The Don's Meddle

    Having experienced mild depression and knowing it can arise at anytime, I wanted to do a post about how I handle my depression, especially as we come into winter, where for most people it can get worse.  Being hyperactive means that I am prone to down days when I feel low, sad and removed from society.  I don't always show these feelings to others (the tough one) but have learnt how to understand the black dog a little more.  I have been lucky to understand how my mild depression works and ways I can limit those dark days when the black dog comes to visit and even though he comes to visit from time to time I find a way to use those days to re-evaluate and work through my feelings.    Know one thing, depression is common, more common than you think.  It isn't a weakness and it should be something that needs to be talked about.  It can happen at any point in your life and when everything seems to be going very well, ...

Nothing beats a nice quick gym session in the middle of a busy working day after a long weekend.   I find if I don’t train early in the week it can be 2-3 days at least before I get to the gym again…. Except for my trusty mid-week yoga class of course. I forgot my towel, water bottle and locker key (packing in the morning and not the night before means Dons is half asleep and less organised). Even though I didn’t have a few necessities for my gym visit I still trained.   At least I had the main items (undies, socks, shoes) so there were NO excuses.   I also forgot my gloves and I am super paranoid about taking off wedding rings so instead of doing my usual weights session I did the following circuit: Warm up: 10mins hills (Level 16)   on cross trainer 20 squats using TRX 20 KB upright rows (24kg), KB touching ground in-between for more leg and glute activation 10 full push-ups 20 med ball twists Repeated 3 x through, stretched and cool ...

Hello winter…. It is that time of year again. I must admit I do find it hard to keep positive about things when it is cold, dark and wet & gloomy outside.   Distant reminders of living in London appear wishing I had central heating and could travel to cities in Europe on the weekend.   Drinking pints on a Tuesday, just because. And the purpose for winter is?   Rain is good anytime of the year, but the cold and dark gloomy days surely aren’t good for us?   Aren’t we meant to eat ourselves silly, hibernate and sleep for a few months?   Bit hard to do that if you have a 9-5pm job! I have a love hate relationship with the chilly months.   Love wearing my boots and wrapping myself up in a gorgeous jacket with a bright scarf!   I can laze on the couch with a big blanket and a hot drink watching trashy TV and NOT feel guilty like you do on a sunny day in January.   But the vital winter love is being able to blow=dry my thick mass of h...

I love a good challenge, it is true, I just need to pull my finger out and FINISH the darn things.  I swear I am just getting older and not bothered about some challenges - even though I did smash the Febfast challenge earlier this year with no drinking, no sugar, no fun for 28 days........ never say never. So what challenges does June bring with it, besides it being winter which is going to push my "get rid of muffin top" motivation button harder (really do need to get healthier to get ready to grow a mini Jones).  So the usual health & fitness goals apply (eat better, train harder, drink less wine, eat more chocolate, (I mean less... ).  So I have created my own June health and fitness 30-day challenge... check it out here .   Getting married in April means changing ones surname... sounds like fun, a new identity, but in reality the list of places to change my name just continues to grow like Pinocchio's nose.... My g...