How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically

The votes are in

Last week’s vote had two different options and they were:

How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically
Or
Why do we need an exercise routine?

With 76% of the vote the winner is “How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically”. In this blog 2 Spuds will try and answer this question as best we can.

The science

Always a good place to start. I mean you can put into that multi coloured search engine questions like:

“How can exercise help me physically?”
“Does exercise help me through a mental crisis?”
“What are the top ten benefits of exercise on the body?”

And that multi coloured search engine will oblige and give you many different answers. This is true: there are many different benefits to exercise helping you both mentally and physically. So lets look at the evidence.

It can help you feel happier

Exercise can be an outlet for people suffering from all sorts of mental and physical conditions. Add a personal trainer into the equation then you can have a talking therapy as well. Although we are not technically trained in talking therapies it is amazing what we get told when you are working out.

The treadmill

It will not be the first time I have put someone on a treadmill and asked them to do a fast walk on an incline while we discuss whatever is bothering them. They sweat, talk, laugh, work harder and the outcome after 15 minutes is that they feel better.

Boxing

Similarly with boxing it has not been the first time I have handed someone a pair of boxing gloves and taken them to the boxing bags. Said person will then hit the bags, and at some point tell me what is happening (sometimes they don’t, but this isn’t my point). The long and short of this is I have provided an outlet for the stress, the anxiety or the depression. Instead of bottling up the emotions they have let them out.

Endorphins

Endorphins are released when we exercise, and these are responsible for producing positive feelings. They can also help reduce the perception of pain. So, in short, exercise! Get those endorphins flowing and feel happy. The other side of this is exercise it can give you more energy.

Bones and muscles

Now here is the crunch point. After a broken bone you are usually encouraged to have some sort of physiotherapy. In a broken bone the bone is obviously affected but also the muscles, ligaments and tendons surrounding the area. Now you may never have full strength back in the bone, but you can rehab the muscles, tendons and ligaments to help stabilise the bone and help it recover. With any kind of osteoporosis, arthritis, join replacement and so on you can work on the area surrounding the joint to make it stronger and therefore stabilise it. With the stabilisation a person can feel a lot better and could have less pain.

Exercise can reduce your risk of injury or illness

The body likes to be moving, it likes to eat a healthy diet and it also likes drinking its fair share of water too. Today a lot of people lead a sedentary lifestyle with a questionable diet. A sedentary lifestyle can lead us to lower back issues, diabetes type 2, higher blood pressure readings or cholesterol, obesity, heart disease or ultimately death. If we can exercise and eat a healthy diet, we significantly reduce our chances of getting any of the above conditions.
For some fun facts and figures of what I have just said please visit the NHS website.

Cancer prehab

Carrying on from above it was reported in the BBC only recently that the NHS England are to start offering cancer patients “prehab” exercise to help boost their recovery. It is hoped that by doing exercise before starting a chemotherapy treatment or before major surgery they will recover a lot faster and reduce their hospital stays.

Sleep

To aid in our recovery from either a mental or physical condition we need sleep. Sleep helps our bodies heal, it gives us more energy, it can help us keep our lives in a routine, it can stop you reaching for that chocolate bar as well. It is important we listen to our bodies when they need sleep. There is no point fighting it. I find when your body needs sleep it is busy making you feel better.

A side note

It is extremely important that we have the right sleep aids as well. What I mean is no bright lights in the bedroom. In short, no laptops, tablets, tv or phones. We need to have the correct temperature as well as the correct noise levels. It can even go as far as your nutrition. If you have coffee straight before bed your body will be feeding off the caffeine so it will be over ready for action rather than ready for sleep.

Post-surgery

You will notice if you have ever been in hospital that physiotherapists (physios) will be at your bedside almost as soon as you have been brought back from theatre.

