It started with a stretch......

Who knows the song by Hot Chocolate - "It started with a kiss". Well I'm naming my blog "It started with a stretch." And I sing it to the tune of the Hot Chocolate song.

Twenty three years of living life after stroke and I headed into 2017 wondering what I might do differently in the coming year.

I was feeling happy but not particularly healthy. I didn't want set unrealistic goals, I hated the word goal when I looked at something I wanted to achieve.

I thought about how I felt, tight and tense. So I decided to download a free app on my phone and began to stretch morning and night. Just a short routine. I let my GP know that this was what I was planning. She nodded and said that sounded like a great idea.

And so I began, it felt sooooooo gooooood! Like my body was saying. Thank you. It was hard - I was so inflexible. And then after three months I bought a Yoga DVD, just a forty minute routine with some relaxation meditation at the end. This was hard too, my balance really wobbly. But at the same time it too felt soooooooo gooooood!

So it was not long after this that I decided to do something about the horrid reality that my weight gain over the last ten years had been something I'd watched with dismay.

I contacted GET HEALTHY NSW and began the process of looking at what I could differently.

To say my stress levels at this time were enormous would be correct. I was feeling the affects of buried trauma beginning to surface from finding much needed support after many years of nothing which connected to me to other stroke survivors.

It was really hard making changes to patterns where I was just doing stuff to get by. And I took a radical leap in resigning from my work place of nearly ten years. This allowed me to really give myself some good self care. At the same time it was tough on our finances but I head a belief that would all work out.

And wow, did my body begin to respond.

Some days I was doing my Yoga DVD up to three times a day. Sweat poured out of me.

Celery sticks, cherry tomatoes and strawberries became my go to for morning tea.

I began to feel the benefit of what I saw as "Starting with a stretch....".

18 months down the track I have let go of 15 of the 20 kilo's which crept on over the last ten years. My self loathing over this fact was huge so it's nice to let go of all that as well.

That's the thing I've always found the hardest. It's not that I haven't known what I should be eating. It was finding the self worth to do it. Looking at ways in which I led myself down the less healthy path. It takes time, effort and willingness to go there.

I don't drink coffee.

I don't drink alcohol.

Both of these are a great social occasion in our culture. So I'm well aware of the "You don't drink?" responses. The need to be resilient in choosing to do what works for me is necessary.

So it's been a choice to look forward to a healthier me. And I'm keeping at it one Celery Stick and one stretch at a time.

Sue xxoo