Healthy Magazine Page Sampler

‘B eing stuck at home during lockdown, I found myself asking how I could help. The pandemic brought this new loneliness that I hadn’t experienced before. I realised howmuch I was missing working out with people. So I started doing Zoomworkouts online, and Let’s Sweat was born. I thought it was going to be short-term but we had our rst birthday inMay 2021. It’s just kept growing, so I added some new trainers and it became a community. It’s not just about working out together – people give house tours, teach languages, and a book club has come from it – all these little communities happened, basically just because I was lonely. ‘Exercise has always been a kind of meditation for me – it was my one chance to really de-stress. But food was another matter. When I was younger, I struggled with binge eating. I’ve realised that I start mindlessly eating when I’m overwhelmed. You know when your to-do list is too long, and you nd yourself u ng up the cushions on your sofa, or doing something you don’t really want to do but that just lls the time – and you feel proud because you’ve done something? That’s what mindless eating became to me at the start of the pandemic. I was overwhelmed by howmuch I had to do, and we didn’t have any childcare, so my husband Leon and I were splitting work shifts with our daughter, Jax, three. I found myself working in the kitchen a lot and eating things that didn’t taste of anything – I was just shovelling them in because I was giving myself something to do that didn’t involve guring out how to do my daily tasks. Luckily for me, because this had previously happened when I was younger, I knew how to manage it. Finding your balance ‘I realised I wasn’t scheduling my days very well or allowing myself a break. When you’re working from home, you don’t tend to have a lunch break, or the pre- and post-commute – you don’t get thosemoments when you just switch o . I decided I needed to treat my day like I was going to an o ce space and coming back. Then I was able to add a little self care back into my day, and that helped break the cycle. ‘Self care for me means going for a walk without Jax or the dog, so it’s just for me. I also picked up candle-making during lockdown – it sounds crazy but it was so relaxing. You have to be patient, stirring colours into the wax and enjoying the scents. Another thing I’ve loved doing is dancing with Jax. It’s so good to shake it o ! And one of my favourite things is watching the sunrise. Although that alarm is hard, getting up, taking a blanket and a packet of chocolate buttons to watch the sun come up has been my absolute pleasure. Then heading home to teach a class feels so lovely. ‘The pandemic was a counselling session I didn’t know I needed. I think many of us have one or two fewer friends now. We’ve probably got a little more comfortable with ourselves and maybe even picked up some new hobbies. Self care is learning to understand what serves you better and what makes you feel happier alone.’ Be kind to your body ‘Self care also involves moving away from pushing our bodies to the limits – both with exercise and restrictive diets. Diet culture is a marketing ploy and a scam. It’s become something that’s easy to make money from, but we need to step back and realise why it’s pushed so much. The advice has become so overcomplicated, but the reality isn’t. You strip it back, and it’s just making sure what you put in and put out all evens out. ‘So many of us are brought up trying to be happy all the time, instead of just searching for contentment. It means a lot of us – even when we’re in good shape – feel we’re meant to still be striving for more by eating less and exercising more. There’s a balance where you either have a body that will last until you’re 100, or one for summer or an event that you’re going to have to constantly ght with – that’s not fun. ‘I was always a “yes” person – trying to help everybody else. It isn’t until you take a step back that you see you’re doing too much and don’t have anything left to give. Self care is taking back your own power so you can ll yourself up a bit more before the world tries to take it all again.’ For more on Let’s Sweat, visit carlyrowena.com Lockdown forced f i tness inf luencer Car l y Rowena to evaluate the impor tance of communi t y, slowing down and sel f care “Exercise has always been a kind of meditation for me – it was my one chance to really de-stress” F I TNES S healthy-magazine.co.uk 61 As told to Hattie Parish