December

When I was in hospital in December one of the ladies across from me had a physio at her bedside within a few hours of surgery. The aim was to get her moving as soon as possible. Funnily enough she was in the discharge queue after me and that was after a three day stay. From what I could gather she had had a hysterectomy. With me I was back on the ward within an hour of surgery. When the nurse came a couple of hours later to do the post-op checks I asked if I could get up. The nurse said I had just had major surgery so was to stay put. I said no. I wanted my pj’s on, catheter out and wanted to move around. She said I was going to be trouble but obliged by helping me out. Now I was nowhere near walking around but shuffling I could muster. I slept for a couple more hours after that and then was up and that was that. I knew that the quicker I could move around the quicker I would get home and the quicker I would recover. Let’s just say I was allowed home just over the 12 hour mark post-surgery.

An important side note

If for any reason you are reading this blog in a hospital bed then please check with you nurse, doctor or physio before jumping up.

Mental health

Exercise is good for your mental health. It can be an outlet for you as well as someone to talk to as I have already mentioned. However, what it can also do is get you back into a routine, make you accountable for turning up to the gym for a session, get you socially active and much, much more. It can also stop negative thoughts too and give you some breathing space to think.

My mental health

I know with my mental health that I am a very active person. I also know that telling me to sit still and look at the walls is not going to go down too well. I need to be active even if it is shuffling around a hospital ward.

Exercise

Here’s the thing, this blog is not telling you that you must go to your nearest gym and sign up for a membership now if not sooner. Exercise can come in many different forms. The one thing I would stress is that it must be right for you (and your condition) and fun. If it isn’t fun then you will struggle to do it, simple! Exercise can mean a walk around the block, a class at the local gym, swimming, dancing, Yoga or some gentle exercise at home. If you are in any doubt about what kind of exercise to start with then ask. There are physiotherapists, personal trainers who specialise in rehab and mental health or your GP that can advise you in what is good and not so good to do.

Conclusion

With everything I have just said hopefully it has answered any questions you may have about how exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically. However, if you have any specific questions related to your condition(s) then please just contact 2 Spuds and we will see how we can help you.

-Helen

Rehab training

Rehab training is a very important part of recovery from both a physical and mental crisis. I will be discussing my own rehab training which has taken place over the last few weeks. I have been mentioning it in some of my other blogs but want to dedicate a full blog to it too.

Five weeks ago

About five weeks ago yesterday the hospital was wheeling me down for emergency surgery after finding two cysts one on each ovary. This is the second surgery I have had in three years and the third issue with Endometriosis. The funny thing is all the outside has healed and I have little scars now to add to my collection. However, the inside is taking slightly longer which is normal. I have to keep reminding myself that I am only five weeks post op.

My personality

My personality is very go, go, go and I am not very good at sitting still. I mean I was back in a Zumba class around ten days post op and haven’t slowed down since. In fact, I have been increasing what I do (within reason). Yes I say I have been in a Zumba class but it has been very controlled and there has been no jumps or bouncing. Jumping around at that stage would not have helped my recovery.

Training

So what have I been doing except for Zumba? I have been walking, walking and walking some more. Starting on a treadmill going to number five on the incline with a slow walking speed. I then progressed it up to incline level fifteen with a much faster pace. Today I did forty minutes. I use one minute for each incline, plateau at the top for five minutes then come down the other side. It has taken a few weeks to get there but with determination I feel it has gone well.

Other gym kit

I have also been using the rolling escalator stair machine thingy. Once I had found the correct spaces for my water bottle and book I was a very happy lady. I can walk on that machine for a good forty minutes before getting tired. I have also been using the cross trainer and bike.

Weight vest

A weight vest was a present from me to me. It is a great piece of kit which gives you a little extra weight to challenge yourself on treadmills, rolling escalators and the like. The funny part about the weight vest is it is exactly ten kilograms at full weight. This is the weight I have lost to date so to put it back on again it quite an experience. It feels heavy and awkward but then again for most of last year that is what I carried day in and day out. I am working with four kilos at the minute but hoping next week to progress to five. Once my core has healed and got back to its normality I will progress to ten and see how that feels to work out in.

