At last, book publication day is here! My book, ‘Sorted: The Active Woman’s Guide to Health’ is on the shelves. I can’t quite believe it. Writing a book is a very long process and it’s actually over two years since I pitched my idea to Bloomsbury and they gave me the green light to go ahead and write this for them. That two years has gone painstakingly slowly at times and whizzed by in a flash at others.
I’m keen on self-reflection. I wrote a diary for years as a child and I dip in again from time to time now. I find it very therapeutic and I just LOVE reading it back. It helps me to be grateful for all I have and to set targets for the year ahead. It’s amazing how much you forget, even in the space of a year. I guess blogging and vlogging kind of replaces a diary in some ways but I’ll still be making my yearly entry looking back on the year I’ve had and making plans for 2016.
I was really pleased to be asked to write a guest blog for Diary Doll. The award winning Diary Doll brand was created by TV presenter Carol Smillie and British tennis star Annabel Croft. They wanted to help women of all ages avoid embarrassing leaks.
I’ve blogged previously about my feet not being my best feature and I’m well aware that my hobby is largely to blame for this. You don’t get blackened and missing toenails from being a GP. However, I do LOVE shoes. With the start of the warmer weather I delve into the depths of the under stairs cupboard to retrieve the summer footwear. This is an adrenalin sport in itself as many things disappear into here never to be seen again. Emerging with a summer shoe comes the realisation that what has been tucked away in woolly socks and trail shoes for the winter must now be exposed for all to see. So, what can we do about the common runners’ foot problems and how can we quickly revive our feet for summer? p.s I’m refraining from posting lots of gruesome photos.
This is an updated post from my blogging days on Tumblr. It was very popular and I felt it deserved a bit of a revamp for my lovely WordPress home. The benefits of exercise are widely known (and worth their own blog). We need to get everyone moving to improve the health of the nation. As a GP I feel a real responsibility to let patients know how exercise is a powerful tool for improving their health and well being. I’m still finding the best ways to do this.
I’m delighted to have been asked to be the Resident GP for UK Sports Chat. If you haven’t heard about this fantastic, growing community then let me fill you in.
‘Can you phone Mrs X, her child can’t poo and she doesn’t know what to do’. This is a fairly common message I get at work. What is worse is that when I phone mum or dad to get the whole story I can usually hear a child screaming in pain in the background. It breaks my heart, it’s agony for them. It can catch all of us out; I’ve been there more than once with more than one of my children! So when it’s been a few days and your little one is sore and crying and can’t poo, what can you do?
I love solving a problem, I get real satisfaction from finding a solution to challenges that face me. When I met Yvonne Brady an Irish business woman she took my breath away with her story of problem solving on another level entirely. An engineer by trade she took up running as a hobby and like many women found that leaking a bit of urine was an embarrassing side effect. Rather than moaning or giving up she decided to take action.
So many people start new fitness regimes with gusto and enthusiasm only to be struck down with illness or injury early on. New habits and routines go out of the window and it’s so hard to find the momentum to start over again. This is what happened to Tracy Barwell who has been writing a diary for the BBC about her efforts to improve her health. They asked me to advise her on how to get back into the swing of things after a nasty virus. Read my advice to Tracy.
I was flattered and excited when Vicki Psarias aka ‘Honest Mum‘ asked if she could interview me for her ‘Wonderful Women’ feature. What a compliment! I love Vicki’s blog, work and style. You can read the interview here. Why not take the time to have a look at her amazing blog, I can guarantee there’s something there to tempt you.