Do you ever feel like you’re losing control of your wellbeing? Your good intentions bulldozed by behaviours you know will leave you feeling worse, in a way you feel powerless to stop?
This describes my 2022 so far. It began in March, when I contracted Covid for the second time. It floored me; every day for six weeks, I’d get up, only to retreat back to bed again. Even my hair started falling out. I came out the other side, bloated and exhausted, with a low mood that lingered long after the double line on my test.
I tried to manoeuvre my diet away from the calorie-dense comfort food that sustained me when my energy was non-existent, back to the predominantly plant-based diet I’d eaten for years. I started exercising again, too. Some weeks, I’d feel my old self again. But almost inevitably, my energy would wane, taking my motivation to exercise with it.
And so it continued – yo-yoing between two versions of myself. The old Claire – who fuelled daily workouts with nutritious food – and the woman I’d become: someone who chose processed food over the kind that counts towards your five-a-day and avoided the gym at all costs; someone I didn’t recognise.
Last month, I decided something had to change. I knew that if I could nail my nutrition, the rest would follow. And the solution I settled on is tracking my macros. For the uninitiated, it’s the process of monitoring how many grams of each of the three macronutrients – carbs, fat and protein – you consume each day. Tracking isn’t suitable for everyone, especially for those with a history of disordered eating. But I’m the kind of person who thrives on both accountability and structure, and within a week, I was already beginning to feel better. I chose Lumen because I’m a data geek. And seeing how my metabolism is working at any given time is fascinating. I’ve returned to exercise, too – amix of streng