Resistance training

Now, I am still banned from lifting any heavy weights but that didn’t mean I have to stop completely. I found using the lateral pulldown machine and low row were perfect for keeping my back from getting too tired and niggly. With low weights, low reps/sets and a longer break in between each round it worked perfectly. You see I didn’t have to lift anything heavy to have a workout.

Bands

And no I don’t mean the ones in the top forty music chart. I mean resistance bands. These are a fantastic way of training when you need to slow things down and concentrate on the deeper muscles. Now I prefer my training to be fast, moving in all directions and breaking a sweat. Something that I am not going to get with resistance bands in a rehab setting. I had to slow it right down and concentrate on activating the muscles which needed attention. This was mainly my back and will shortly involve me core muscles too.

My core

My core work can start now as well. However, my five minute plank will have to wait. I need to start with the basics and the regressions of most core moves. It means I will have to separate out my upper core muscles, lower and obliques (they live on the sides) and concentrate on activating each to get them strong again.

My mental health

Why am I keeping so active? That is a good question. First of all I point out my blog called “sitting still is tricky!”. That sentence says it all really. I find it really hard to sit still and do nothing. The idea of a beach holiday, reading a book, drinking an ice cold drink and so on scares me. I am wanting to know what water sports are available, is there a bicycle track or even a walking track and when the next activity is. So you see my point. My mental health sitting still would get bored, frustrated, irritable and many other words to describe that. My mental health doing this kind of exercise is happy, less stressed, active and smiling. And that is my point. Active body equals happy mind.

Conclusion

I hope that has given you a little insight into my training as I rehab from my surgery. I feel the main point is you can work out to an extent post operation/illness/injury you just need to be careful (always double check if you are unsure). Feel free to ask me any questions, talk to your own GP or local gym and see what you can do.

-Helen

How many calories?

I thought it would be a good time to talk about calories and exercise. I am aware that there is a big holiday coming up next week so I thought why not. What I plan to do is take you through some Christmassy calories and exercise. I will also tell you how you can be sensible but still have fun. In my book it is quite simple at the end of the day.

Calories

I read a BBC news article a few weeks back that stated it would take you around four hours of walking to burn one pizza off again. Wow! A full four hours of walking just to walk off one pizza. Yes I agree the article has a point of making packaging more informative but at the end of the day how many pizzas do you eat in a month? In the month of December I think I have had 3 (this isn’t my point!) but then the months of September, October and November there were none. So that is my point usually my pizza intake is non existent and I am a pizza lover.

Some more calories

FoodWalkingRunning
5 pigs in blankets (70 kcal)12 minutes6 minutes
450g Christmas pudding (1280 kcal)210 minutes110 minutes
100g brussel sprouts (35 kcal)6 minutes3 minutes
Mince pie (245 kcal)20 minutes40 minutes
Small glass sparkling wine (105 kcal)17 minutes9 minutes
Chocolate bar (229 kcal)42 minutes22 minutes
Leftover turkey sandwich (445 kcal)82 minutes43 minutes

The verdict

The verdict from the above table. Well, if you are a fan of the brussel sprout then you are good to go and eat as many as your wish. However, if you are a fan of the Christmas pudding then perhaps take it in moderation. According to Google the average calorie intake for the whole of Christmas Day is around 6000 calories. I’m not even going to calculate the walking and running times for that. It is one day a year that we all eat too many calories. On Boxing Day most of us are seen outside with our latest presents taking a walk.

Everything in moderation

As I mentioned above how many pizzas do you have in one month? The same goes for how many Christmas Dinners do you have in one month? I bet the answer is one and it is usually the 25th of December. This is my point: everything in moderation. Many people come January will be hitting a detox programme and getting a new gym membership and this is all well and good. It is good to let the body detox after such a feast. I myself have been eating a lot more mince pies and Lebkuchen (German cookie) during the month of December but as they say “it is the season”. I am also aware that come January that I will go back to eating a Rich Tea biscuit if that.

Exercise

Now here is where we can get our own back on the calories. The most important news is that exercise can be whatever you need it to be.

