Anorexic to GBR Triathlete

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES…

I would love to say that since breaking through and feeling that I am back in the building,  life has been easy and I have stayed in that place, but if the truth be told it’s been and still is a battle, where the slightest thing can knock me off track. I am realising that I may be a tough cookie, but I am HUMAN and that means at times I can’t always be on top of the world, I can BE REAL though! In our toughest times we realise WHO has our back and will help us to keep in being the best version of US!

What has been great is that I had two days out of my face-to-face business as a PT to begin to write an online course to help athletes become more mentally and physically resilient and nutritionally aware when not competing. It was so refreshing to return to my roots as a teacher where I used to love writing curriculum as well pushing me to research a subject that I am passionate about.

As part of my research I looked up the Oxford Dictionary definition of RESILIENCE - here is part of what it describes it as -

‘The ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc.’

I also looked it up from a psychological basis and found out that -

‘A resilient mindset is a flexible mindset.  It enables you to let yourself experience strong emotions but realise when you may need to put them aside to continue functioning. It also enables you to step forward and take action to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living; but also know when to step back and rest/reenergize yourself.’

In that moment I took a step back and recognised that the word itself sums me up quite well; note it doesn’t say you have it all together and that nothing phases you but recognises that challenges will come and need to be dealt with at the right time. This is a lesson I am learning and I am choosing to rise above the niggle in my gut and bring the BEST me into the room.

In the light of this I covered an LBT class for a colleague and at the end I had a lovely compliment.  A lady said “if we could bottle your joy and enthusiasm, we would all be very happy and you would be minted!” It just shows that amid the storm you can still bring your ‘A’ game. Teaching is my happy place and I am so chuffed that showed through

On the back of this Sarah and I went away to Center Parcs, for a long weekend, with a group of friends that we call ‘the Squad’ as they were our initial group PT gang and they have stuck with it through covid and online classes and now train in our studio. This bunch of ladies are awesome and we all just get on. From a food and training perspective I was anxious, but Sarah and SJ (one of the gang), knew my fears and were an awesome support. To be fair I shouldn’t have worried as when I am chilled out, eating is so much easier and none of the crew care that I am the mad nutter that runs in the wind and rain - I can just do Charlie with no explanation and that’s refreshing! I can honestly say I laughed till I cried, had deep conversations and properly chilled out.

However, on our last day I awoke anxious and uptight with the realisation that once we arrived home that night, we were then full throttle till Christmas – the thought of this completely overwhelmed me. I also know there are business changes coming and I don’t necessarily do well with change - my default is to shut down and hide in a corner. I am learning that this isn’t a great coping mechanism and realising that honest conversations maybe tough, but that’s okay. I also have a wife that knows me well and together we can work through all things, even if at times we don’t see things the same way. Our journey home wasn’t the easiest we have ever had as we both chatted about our current worries around the future and the potential changes ahead of us. We have learnt though that in all things we LOVE each other and that gives us strength together, we also want the BEST for each other and that is so IMPORTANT!

This week I have continued walking step by step and taking each moment in and found a brilliant quote that has challenged me and caused me to focus on WHO I am!

‘ITS NOT WHO YOU ARE THAT HOLDS YOU BACK, BUT WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE!’

The biggest hurdle to our success is often the perception of ourselves. We are so quick to put ourselves down and fail to see how awesome we are. We often devalue ourselves and sit behind labels of negativity.

So my challenge to you this week, is to think about WHO you really are, to smash down the negative labels you say about yourself and press into the positives.

YOU ARE AN INCREDIBLE AND UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL AND YOU ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!