The joy of walking
We got a dog in lockdown: a fox red labrador called Bertie. On my recovery days from lifting, I would take Bertie out for an hour-long walk. I feel very lucky that James’s house is in the countryside, surrounded by beautiful fields and land. Discovering the joy of walking gave me a fresh perspective on being active. Even when it’s pouring with rain, it still feels lovely to be in nature.
I don’t need to ‘diet’ all the time
Once or twice a year, I usually have a big fitness shoot booked. Before lockdown, I would always reduce calories and add in a little extra cardio in the run-up to the shoot, just to make sure I was lean by shoot day. I had a huge photoshoot booked for the end of June, but two weeks into lockdown James told me to relax this time around. He said: “You can train, you can eat healthily, but dieting is not appropriate right now. I need something to look forward to with you.” And he was completely right; I have realised how important it is for my mental and physical health to go one full year without worrying about my “physique”. I don’t plan on dieting again anytime soon.
A little bit of indulgence can be good for you
I have a qualification in The Principles of Nutrition and James is a professional athlete, so we eat healthily most of the time. However, in lockdown we let ourselves go a bit. If we wanted to make cheese-loaded tacos every day, we did it. Although we didn’t drink in the week, there were definitely weekends in lockdown where we were drunk from frozen margaritas by 1pm.
Overall, I realised how fragile life is
We’re already a really close family but, throughout the pandemic, I made a conscious effort to check in with my parents more – even if that was just going for a socially-distanced walk around Hampstead Heath. It hit home how important it is to spend time with your family; at the end of the day, they are your safety net.