ExerciseCalories burnt (1 hour)
Sleeping60
Slow walking180
Yoga280
Light cycling500
Swimming620
Boxing800

The verdict

I am aware that sleeping isn’t quite a workout but seeing as most of us will be doing it after that Christmas meal I thought I would add it in. So you can see from the chart in one hour your can burn a lot of calories depending on what you are doing. Take a two hour walk and suddenly you have close to four hundred calories burnt (and that is at a slow pace). My personal favourite is boxing. Take out the stresses of Christmas Day on the boxing bag.

The point

Christmas comes round once a year so eat in moderation, drink in moderation, have a good nap on the day and most importantly have fun and don’t worry about it. I know I’m not going to worry and I also know that I am going to enjoy my walks.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas for next week from 2 Spuds in a Pod.

-Helen

Ps. There will be no blog on Wednesday, 25 December for obvious reasons. 2 Spuds will be taking a well deserved break.

Sitting still is tricky!

We are about one week on from my emergency surgery to fix two orange sized cysts on my ovaries. So far everything seems to be going in the right direction. The surgical sites are healing nicely and I am now on the lowest pain killers possible. Except for feeling tired a lot of the time I would say that I am doing very well.

Sitting still!

My main issue is this sitting still thing. I have never been very good at it and I am being less good at it now. Before last week I was doing an active job, making sure that at least six out of the seven week days I was in the gym and I was walking most places I could. I would happily go from one thing to another, to another and to another. I would plan lots into my day so everything was completed. Now I can do a few hours of activity before a sit down and then I can repeat.

It’s a good time of year!

That it is and I don’t mean that there are more colours around, trees looking fancy, mince pies everywhere you turn, music blaring from speakers and generally everyone seems to be in a better mood. I mean that there has been a lot for me to do. Friends and family have been coming over to the house to either take me down to the supermarket, taking me out for a drive, taking me for coffee and so on. I mean I have had small tasks to do most days.

The good thing!

The good thing about it is I am moving around. I have a theory that the more I move, the better I get and the quicker the recovery period so I can go back to Zumba and boxing. You may not think it is a big element to recovery but believe me it is. Little movement like walking from one room to the other, walking up the stairs, standing to seated and seated to standing, crouching down to pick something up (I can’t quite bend in the middle yet) and much more. All of this moves muscles, helps the cardiovascular system and more importantly the brain and my mental health. Yes, I would love to say that I am booked on to a Zumba and circuit class this evening but I have to wait. I have to wait until my core has healed.

Food

I thought I would add a quick note in here about food. I mean it would be great to kick back and eat all those sugary foods to make us “feel better”. But I am not. Having come so far in my weight loss journey it would be a great shame to start going backwards. I am aware that I may gain a little from in-activity but I am doing what I can to counter-act that. I have allowed myself the odd Christmas biscuit but I am also mindful that I don’t want to go over board with it either. I am sticking to the good foods. The proteins that will help my muscles recover. The fruit and vegetables (vitamins) so my whole body can recover and the water to flush out all the bad toxins.

Exercise

As mentioned above I am moving as much as I can. I am also going for walks. Nothing too big at the minute but I can now happily manage anything from a half hour to an hour. I have been to the gym once since last week. I did a half hour cycle and a half hour walk on the treadmill. I vary my days to walking outside to gym days and make sure when I feel tired that I remember it is my body telling me it has had enough for that day. I will increase these times (and resistances) as I come through the rest of December and hopefully post festive season will be back at the gym to start building my strength back up, Zumba and boxing.

Conclusion

Be kind to yourself. Let the body heal. Try not to rush into anything and be aware that if something doesn’t feel right or a twinge is a bit too much then stop. There is no harm in taking a break (I am trying, I really am!).

-Helen

This time of year (and exercise)

I thought I would do a quick blog on this time of year and exercise. There are a few things that may influence our exercise during the next few months. Yes, stress will be a major factor but I am talking more about coughs, colds, flu, SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and so on.

Can we exercise when we are sick?

The short answer to the question is, listen to your body. It is as simple as that. When we are sick with a cold or flu our bodies are using up vital energy. Energy trying to fight the bugs that caused us to be sick in the first place. If we then decide to go and run a 5k the energy switches from making us better to attempting the 5k. In short, it could make us much worse which will take even longer to recover from.

