Monthly Meditation- February 2017

Can you believe how quickly February came and went? I mean I know it’s the shortest month, but seriously!

I’ve always found February a bit of a funny one; that awkward time after January when the momentum to stay healthy, keep going to the gym and stick to those resolutions and good habits that you were so motivated and positive about in January, now all just seems a bit boring and let’s face it the temperamental weather doesn’t help.

Looking back over what I’ve been up to this month, I noticed one overriding factor in pretty much every area of my life – I’ve slacked off and I need a giant kick up the backside. So this post is not only going to act as a time to reflect on some of the things I’ve done (or not done!) but also as a massive telling off in the hope that I might shame myself into doing something about it!

Running Away With Myself

If you follow any of our social media pages you may have noticed that I haven’t posted many running or fitness pics in a while. There’s a reason for that…I kind of, sort of, haven’t done that much. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t completely sat on my rapidly expanding bum the entire month, but I have certainly dropped my game a bit.

In fact, I worked out the following:

Solo runs = 0
Group Runs = 6
HIIT = 0
Weights = 0
Zumba = 1 1/2 (a kid’s birthday Zumba party counts as 1/2 right?!)
Pilates = 1

Now, some of you might be thinking “That’s not that bad, at least you still did something”, but for someone who loves their food as much as me, trust me when I say it just ain’t enough! So why have I let it slip, what’s so different this month over any other?

Here are my lame excuses:

Time to Make Time

There simply hasn’t been enough of it this month; what with half term, work, life, family etc. the juggling balls have well and truly fallen. But being time poor is an age old problem, it’s nothing new and it’s something we all struggle with on a daily basis. What has become clear to me is that I am trying to do too much on my own. I am a self confessed control freak and I like to keep a tight ship, but I am not a robot and I cannot keep control of everything little thing ALL of the time. Something had to give and I made the mistake of making that something, exercise. NOT GOOD! The knock on effect of me not working out as much, is that my energy levels have reduced, my motivation has waned and the temptation to scoff rubbish food has hit me at every hurdle. Ironic really that in dropping workouts to save time, it has actually resulted in me wasting even more of my time in unenthusiastic halfhearted attempts at trying to complete the other tasks on my list.

Lesson learnt?

Delegate, accept help and don’t drop the things that make you function better!

My promise to myself for March is to continue with the group runs – I’m not doing too badly with those – but to make sure I get out on a solo run once a week. I seriously miss the head space and ‘me’ time that a solo run offers and I have noticed that I am so much more productive when I start the day with a run. And if you don’t start seeing more run pics from me, then I hereby give you permission to heckle me and give me what for!

Slogging Away at the Blogging

We are now at a stage where we get sent far more articles from guest bloggers and writers, which is obviously fantastic as it is great to have such a variety of voices and opinions for you all to read. However, this means slightly more editorial responsibility on my behalf and unfortunately has resulted in my own writing falling by the way side. I love the creative process and the almost cathartic release that blogging gives me, but it can also be hard work getting motivated or staying on track when the words just don’t seem to come. If you’ve read the article I wrote for the Huffington Post, you’ll understand what I mean when I say that my gremlin well and truly took control this month. The less I write, the more my gremlin tells me I can’t write, that I’m rubbish and that no one really wants to read what I’ve written about anyway.

Lesson learnt?

Do what you love and stick at it!

Sometimes it’s easy to forget why you started something in the first place. For me it was because I love writing, I enjoy hearing people’s reactions to what I write, I want to get my voice heard and I want to hopefully help inspire others to do the things they love in a healthy, realistic way. My plan for March is to spend more time writing smaller blog posts that capture my voice, my life and my experiences and you’ll be able to read these in the blog section of the site. And whilst we’re on the subject of the website, The Art of Healthy Living site has had a bit of a revamp recently and now features our lovely team of experts, who have committed their time to help you answer your health, fitness, food, wellbeing and beauty questions. You can check out the Meet the Experts page here and find out more about what makes these incredible women tick. This along with regular features like #FlapjackFriday, healthy recipes, interesting articles, new product reviews and much, much more has helped form the basis for what I hope is an informative, yet fun online health magazine that encourages, inspires and promotes leading a realistically healthy lifestyle.

Working 9 to 5

I’ve been busy (haven’t we all?) and I’ve allowed work to get in the way and take priority over some of the other things in my life. One of the joys of working for yourself is having the flexibility to work the hours you want to work and being able to fit it in around everything else. However, when you work from home, particularly if a key part of that work is internet based and uses a LOT of social media, it is so easy to get sucked into the procrastinating void of what I call mindless trash trawling. Come on, we’ve all done it…something catches your eye on Facebook and you think “I’ll just go and read what that person who I went to school with, but was never actually friends with, is up to…ooo isn’t her dress lovely, but ooo hasn’t she put on weight…ah no wonder if she eats that!” cue lots of food pics and before you know it you’ve wasted 30 precious minutes of your life looking at random food porn on Instagram. That has pretty much been my February, and it’s utterly ridiculous because I have literally been swamped with work.

Lesson learnt?

Keep it REAL!

Remember the important things in life are the real things in life, NOT the superficial world of social media. Yes it’s fun, yes there’s a guilty pleasure in nosing in on other people’s lives and yes it’s great for a bit of downtime chill out, but it destroys productivity!

What am I going to do about it?

Plan, make lists and make myself accountable. I’ve noticed that when I’m working on a project that is only really affecting myself, that’s when I’m at my procrastinating worst. Yet when I’m working on a project for someone, or if I’m being paid for it, then all of a sudden I switch over to queen bee and I am quite literally a hive of activity. The solution is simple – I need to start thinking of myself as the client; someone I don’t want to let down and for whom I must keep to deadlines.

So, on reflection, February hasn’t been a complete waste of time after all. It’s taught me to view things positively, to appreciate that there will always be highs and lows, but that those lows are there as lessons on how to move forwards and grow, which all seems rather apt considering the imminent arrival of Spring.

March…We’re coming to get ya!

How Has Your February Been?

Does any of what I’ve written strike a chord with you? We LOVE hearing from our readers – what you’ve been up to, what you think of the Art of Healthy Living and what you’d like to read more about, so…