifestyle, and there were hiccups for the first few years. I still fell on and off the wagon with regular monotony. But eventually the falls got further apart until I remember waking up one day and having the realisation that I had really, really changed.

Nowdays, one of the biggest desires I have for my children is that they experience a healthy and active lifestyle. Yes, education is very important. Yes, being an all-round nice person and productive citizen is also very desirable. But health is the foundation that these are built on. Without health, everything is threatened. Unfortunately there are terrible illnesses that we have no control over - they just happen. But there are others that we hold complete control over so why wouldn't we minimise our risk as much as we can.

So my three children have grown up seeing us run, jump, skip, hop and pump weights. They started in their prams and bouncers at the edge of the gym (garage!), and now happily kick the ball around the oval while we complete a quick (or not so quick!) circuit. Just yesterday we had a whole lot of youthful motivators and it makes me happy from the inside out that they all accept that this is just the life they lead.

So that's my rant for the day. A bit heavy, but definitely from the heart.