Our CV system

Our cardiovascular (CV) system is made up of our heart, lungs, arteries, veins and so on. If our lungs are already inflamed fighting off a chesty cough and we decide to run a 5k then this could make us worse.

An overnight bike ride

Let me put this into an experience. With a cold I was about to complete an overnight 100km (62 mile) bike ride. I should have been at home in bed recovering but I was at the start line at 2330. Riding through the night breathing in the continuous cold air was not a good idea. My body ached, I struggled uphill as I couldn’t breathe properly and I eventually made it to the finish line. Lets just say it was more of a collapse over the finish line. I was exhausted. Later that day my chest hurt, my cough sounded like a barking dog and I had a temperature. My mother was less than sympathetic (“it’s your own fault” she said) and I ended up with a chest infection. Several years later if I get a cold it always goes straight to my chest (a reminder for being such an idiot). The long and short of it was, I should have been in bed.

Temperature

Again if you have flu or a high temperature then attempting a high intensity class will only make you warmer. If the body gets too hot then it will shut down and you will faint. Not a great thing to do in the middle of a crowded gym.

But can I exercise?

If you are like me and you are determined to get into the gym then here is my top 5 things to do if you feel you really do need to work out.

  • Stay in bed
  • Drink a hot drink (water, lemon, ginger and honey can do wonders)
  • Watch TV
  • Eat chocolate
  • Call lots of people to give you sympathy

There you go.

No, in all seriousness if you are determined then here is the “real” list.

  • Slow to medium walking on a treadmill (no incline)
  • Cycle (not a spin class)
  • Lift little weights (no 100kg’s)
  • No high intensity/circuits/or anything that will get you out of breath
  • Some light stretching

Your body needs the time to recover and it is time you will need to give it.

When you feel better

When you feel better you will need to again listen to your body. Depending on how much time you have had off you will need to let your body get back into the swing of things. Don’t assume after 2 weeks off you can do straight into lifting 100kg’s or sprint for 2 minutes. Give your body time to get back to where it was.

SAD (seasonal affective disorder)

Now, there is one condition you may get around this time of year and it is SAD. SAD is a type of depression that presents itself during the winter months. The 3 best ways to help SAD is getting as much natural light as possible (sunshine) , exercising regularly and keeping stress away. For more information on SAD please visit the NHS website.

Listen

As I keep saying, during the next few months listen to your body. Let the main symptoms disappear and then get back into your exercise routine. Don’t beat yourself up about not being able to make a circuits class. It is much better that you recover first rather than collapsing mid-class. Even I have been known to say “I think I need to sit on the couch tonight”.

-Helen

Exercise as a daily activity

For our Facebook poll this month we asked you if you wished to see a blog on:

The importance of exercise as a recovery tool and stress outlet
Or
How to bring exercise into your daily life (no gym required!)

The second option was a favourite so we will be discussing that in this blog.

It’s easy!

It is just that. Bringing exercise into your daily life with no gym is not as hard as you may think. There are several simple options to help you. I am sure some of you will be doing them already. Half the battle is preparing in advance so you can achieve your goal.

Walking

A simple yet timeless classic (and it is free!). Now going for a walk around the block when you get in from work in the evening is one way to do it. However, there are others. For example, getting off a bus stop earlier than normal and walking home from there. Parking your car at the other end of the car park at the supermarket and walk in from there. Going for a walk at your lunch break. This last one you get a break from your desk and become more productive in the afternoon. Of course with the British weather I suggest bringing an umbrella.

Take the stairs

Another good option. Walk up the escalator or stairs rather than using the lift. How many levels can you get to? You can also challenge your friends and family on this one. If you have a set of stairs in the house then you can play stair relay races.

Get up from the couch!

Just that. I know it is that time of year where we want to grab a blanket, sit down on the couch and watch that baking show. However, that baking show can help us. It has adverts. Get up during each advert, walk around or generally stand up/sit down until the advert is finished.

