Caveat
I need to start this piece by being clear that this article is a record of my own journey and is not intended to be viewed as advice. I just thought it might be helpful for others to see how just making small changes to their lifestyle can have a profound impact on their health. This is a story about how I boosted my body’s natural defences.
How it started
Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic I’d already started to take better care of myself (thanks in no small part to receiving Hypnotherapy from Jamie when he was training). I’d always struggled with my weight and just couldn’t find the motivation to exercise more than a few walks each week. I had also been an on/off smoker for most of my adult life. Suddenly I made a few key decisions: to have a walk up to the park and back every day and to try to eat healthily most of the time. I’d been on diets, joined gyms and followed weight-loss fads since my teenage years but nothing had consistently worked. Now I’d made the decision to just be more healthy and see where it took me.
How it went
Things were going really well and then the pandemic happened. I was unable to work and like so many other people, took to baking and making delicious food out of what I could find in my freezer and store cupboards (and having a glass of wine every night!). The weight started creeping back on and then, after a couple of weeks, I was back on track again. For the duration I managed to keep up my walking (up to 8,000 steps by now) and return to healthy eating (oh and give up smoking). While I wasn’t working I managed to avoid getting COVID but once I was back at work I just kept getting it. I was fastidious with my cleaning, ventilation and mask wearing but still it kept on coming; wiping out my income for 10 days at a time and frustrating both me and my clients.
I couldn’t understand it
I was the healthiest I’d been in years and yet I seemed to be at my weakest. That’s when I decided to incorporate a few more changes into my lifestyle. I upped my steps (now 10,000), started having smoothies for breakfast every day (with a scoop of organic supergreens powder and a seed protein boost) instead of cereal, reduced my intake of processed foods (very easy to eat too many when you’re vegan!) and started taking a daily combined pre and pro biotic. That was it. As far as I know I haven’t had COVID since.
Lessons learned
For me, being healthy and maintaining my health is an ongoing journey. At my age it takes a mixture of healthy eating (but also having cakes and crisps occasionally), exercise, supplements and therapies to keep me well (plus a splash of HRT every day!). It’s taken me years to reach the point where I feel I have a good balance between taking care of myself and enjoying life. I finally feel like I’m getting there.
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