Life as a parent is full of worry isn’t it? It’s one of the many things nobody ever tells you about motherhood.
Worry infiltrates your life in a way it never has before. You worry about your kids, your job, your body, your marriage, your lack of sleep, your diet, your parenting skills….
There’s usually little reason to really worry about any of it – but if you are we wanted to remind you to dump the worries and bin the guilt – especially these 5 really common ones:
Stop worrying you’re not good enough!
PFFT! Say what?
You’re brilliant. And the great thing is that each and every one of us is brilliant in our own beautiful way so if your doubts stem from comparing yourself to the next person, you should try to stop that too.
We all do it though. We worry we’re somehow failing as a mum because we give our kids fish fingers from a box, because we look at Instagram too much and don’t understand how these ‘influencer’ mums look so perfect all the time and we don’t. We think we’re not good enough for the gym, so we don’t go! We see other people bounding off to exercise classes and we think ‘ooh I’m not fit enough to do that’ and then sit back and do nothing.
Thinking you’re not good enough in some way stops you from living your life. You are good enough and everything you do is done with heart so don’t be put off doing anything because trust us, there’s nothing you can’t do!
Stop worrying about the way you look and fix the way you feel…
Chances are that aside from how you feel emotionally about how your body looks, you probably feel physically a bit knackered and run down too.
We’re willing to bet you have back or shoulder ache, hip, pelvis or knee pain and you’re CONSTANTLY tired! To name but a few. Find exercises that will help alleviate these, or strengthen the areas that ache and will help boost your energy levels. You might need to speak to a professional for advice on the correct exercise for you – but you will no doubt find that once you begin to tackle the areas that don’t feel physically great, you’ll change the way you look in turn.
Don’t worry about ‘having no time’ to exercise – do what you can when you can
Basically, do something rather than nothing. Walk, walk and walk everywhere that you can. Don’t decide not to join your mates at an exercise class because you can’t always commit to it – just do it when you can. Now that summer is almost here you might feel your motivation creeping back so pounce on that as soon as it’s there to get the ball rolling. Look for PAYG classes that you can dip in and out of if need be and don’t worry if a week goes by and you haven’t exercised, just make sure you do as soon as you have a feasible window. Too many people think ‘Oh I didn’t exercise last week, so there’s no point in doing it this week’ and we all know that’s daft logic.
Stop worrying about the clothes that don’t fit you
Buy lovely new ones that do fit you and live in the now! You are you, as you are right now and everyone loves you. Don’t waste any more time moaning about those old jeans that don’t zip up, or that top that is straining over your boobs. There’s a good chance they’ll fit again one day but it’s just not now.
Stop worrying about asking for help
If you are suffering, speak out.
Motherhood is hard and each and every one of us needs a hand now and then – or more than now and then. Asking for help comes in big and small ways – whether you could do with a hand because you are really tired or whether you feel particularly low and know, deep down that you do not feel like yourself. There’s so much help out there so do take it.
You might need more simple help – perhaps you do want to exercise but don’t know where to start – please shout- everyone has to start somewhere, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Maybe you do feel you would like to lose weight but you need help to do so – wave your hand.
Whatever you need help with, please stop worrying and do ask someone.
Written by: Penny Stretton