Standing up at work

Standing up at your desk to answer a phone call or walking away from your desk every hour to get your photocopying, making a cup of tea, going to the bathroom and so on. I know standing desks are coming more and more into office spaces but we still have a long way to go.
On a side note, if your manager is complaining that you are standing up too much then just send them to 2 Spuds and I will explain why.

Vacuuming

A personal favourite of mine. I should point out that we live in a house with stairs and that living in a bungalow may make this tricky. There is nothing better that lifting the vacuum up and down the stairs, moving the furniture around to get into the nooks and crannies, then trying to empty the thing into the rubbish. I generally break a sweat when I am doing this and need a good sit down at the end. The same goes for cleaning the house from top to toe.

Making dinner

Grab some tins of baked beans or 2 bottles of water and hey presto you have dumbbells. While making dinner you can do some bicep curls, triceps or shoulders. Plus the standing up burns calories as well.

Gardening

More of a summer activity when it is nice and warm but well worth a mention. I know Rosie come April next year will be back out in our garden and looking at what to plant. She will then spend the summer maintaining it, watching it grow then harvesting it for the kitchen. Last year we ended up with many trips to the garden centre as well as B&Q as Rosie created her master pieces.

Dance, dance, dance

Now this happens on a regular basis in the 2 Spuds household. The music gets turned up and we dance like no one is watching. It blows away the cobwebs and puts a smile on our face.

Bodyweight exercises

Aptly named as your body is the weight in these rather than a dumbbell or barbell from the gym. The list is endless when it comes to this. It can range from squats to press ups to ab crunches. All you need is a bit of space and a comfortable rug to lie on. If you need some ideas then that multi-coloured search engine will be able to help you.

The benefits

Of course there are many benefits to the above. The obvious ones are weight loss, toning up, muscle building and general fitness. Some of the less well known ones are reduce your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, less coughs and colds, less risk of diabetes 2. Exercise can also help your mental health, mood and sleep. It can also help reduce your risks of falls and more importantly it can increase your chances of living a healthy and long life.

Exercise as a daily activity

There you have it – exercise as a daily activity with no gym required. See what you can do.

-Helen

Find your routine

Following an operation on my hand, I’m currently on sick leave. With the kind of work I do I need two hands to be fully functioning as it is very physical. Now that I am off work, all my routines have gone out the window, and I need to get them back.

Work

Work is so much more than just a source of income. Having been in a bad place, getting my new job last year was a life saver. Both my mind and body are very grateful as they are kept busy. I often don’t have time to think too much (yes I do overthink a lot) and I find it easier to make a quick decision and get on with it.
I was able to settle into a good enough routine, although there were still room for some improvement. But on the whole I felt ok with it all.

Benefits of working

Apart from the obvious, working gives me so much more. It gives me a chance to meet a lot of new and different people every day, each visit means a new challenge (this is due to the work itself, and not the people!). I get to have interesting conversations with people from all walks of lives, and leaving a job with a satisfied customer gives me a great buzz.
My work also takes me around some parts of Scotland, which means I get to visit new places. I love the scenery and get great satisfaction from looking at a loch or a hill or some animals in a field as I drive past or stop for a quick lunch.

What I miss from not working – 3 main things

  1. social interaction with a lot of different people.
    This surprises me, but I realise I miss this aspect of work a lot.
  2. the physical side of things as it often gives me little workouts.
    Apart from missing out on the nice feeling of having a tired body through work, I have unfortunately put on a little weight too. I’m not worried about this, it is just somewhat annoying.
  3. having a routine!
    I can now do what I want and when I want. As nice as it is, I feel a little lost.

Having a good routine works wonders for your mental health

I like to take things as they come, but I’ve also realised that there are certain things I need to have in my life on a regular basis. All my routines, with all the good stuff that really helped me, went out the window the last few years which was a great contributor to me ending up where I did. We were able to rectify a lot of this and I got in to a pretty good routine. For me, this means there is a structure to my days and they are filled with good stuff outside of the things I must do.
Being off work with all the time in the world (and not able to do as much due to the surgery on my right hand) has thrown me a bit. I feel more anxious, perhaps because I have more time to dwell on things, or simply due to lack of interactions. Neither my body or my mind is as tired as it is normally.

