Purple Day- Epilepsy Day

Hey all! HAPPY PURPLE DAY! Today is Purple Day for Epilepsy. It is where we recognise that people who have been diagnosed with any form of Epilepsy are informed with what is out there and can connect with others who are alike. It is also about letting the public know the truth about Epilepsy.

You might wonder why I am so passionate about this cause. I am an epileptic. So today I am going to share with you my story.

At 3 years of age my parents identified that there was something a little different about me. An avid giggler and communicator I could talk off anyone's ear (not much has changed clearly). However my parents would notice at times that I would stop communicating mid sentence and return to the conversation with no recollection of the event ever occurring. I was given an EEG, but no seizure activity was recorded. All through my childhood and especially in my teenagers years I still had no idea this stop-start motion was happening. I can understand the frustration now from my parents but at the time it was just requests for me to 'open my eyes' or 'stop doing that Joey' or 'wake up Joey'. The difficulty with this was that I didn't even know why my family was getting angry or why they thought I had my eyes closed, truth was to me I didn't.

It wasn't until I was 16 and my parents took me to a neurologist when I learnt that I suffered from what my then neurologist deemed as Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy- which suggests in several cases that it can be outgrown post the juvenile stage of life (since I know this was a misdiagnosis and I probably won't outgrow my absence seizures). I was informed that I have very minor seizures that would go undetected by those who didn't know me, it could appear as a daze or stare into space or me ceasing conversation part the way through speech otherwise known as absence seizures. We finally had an answer.

It did feel good to know what was going on and to put to rest finally what all this who-ha was about with me and my 'eyes' however I didn't expect to reject myself so much all at the same time. Frequently I would refer to myself as 'spastic' or 'retarded' and for one reason or another referring to my 'spaz pills' was the way I would get by with some level of acceptance that taking tablets each day was to be a regular occurrence now. It took a while to actually become okay with the fact that I wasn't anything that I said I was and that I just needed to adjust my lifestyle. This was all well and good until I became 18.

At 18years of age I went off to college and began enjoying University life, the nightlife too. Constantly told by neurologists throughout my University years (four years) that drinking more than 3 drinks, staying up late or being stressed would be my main triggers. Pretty ironic when you say it out loud. Needless to say I was an 18year old I struggled with the concept of change, that people (many I wouldn't know) had the potential to witness my seizures (albeit they last no more than 10 seconds) and most significantly I couldn't do what my friends were doing. In all honesty I felt quite trapped and I was determined to make sure epilepsy wasn't going to stop me from living how I wanted.

It was no surprise then (in hindsight) that I freaked my entirely family, out especially my sister (who graciously came to look after me), when I drank 12 drinks in one night, got up after 4 hours sleep and cracked my head open falling back on a brick wall in the college bathroom, gaining 7 stitches to my head, a sore nose (what I landed on next) and no recollection of how it had started. It was simply ridiculous. I was devastated when I couldn't drive, again feeling trapped except this time I knew it was of my own doing. Either way this accident did what I believe now it was intended to do, wake me up to the reality I faced and to be grateful for what I had. Life was going to be different but it wouldn't be dramatically different unless I enabled once scenarios to become realities. I did learn from my mistakes here but I also cannot say that I didn't test them again in my young adulthood life.

In 2009 I moved to a rural country town the place was completely different to anywhere I had experienced before. I began meeting people getting healthy, losing weight and building relationships- epilepsy was stable. Everything was going well until I was going through a very stressful time a year later. I had sought help from those I could and tried to reduce my stress levels but nothing could change the fact that I was unhappy, scared and stressed to the eyeballs. This resulted in hallucinations and a subsequent seizure that rendered me unable to drive, work and travel. Devastating was the best way to describe it. Years before I had made the choice to increase my risk to respond negatively to my triggers but in this instance prior to several events (not of my doing) occurring I was a very happy, healthy, fit woman.

