Small changes, big difference...

and the importance of knowing your ‘why’/‘what for’ to make it easier to start and continue…

Am I brave enough to share? How can I not be…

When I allowed myself to think back to the place I was in following my diagnosis and what finally made me try the small lifestyle interventions (see video) that in the end made a big difference to my quality of life, I cried.

At the time, in the depths of despair, fearing for my future and trying to cling on to my independence that was slipping away. The well intended ‘try this’, ‘you should do that’, had gotten overwhelming as none of it felt possible when I was clinging on just to get through each day.

I was dizzy and disoriented and unable to keep my eyes open past 2pm most days and with three young children to care for and a job, thinking about doing extra stuff for me was out of the question.

On one occasion I’d gone to school for a meeting, and ended up in a heap in the corridor having to call my mum to come and get me and the kids, a grown woman that had traveled the world having call her mum, and that wasn’t the only time, it happened at work too.

When my legs stopped working outside a supermarket I had to get my 4 year old to watch her siblings to stop them climbing out of the shopping trolley as I waited on the floor until my legs could function again so I could drive home. I didn’t trust myself to take them shopping for a long time after that.

My circle was shrinking as I pushed through, and I masked as best as I could to the rest of the world in an attempt to protect my pride and dignity.

The last straw for me, which is often the thing that invokes change, was when I became, more often than not, the snappy mum I never wanted to be. I was becoming someone I didn’t recognise, and after an honest kick up the a*se from a work colleague I knew things needed to change for me and my family. I’d wallowed long enough.

So I started researching looking at what others had done to improve. I tried anything and everything, and to some, my interventions looked like the latest fad, only these things were not fads to me, they weren’t something I could take or leave, they were hope, a lifeline, they were possibility, things that COULD help change the trajectory of my health.

So following on from my last post here is a montage of the videos I was asked to record for Dr Chatterjee’s programme, Live Well with the Drug Free Doctor. It's a great watch if you haven't watched already.

The video includes some of the things that have helped to turn my health around with a brief explanation of why and how.

For anyone navigating their own health journey, I wish you all the best in finding your why and what will make the difference for you.

Wishing you health and happiness.

Lx