Do what is right for you

My advice would be to do as much as you can of what keeps you happy on a daily basis. It is so important to still exercise, eat good and healthy food, go outside for fresh air and sun. Also keep in touch with friends and family. Do not just sit in front of the tv all day. Get out there! Move that body, and keep the mind occupied.

-Rosita

Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day!

As I am sure most of you know, tomorrow is the day allocated to Mental Health. This year’s focus is on suicide prevention, which we are lucky not to have much personal experience with. I do realise we are all not so lucky, and I think it is great that it is being highlighted. Here is a link to the World Health Organization site with more information and suggestions on what you can do to take part. It is shocking to hear that every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. 

There are a lot of ways to help someone, or yourself, who is not feeling mentally well. We want to share our own experience using our chosen outlets: cycling, Zumba and boxing for Helen, and yoga and nature for Rosita.

Helen

As many of you know I like my fitness and exercise. It keeps me happy and keeps me fit. However, it is also an outlet for me when life gets stressful. I do many kinds of exercise as well. My top three would have to be (in no particular order) cycling or indoor cycling, Zumba and boxing. These are the main ones that keep me happy.

Cycling (or indoor cycling)

First, it is how Rosie and I met. We would cycle around the parks in London, eat ice cream and chat. I like how cycling can take me places. It can take me from A to B as a work commute, it can take me to a place I have never been before or it can take me on a night-time cycle ride for charity. There is nothing better than huffing and puffing to get up a vertical hill and then speeding down the other side while you catch your breath.

While I was at PT school, I had the chance to do the indoor cycling qualification. I thought with a love of cycling it would be a good thing to do. I love my spinning whether it is my own class, or I am taking part in someone else’s. The variety it has from sprints to hills to jumps to whatever the instructor can squeeze in before cooling down and your legs are about to give up.

Zumba

Whoever has read my Zumba blogs will know that with my two left feet, lack of coordination and terrible balance I still give Zumba a good try. The music, the way the body moves and all the steps it must create the dance is enough to put a massive smile on my face. Even better is when I am facing away from the mirrors in the gym and I can pretend I know exactly what I am doing. That is the thing. You don’t need to be good at it, you just need to try.

Boxing

This is an interesting one as I do boxing both as a personal trainer taking a class/client and as part of my own workout. I find it is a great stress buster for both clients and myself. I mean where else can you hit something and not get told off for it. Imagine you have had a crazy day at work. Your manager is demanding the report in for five o’clock that evening and you lets you know at a quarter to five. Your partner has just called to say they will be late home from work which means that dinner reservation you had now needs to be cancelled. The childminder has just texted to say your little one is sick and needs to go home urgently and reception have just emailed to say that your business client is waiting for you downstairs. Stressful? I would think so. Now take all of that stress down to the gym and put on a pair of boxing gloves. Hit the boxing bag, hit it again, and again and again. Now how do you feel? All the stress has been left in the bag and you start to feel better. It’s as easy as that. Once you have let go of the stress then you can start working on technique, the moves, the cardio side of the exercise, the core (abs) side of boxing and so on. It takes time but it is fun at the same time.

An outlet

Here is my point. Mental health can make us feel unwell, not wanting to do anything, angry, upset and so on. But when you have an exercise outlet (in my opinion) you can switch it around to feeling awesome!

-Helen

Rosita

There are a lot of things I can do to try and stave off my depression and anxiety, however there are 2 main things: yoga and nature. 

Yoga

Going to a yoga class is something I wish I could do every day. I do yoga at home but it is not always the same, and some days you really need someone to tell you what to do! What I like about yoga is the physical workout, and also the breathing. Physically I feel amazing afterwards, it feels as if the body has been reset and I can do anything. The breathing helps me relax, and it is something I use at other times too, particularly when I get anxious or stressed. Taking a few seconds out to breathe and relax the mind is so beneficial. It might sound corny to you, but I urge you to give it a try. When I say breathe I mean inhaling through the nose for 4 seconds whilst allowing your belly to rise, then exhaling through your mouth for 4 seconds. Next time you are stressed or anxious, why not give it a go? 

