exercise

Sick with grief

/ Kelly 🌻 / 3 Comments

No one ever told me that my grief would make me feel so ill.

As they broke the news to us that Abi was going to die, I thought of only her, then our family… and everything about how we’d live without her.

I was prepared – and expected – to feel depressed, but the physical symptoms that gradually took hold were more of a shock.

I shared this link about how grief affects us physically on my Facebook page, and wasn’t too surprised to find many of you have felt similar symptoms – some debilitating, some mild, but all as a result of the grief. These symptoms, however, are mostly during the early weeks and months after the loss. I didn’t really notice anything until about a year after and they got worse… Continue reading →

Word of the Week: Me-time

/ Kelly 🌻 / 18 Comments

Is ‘me-time’ one word or two? I don’t know but it’s definitely my theme of this week.

Now that I’ve finally found the mental strength to get fit, I thought I’d share my fitness journey. I never exercised. Ever. I was a gangly beanpole of a girl at school and avoided sports as I wasn’t that good and just looked wrong!

I think it was some boys calling me Penelope Pitstop that meant I never ran again. I wouldn’t even run for a bus if I was late! But as you get older, and a whole lot wiser, you realise that those kids were just being bullies and you stopped caring what other people thought a long time ago. But even so, it wasn’t until I was about 34 that I blended making time for exercise into my life.

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This girl can… can’t she?

/ Kelly 🌻 / 14 Comments

Have you seen the This Girl Can advert? A celebration, if you like, of all the ‘normal’ girls out there making exercise a part of their life. It’s a positive look at real women exercising. It’s inclusive. There’s not a high-cut Lycra thong in sight! It’s great!

I’ve had a slow start to my New Year’s get fit resolution, and have felt a pang of envy as I’ve seen the streets full of runners and people sharing their achievements on social media. Unfortunately I’ve not felt well and it’s set me right back, but the air and the bugs have cleared and I’m feeling ready to get out there.

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Can exercise bring out your emotions?

/ Kelly 🌻 / 1 Comment

I’m running Bristol 10k for the Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal in memory of Abi. For various reasons, I’ve not run since November last year, so while in my mind I could ‘easily’ run a 10k, having run a few in 2012, my body needs some reminding! There’s 8 weeks till the run, so I should be up to speed by then if I take it slow and steady.

When this happened to Abi, things that had been important to me day-to-day fell into insignificance. I felt that I would never want to run again, and certainly never work again. As time has passed, my attitude has changed, and I’m very relieved about that. Abi loved me being ‘fit’, like her. I would say she even nagged me when I missed a class or a run. It was our mutal interest. I could almost hear her talking to me, saying ‘get up and run, Mum’.

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