A few days after the seizure I got tremors in my arms- my arms would shake for 6hours a day. I wasn't able to fill up a water bottle, I couldn't cut my food as I was still hallucinating, I burnt myself because I couldn't hold a cup of coffee and I couldn't do anything to stop my arms shaking. Getting the groceries was a task I knew would bring me tears because I had no control over my body. By this stage I had had a new neurologist for a few years, he had suggested that I get some tests but to be prepared for the potential of a brain tumour. In actual fact my brain was showing better signals then it had in the past and no tumour. This made it evident the events were all to do with stress exacerbating the condition. During this tough time I had plenty of fantastic friends, one in particular who was utterly amazing at supporting me through the tough time and dealing with the shame I felt towards my body. I will feel forever in debt to them for the love I received during this time- it really helped me get better, 300% better. I rested and the following year, still not driving or working initially I was able to begin rebuilding except this time I finally put number one first...ME.

Today me is still the most important thing. I have my pet loves like fitness, singing and of course writing but health is more than my weight in gold. I don't allow myself to live a life stressed or unhappy. I place my health first because I am no good to anyone, an employer, my family, friends if I am unable to function properly so I am more than prepared to make the tough decisions to ensure I keep me and my health at number one. Through doing this I have been completely seizure free for 4years. I still take medication but my mindset is completely different. The next stage of my life I will be thinking about children and I know what decisions I will have to make but that is fine. I am not worried about them. After all worrying doesn't help the situation anyway. In the meantime my neurologist has approved my Mt Everest climb in May with these words, 'just because you have epilepsy doesn't mean life should stop for anything'.  I am so glad he said this because to me I am unstoppable. I have travelled to 9 different countries already and have come to a point where I don't refer to myself as an epileptic, don't get me wrong I am still completely aware of triggers and I am making the decisions I need to about everyday life. I have been dreaming of the day, I can visualise it on demand, where I will sit at Mt Everest base camp look down over the world and shout out my joy with tear drops on my cheeks because I refused to take no for an answer on the things I wanted the most.

I hope that everyone who has epilepsy, knows someone with epilepsy or is reading this has learnt something about epilepsy, gained something from this or is compelled to know more about this very common neurological disease. I have shared this very personal story for the purposes of connecting people together and proving that nothing should stop anyone from doing what they want to do. I hope that I have inspired you.

Please see the link below for information/donations etc for Epilepsy Action Australia. Every little bit helps! Thanks.

The triumph

Monday, schmonday. It always creates the same emotion in most people's minds, start of the new work week and the definitive moment whereby the weekend surely ceases to exist. However Monday is a perfect day to reset your mind, your body and most importantly your thoughts. Effectively it is our new years day every week except you can make habits that last a year.

So how was your last week? I don't know about you but I love my Sundays and the chance to reflect on what has been without it I can forget what I have done, what I've accomplished, what things I need to deal with and that in itself I know stops me from maintaining focus. The last Monday that I wrote I shared with you some exercises to get the body moving, some potential tests you can do to ascertain your fitness levels and a reminder that all accomplishments great or small need to be remembered. Today I want to share with you a few things, at first they might not appear at all connected but I think you'll come to know my reasoning for discussing them.

For those of you who tried a diagnostic test, a portion or the whole of my workout listed in the previous post, how did you go? Some of you might be thinking, what now? It is super important that you think about how you feel after a workout, especially where your head space is at. What excuses did you make for yourself during the workout? 'I can't possibly do 2 more repetitions' or 'someone is using those weights now so I can miss that exercise' or 'I don't have time I'll make up for it in my  next workout'. These internal monologues that are apart of our health and fitness lifestyles are what depict our success with achieving the results that we want. Time and time again people will jump up and down and say that a personal trainer, health nut or genetically gifted human being insulted their core by suggesting they were too lazy to exercise or to change habits but let's be really clear here. The truth hurts.

It doesn't matter whether it is keeping healthy and getting fit or if its associated with any other habit if someone tells us something that we innately know to be true of course we are going to get upset by it. Getting upset is the easy part, the difficult part is doing something about it. I am not referring to crash diets or promotion of anorexic or bulimic ideals here, I'm referring to the hard slog, good nutrition and a regular exercise program that maintains healthy functioning of the body.  For the record, good nutrition is NEVER referred to as a diet.

