Author: Dr Juliet McGrattan

Quick Question – Should I pop my blisters?

Love them or hate them, feet cause an awful lot of bother, especially if you lead an active life. Even with the best fitting shoes, you can still find you sometimes end up with a blister, particularly if your feet and socks have been wet or you’ve gone further than you usually would. What’s the best way to treat blisters? Should you pop blisters? Should you cover them up? Let’s consider what blisters actually are so we can decide what best to do with them.

Active Women Interview – meet Nat Scroggie

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I’ve been tweeting for six years, enjoying the banter with others and then suddenly, bam, up pops Nat aka ThisVetRuns. From her first tweet in April 2018 she had me captivated with her honesty, quality blog writing and I admit, the occasional cute photo of her dog and random kittens from her work! It’s been wonderful to follow her return to running after a miscarriage and see her progress in her goals. I love her attitude and I was really happy that she agreed to take part in this Active Women Interview Series.

My Top Five Blogs of 2018

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I’ve absolutely loved my blog this year. I set myself a goal of doubling the number of views my posts get and I’d achieved that by October. Goal officially smashed! This year I’ve tried to be more consistent and write a variety of different types of posts. I’ve continued the Active Woman Interview Series, added in a regular Quick Question feature and thrown in a few blogs about what I’m up to as well. I enjoy reflecting and reviewing the year has been such a pleasure, these are my five most read posts:

Fun at the Malaga Marathon

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I was pretty excited about heading to the Malaga Marathon. In all honesty I was more excited about having four days away in Spain with my girlfriends than I was about putting myself through 26.2 miles! Although in the lead up to the marathon, the weather in Malaga had been cool and wet, we were rewarded with four days of sunshine. Feeling the warm sun on my face in the middle of winter was a wonderful treat. We had a day of acclimatisation when we intended to stay off our feet but ended up shopping and walking miles; we had some great tapas though! We found getting around Malaga on the train and tube system really easy, and cheap too. We’d read that getting to the out of town expo to collect race numbers was harder than the marathon itself but we had no problems whatsoever. We’d been very frustrated that we hadn’t had any pre-race info in English, the marathon guide was in Spanish and despite sending emails (in English and Spanish) we hadn’t …

Quick Question – Is it ok to exercise with a hangover?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Ha! A great question for the festive season. Even the most motivated and focused of us enjoy a night out every now and then but what about the day after the night before? Is it ok to exercise with a hangover? Is running with a hangover dangerous? Should you miss your gym workout if you’ve drunk too much? Will exercising with a hangover actually make you feel better? All good questions that I’ve been asked, so here’s the run down on exercising with a hangover.

Quick Question – Can I take paracetamol and ibuprofen together?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Do you have a favourite pain killer that you reach for when a headache, toothache or back pain strikes? What happens when the pain doesn’t seem to ease? A really common question that I’ve been asked is whether you can take paracetamol and ibuprofen at the same time. Is it ok to do that? Is it dangerous to take ibuprofen if you are already on paracetamol? It’s great that people are wary and questioning when it comes to drugs because certain drug interactions can be harmful.

Active Women Interview – meet Kirsten Huesch

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

After connecting on social media, I met up with Kirsten at the Women In Sport – Empower 18 conference in London in October. Chatting away to her over lunch (whilst standing and balancing plates and drinks!) we shared so many views about making exercise fun, inclusive and part of everyday life, particularly in terms of healthy ageing. We’re both on a mission to help people live long, healthy and active lives. I was really interested to hear about the great courses she leads which include nutrition as well as fitness and I was delighted she agreed to take part in this active women interview series.

Malaga Marathon – here I come!

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

When I’m choosing a challenge I just have to find something that catches my eye and makes me say, “Oooo, I fancy that.” I never quite know what I’m looking for but when I see it I know it’s the one!

Quick Question – Is it ok to exercise with a cold?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me this! It can be incredibly frustrating when you’re in the swing of a fitness routine and suddenly, out of nowhere (or straight from the nose of a helpful friend or relative) comes the common cold virus. Is it ok to exercise with a cold? Will working out when you have a cold make you more ill? Could exercising with a cold actually make you feel better? Can you ‘sweat out’ a cold?

Inspiring or Intimidating? Just be Proud.

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I’ve been pondering the fine balance between being inspiring and being intimidating recently. The thing is, I think as we improve and smash our targets, as we progress in our health and fitness journeys, we often become intimidating and unrelatable without really meaning to. What we need is more and more people sharing their successes at all levels.