January | New Year Resolutions?

Where do I start? Such a simple yet difficult question. One that so many of us will ask ourselves through our lifetime, for different reasons. And one I am sure you will have been toying with when considering what to do to improve your health & wellbeing – it can be overwhelming – before you made the decision to take action towards a healthier lifestyle and embarking on your FIT Jacks journey.

I couldn’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had over the years with family and friends about how I feel about my body and its decline – weight gain, loss of fitness….or how many lists, statements or plans I’ve put down on paper with a renewed sense of – I will do it this time – until the next time!

During late Autumn 2024 I took some leave with my family, in the Welsh countryside. The weather was dry, so we were able to get outside with the dog, walking across fields, along rivers and canal paths…. with a few pub lunches along the way. One day, over a cuppa with my husband.…. the conversation arose again, initiated by me…"isn’t it a little ironic that I head up the delivery of health and wellbeing programmes, promoting a healthy lifestyle and related topics…..and I am probably the most unfit and overweight I’ve been for a very long time!"

We touched on diets and my more recent weight gain and the possible reasons for it – my experience of the menopause, comfort eating when under pressure and stressed and suffering a close family bereavement following a period of caring – life events that I’m sure we can all relate to.

I have put my own needs, health, and wellbeing to the bottom of the pile for a while and was really starting to feel the negative effects of that reality. It is not like I don’t know what I need to do or how I need to be to lead a healthy lifestyle – a healthy weight and regular movement – I live and breathe it every day through my work, which I feel so strongly about…….

In all the “busyness” and my focus being elsewhere, put simply, I have been gradually sacrificing me, my body, my health, and my fitness……I haven’t been looking after myself nor indeed leading by example!

Following that conversation over a coffee, my thoughts turned increasingly to the idea that 2025 had to be the year that I invest in and focus on myself……but how could it be different to past experience? And the idea of a blog was born – a terrific way to be held accountable by a community of like-minded people. 

My plan was cemented in the run up to Christmas and over the festive break when I was clearly run down and suffered two periods of ill health which was my body telling me to stop (!) and this only made me more determined to make changes for the better. I knew deep down that unless I change something and take responsibility, nothing is going to change, and it will only become more difficult to reverse. 

It’s about time I rediscovered the respect and love for my body…..after all, it’s been good to me over the years……a competitive swimmer growing up, my body was pushed hard; back problems with slipped discs healed through exercise; carrying and giving birth to my daughter and in more recent years, surviving weekly dips in very cold water!

So, my aim is to get into the best of health possible to enjoy the years to come, being able to do the things I want to do with the people around me, for as long as possible.

Coming back to my question at the top - where do I start? I have decided to start with movement, moving my body more throughout the month of January and beyond – to see what I can achieve, what habits I can develop and focus on specific goals related to movement as time goes on – but initially, I’m not going to focus on much else, other than moving more, how I feel and the process. Movement is magic, movement is medicine…….

I decided to start with walking – it is free, I can do it from my front door, and I can carve out some time for myself in the process. I am lucky enough to have a number of varied walking routes around where I live and getting out before work has been a bit of a revelation….there’s something special about being out walking first thing in the morning, before commuters hit the road and shop doors open.

I’ve also been taking the opportunity to get myself to places on foot, when I would normally have taken the car….and again it’s a great feeling of self sufficiency, being able to get yourself from A to B not having to rely on anyone or anything. So, I have managed to get out most days, rain or shine – you’ve just got to be prepared for the Welsh weather!

Another thing close to home, our years old x-trainer. It has been fixed recently so I decided to jump on that and do a basic programme – a good enough work out for the arms and legs with some cardio thrown in…. a great option between walks.

Something I have tried for the first time is a “nourishing” yoga practice – I really liked the idea of doing something relaxing after work as I am not very good at this! So I signed up to Breath of Life yoga with Rose and have been attending weekly at the Swansea Wellbeing Centre – all I can say is that it is bliss and very relaxing, I am finding the stretching really helpful, as I start to move more generally.

And last but not least, time spent in water. I have carried on with my weekly sea dip with friends – every Saturday throughout the year (no wetsuit) – I love it, great for your physical and mental health and social connection……and I have reconnected with the swimming club I swam with a long time ago, Swansea Masters. Pool swimming is not my favourite but it is a great activity to get some stamina back and very supportive for the joints…. the coach is very encouraging, and they are a great group of people who attend – welcoming and friendly. There are opportunities to take part in galas if you want to, and some sea swimming in the summer. 

The month has not been without it’s setbacks – I am currently waiting for a physio appointment to work magic on my very painful left knee, following a recent attempt  to start the Couch 2 5k programme……let’s just say that it has now come to an abrupt halt, for the time being anyway! This is just my body’s way of showing me how unfit I am, and something I will work through. I have also fallen into the trap of moving more but not resting enough to compensate – a trap I have fallen into previously, derailing me, ……fatigue can be debilitating, so trying hard to carve out some rest time, another thing I find quite difficult to do.

In terms of goals, my initial aim is to move my body regularly and enough to start to see a difference in how well, physically, I’m feeling…….medium to long term, I know from previous experience that I need a specific goal to aim for, to use as a motivator. So, I have decided to enter The Swansea Swim in May – 1.9kms open water swimming (the weekend of the Swansea Triathlon). In preparation for this I am going to enter the annual Swimathon in March and get some lengths in.

How am I getting on? I would say I’ve made a good start – I’ve moved a lot more than I had been and my body has coped with it, carried me through. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t knackered so this is something I am reflecting on (more rest needed) so that I don’t allow it to derail my progress. I may not feel the benefit of having more energy at the moment but I do feel better in myself and much more motivated to carry on…..let’s see what next month brings. Consistency is what I’m going for.

Linking the new year, what I want to achieve and the theme I wanted to focus on this month, I want to talk about connection. Lots of us make new year’s resolutions to improve our physical health – join the gym, start a new class, go on a diet – those kinds of changes. By focusing on this area of our lives, we are not then looking at another area that can have a massive influence on our health and happiness – our relationships with others,

So, I set myself, as well as the aim to move more, the added commitment to connect more this year.

Relationships are the cornerstones of our lives but can take effort and energy, which we don’t always have in abundance – but they are a big influence on our wellbeing and worth investing in. We are social creatures and need to feel a sense of belonging, to support our mental and physical health, and happiness. Being part of a community………with friends, family, neighbours, colleagues and even strangers.

Connect is one of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing, a framework I often refer to in work as it is simple to understand and follow. Foresight’s Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project has drawn on state-of-the-art research from across the world to consider how to improve everyone’s mental capital and mental wellbeing through life. Evidence suggests that a small improvement in wellbeing can help to decrease some mental health problems and help people to flourish. The Project commissioned the New Economics Foundation (NEF) to develop ‘five ways to wellbeing’: a set of evidence-based actions to improve personal wellbeing. Check it our here: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/five-ways-to-wellbeing/

Another developing and holistic approach to supporting health I am very interested in is that of lifestyle medicine.  The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine is an independent charity, set up to promote the role of lifestyle medicine in improving people’s health and wellbeing. Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence-based discipline which aims to support people to prevent, manage and reverse certain chronic conditions, using supported behaviour change skills and techniques to create, and sustain lifestyle changes. Check out this article on one of the 6 pillars of lifestyle medicine here: Healthy Relationships and Social Connections https://bslm.org.uk/healthy-relationships-and-social-connections/

“The quality of your life ultimately depends on the quality of your relationships.” 

— Ester Perel

All my own words, opinions, and views – hope you enjoyed the read.

Catch up soon! Caroline x