Easy for me to say right? I'm climbing Mt Everest and I'm super fit and have been my whole life- probably the assumption that some have landed me with. Fair enough, I can understand how some may make the connection, however you would be wrong. Yes I grew up with a sporting family who instilled in me the importance of sport as a means of physical activity, socialisation and a way to develop good lifelong skills like teamwork however this probably is really where it ends. I have a brother and a sister, my brother is a freak of nature, he literally could decide he would be able to get into the Olympics for an event and the following day you'd be hearing about him in elite sporting teams. It is frustratingly annoying. My sister, better than me at football, a natural talent where I was a trained talent, me- I guess I just fell in love with sport. Did falling in love with sport make me healthy though? No.

Whilst I have been active for my whole life I have battled with the concept of body image the same as the person beside me. At 14 years of age I was playing various sports at representative level, football being my sport of choice, I always considered myself to be fat. I had absolutely no real idea about what size I was or that size is more determined by society's idea and that in fact society for the best part didn't even know what they liked when it came to the female form. Fast forward to 17years of age and I am competing at State Trials for football. I distinctly recall my thigh muscle rolling over my knees, the notion of wearing a dress- didn't really cross my mind, I didn't feel comfortable about people seeing my legs. Little did I know my legs were my greatest asset and if we had been in 2014 instead of 2003 my legs would have been the sexiest things going...not that a teenage boy would admit that. Either way I still had decided I didn't like my body based on what society spat back at me as the 'ideal' body image. My whole teenage years I scarcely recall not being on a diet or feeling bad about eating something that I knew would have an adverse reaction on my hips.

Travelling forward into adulthood I got a nice shock but still not much of a change, you see it wasn't until I was 18 and I met people beyond my hometown that I understood there were far more realistic views on what a women should look like. Nevertheless college life created the 'college spread' where mass amount of weight was gained due to decent fat content in every meal and sooner rather than later I was on a fruit and vegetable diet for 15 weeks falling asleep from lack of energy, constantly craving food and exercising more than I ever have. Despite this lack of energy and constant craving I was told by my friends that I looked fantastic, and so I should because I had dropped 15kgs and was now at 60kg and 168cm tall. I sure looked skinny but I wasn't healthy. I was hungry. Unfortunately the positive feedback reinforced the negative habits and I kept thinking a diet like this was good idea. It wasn't until I had my first serious relationship where I started to loosen the reigns on eating, admittedly I did what every man and woman does- I became comfortable and I relaxed, not a bad thing necessarily. The difference for me was I was dating a guy who ate 3 full plates of food for dinner and was frequently unimpressed if I left him sitting at the table eating on his own- so there was a spoken and also insinuated concept that I would never stop eating till he did and if I misread that it would end up in World War III. Part the way through this relationship I was playing and training for my premier league football team and it all got too much, I couldn't keep up I became lazy and began using my spatial awareness and knowledge of the game to intelligently prohibit the amount of running I needed to do as a midfielder. Thankfully though fate stepped in and gave me my health quite a few months later when I moved towns, saw myself in a mirror naked and hit rock bottom. I hated what I looked like, except now it was because I was a very unhealthy size (almost a size 16 when I had always been a size 12 easily). This is when I organised my own personal trainer, paid $180 a week for sessions as well as going to the gym, playing social touch and doing classes in order to combat the 25kg I had then put on and the horrendous weight-90kg- that I had reached. For all of that I have this to say:

Getting a personal trainer was the best thing I have done in my life. Yes I was insulted at times, but I knew I needed someone to break my excuses and complaints because I couldn't do it on my own. I hadn't been able to by myself and I certainly didn't know how to get there. I can frequently remember during a session 'hating' my personal trainer but then loving him afterwards for pushing me as hard as I needed to be pushed. It is in these moments that I learnt my own psyche and that I had to figure out on my own how to overcome my own excuses. Your right going to the gym and deciding to randomly do even 200 jump squats to a normal person seems crazy but it isn't- I learnt that I have to break things down in chunks and when I am tired I count backwards so the task seems smaller. I know that if I do a half baked effort of a jump squat that I feel no accomplishment because I haven't actually finished 200 jump squats. Therefore there simply is no benefit for me in excusing my own behaviour, mentally or physically and this is why I will correct and repeat the repetition if I make an error. Without Ben (my personal trainer) I wouldn't have been able to go to the gym and tell my mind to shut up when it was getting loud with excuses, I wouldn't have been able to break through my pain barriers and I certainly wouldn't be looking at climbing Everest or celebrating maintaining that weight loss for 5years now.