Nature

Nature has an amazing way of helping me feel relaxed. Most of the time it does not matter what I do when I am outside. It can be a mixture of things, physical outdoor activity or simply sitting in the sun. Going outside when I’m feeling a bit down or anxious really does help me feel better. 

Another contributing factor is the me-time that comes with both yoga and being outside. It helps me to look after myself, which is also so very important. Having spent a lot of time looking after others, I am now getting better at looking after myself.

-Rosita

#MovementForHealth #yoga #WorldMentalHealthDay #meTime #Zumba #boxing

The road to recovery

Facebook poll

A couple of weeks ago we asked on Facebook what blog you would like to see. The options were mental health conditions, signs and symptoms or how can I help myself on the road to recovery. It was a close call between the two options but with 57% it is the road to recovery. Rosita will take you through her recovery and Helen will take you through hers in Wednesday’s blog.

A road walked

This is a road I walk every day, some days more than others. It has become a way of life, making sustainable and healthy changes. I have come a long way from completely losing the plot having drunk Helen’s glass of juice. You know you’re in a bit of a mess when something so trivial tips you over the edge. It certainly put things into perspective for us. The next day we went to the doctor who signed me off for 2 weeks. 5 months later I resigned from work, having not been back to work. I spent the first few weeks/months crying and not doing a lot. Pretty much everything stressed me out. Most of this time is a bit of a blur. We made a few changes which helped enormously and that is why I am in such a good place today. 

Not going to work

It soon became obvious that my job was the main reason for me no longer functioning. I probably knew that before but could not see a way out of the situation. I loved the job itself, and the good days were fab. But working in the public sector, for a service with over 50,000 officers and staff, became difficult. There were a lot of changes made by people having to justify their existence at work, none for the best in my opinion. There never is a need to reinvent the wheel. I love helping people, and I’m damn good at it too. It got to a point where I could no longer do that. This is all very clear to me now, but it has taken a while to realise that, with a lot of conversations with the professionals and Helen. In the end, the job I loved broke me. Simple as that. 

Leaving London

We had been talking about leaving London and took action. This resulted in us finding a lovely flat in Scotland which also has a little garden. Having outdoor space means the world to me. I can make coffee and sit outside in the sun. You might think this is nothing, but to me it is what keeps me sane. It involves coffee, me-time, fresh air and hopefully sun too. All of this is pretty essential. 

Medication

Being prescribed medication was a massive thing. I only started with the pills after a couple of months, when I realised that I was not getting any better. They have made a huge difference, and I was able to get more from the counselling as well as my brain started to calm down. Constantly crying is hard and tiring.

Counselling 

Counselling gave me a lot of advice and tips, which was essential to my recovery. I have high standards for myself, our home, nutrition and exercise, to name a few. It became apparent that I could not keep this up. So the counsellor suggested to ask myself this: “if I don’t do this particular thing now, is anyone gonna die?”. The answer is simple. This helped me to lower my standards, giving me more time for me. This was when I was really struggling to do anything.

Me-time

I started taking time for me. This involves me doing things I love. To name a few:

  • Listen to music
  • Read a book
  • Taking photos
  • Going for walks
  • Sit and drink coffee
  • Being outside in the sun

These are just a few things that give me a buzz. All of which, apart from drinking coffee, I had stopped doing because I was stressing too much to get chores done. I can now take half a day or a few hours or even a whole day and do nothing. Nothing to me involves me-time. We now have a saying in our house that it’s time for me-time, and this overrides all chores. You should try it. You need to look after yourself. 

Helen

I know not everyone has partner in these circumstances, and I do not know what would have happened had I not had Helen by my side. She’s been, and still is, my rock. Words can’t emphasise enough how I feel. So I will just say this: thank you buddy.

-Rosita