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Happiful October 2019

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I just try to be active. There’s<br />

a lot of research supporting a<br />

thing called NEAT, which is nonexercise<br />

activity thermogenesis.<br />

It’s not about going to the gym in<br />

the morning and killing it, but<br />

then sitting down for the rest of<br />

the day – it’s about maybe going to<br />

the gym for half an hour, and then<br />

throughout the day getting 10,000<br />

steps in. It focuses on all of that<br />

energy that you burn when you’re<br />

doing everyday things. Does that<br />

make sense?<br />

Absolutely! And something<br />

like NEAT must make exercise<br />

a lot more accessible?<br />

Yeah, exactly! If you’re a busy<br />

mum, and you’re kicking yourself<br />

because you can’t get to the gym,<br />

hang on a second – and this is<br />

something I say to my clients<br />

– because how long are you<br />

standing on your feet throughout<br />

the day? Most mothers will say it’s<br />

all day for them. I think it’s really<br />

important that we don’t try to put<br />

exercise in boxes. I don’t care how<br />

you do it, I just want you to move,<br />

and move well.<br />

You speak online about a<br />

time when food and exercise<br />

became an overwhelming<br />

obsession. What did that<br />

look like for you?<br />

There’s that whole confirmation<br />

bias, and a funnel of people all<br />

doing the same as you, so you<br />

think that what you’re doing is<br />

correct – that’s where I found<br />

myself three years ago. My<br />

objective was good health, but the<br />

reality was disordered eating, and<br />

over-exercising. It was very hard<br />

to separate the two because in<br />

my head I was like: ‘But I’m being<br />

healthy!’ But there are so many<br />

different factors that go into good<br />

health. I was so focused on two<br />

parts, that I completely neglected<br />

the rest, meaning that I was<br />

probably at my unhealthiest when<br />

I thought I was at my healthiest.<br />

How were you able to<br />

recognise that?<br />

I realised I wasn’t living freely, and<br />

I think that started to push me to<br />

question a lot of the things I was<br />

doing. It’s a really tricky place to<br />

find yourself in, and I feel guilty<br />

because I look back and I’m sure<br />

that people were copying what<br />

I was doing. I find that a really<br />

difficult emotion to sit with. It’s<br />

only now that I’ve learned loads<br />

about weight stigma, and what<br />

really constitutes health, that I<br />

have the perspective to be like:<br />

‘That was wrong. Let me show you<br />

why, and let me show you how to<br />

step away from that.’<br />

Do you have any tips for<br />

cultivating a healthy social<br />

media feed?<br />

If you’re scrolling through<br />

and something doesn’t serve<br />

you, make you feel positive,<br />

inform you, or enlighten you,<br />

then there’s no need for you to<br />

consume that. Sometimes I mute<br />

people, because it can be a little<br />

bit uncomfortable to unfollow<br />

someone you know. But you really<br />

have to protect your space.<br />

You recently opened up<br />

about your experience with<br />

domestic abuse. Was going<br />

public a difficult decision?<br />

It was difficult in the sense that<br />

I still have this horrible fear that<br />

he’s going to come round the<br />

corner and be there, or he’ll read<br />

something and come to find me.<br />

If you’re scrolling through<br />

and something doesn’t<br />

serve you, make you feel<br />

positive, inform you, or<br />

enlighten you, then<br />

there’s no need for you<br />

to consume that<br />

44 • happiful.com • <strong>October</strong> <strong>2019</strong>

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