So, this is what I think a lot of people don't understand about health, fitness and society's attitude towards it-

If we satisfy our excuses we are cementing our desire to stay exactly as we are. We cannot pity ourselves and we certainly can not request the pity from others if we are not prepared to do things for ourselves.

There are several fitness people in society at the moment, the Super Mum from the US, for example, who promote a healthy lifestyle. Personally I think if a woman can have children and make time for her workouts and produce such a fit, healthy body then she should be commended and not ridiculed. Those in society only ridicule because they haven't come to terms with what it means to be so dedicated and motivated towards something. Super Mum understands what I have learnt, excuses can not exist where you want to see success. We say that as a society to ourselves around academia why not around health? If we are afraid to tap in our own minds and find our own weaknesses then we need to be prepared for CHOOSING to be the way that we are- mentally and physically.

Now the same goes for writing, I'll say it before and I'll say it again....sometimes people cannot see the good in the work that you create, sometimes it takes a knock back again and again (just like life and our mass attempts to diet our way to our better selves) but it is what you choose to do and how you choose to react that depicts your success.

So at the end of this what do you take away to feel triumphant about?

• The accomplishments of last week- things you did well at work, with family, in relationships, new skills you learnt, things perhaps you were trying not to do (smoking for instance). Remember the small things are just as significant as the big things.
• The way this week has begun
• The good you have in your life now
• How you feel in your mind, body and soul.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Please stay tuned for a special post on Wednesday :)

I work out

So you read my blog, maybe your a fitness freak, novice or like me 4 years ago and look in your mirror at yourself naked and only find yourself sobbing. Ditch the sobs, ditch the novice, ditch the usual. Read this post complete with diagnostic testing, sample workouts and you'll feel as good as you do when you've had a fresh haircut- except everyday!...Before you begin remember this...You are invincible. You are anything you want to be. You are fit.

I am success

First and foremost people exercise is about positive attitude, celebrating the effort you took to get out of bed and make that morning gym session or walk the dog when you really couldn't be bothered to, passed on the chocolate cake when it was screaming at you to 'eat me now!'  So you need to make sure you are acknowledging and documenting these little successes. You can use post it notes around a mirror, paddle pop sticks and a cup or a jar with a monetary value for every positive success and celebrate with a healthy treat at the end of the week. Now what I have just written is probably nothing different to what you have read before so let's get in to what is the most important thing.

You must measure your success. Yes I know I can basically hear you moaning already through the computer. When I say measure though I am not talking about scales (they are rubbish, throw them away!), your clothing size (it's not common) and I am not talking about a measuring tape either (though definitely don't throw it away, I'll share a post with you about that later!). I am talking about measuring success through diagnostic testing. What is diagnostic testing?

Diagnostic testing are a series of tests that personal trainers do with all of their clients (if you have a PT and they haven't done these they aren't doing their job, quite simply- request them or get out) to ascertain your fitness level. The beauty of these is that you can do these and then assess your fitness level yourself. The trick with diagnostic testing is that you pre-test before you begin a program or new exercise regime and then you post-test after a meso-cycle (program of medium length approximately 6weeks) to assess progress. Whether you have already started a program or not I suggest you do these tests before your next workout, record your results and then use the workout below (or the one your already following), 6 weeks later return to these tests, if you have been working to your full potential and if your workout has been slowly increasing in difficulty and intensity then you should see increased performance in your fitness results. Please take note that the tests need to be completed in roughly the same conditions. For example, if pre-test is completed at 5am make sure the post test is completed at the same time.

The diagnostic tests are:

• The 12 minute run. Don't do this on a treadmill. Select a route in public, preferably away from traffic lights (they will slow down your pace). Run as hard and as fast as you can, record where you get to either on an app like MapMyRun or just notice a landmark nearby to you.
• 1min row x3 (rowing machine required). Row as hard and as fast as you can for a minute. Record your distance. Don't stress it will get better. I started out very inconsistently with my best at 220 and now I average 285m a minute. Rest for 30 seconds after your first minute and then repeat. Average your score, this becomes your pre-test score. Your goal initially is as hard and as fast as you can, as you get better you should be aiming to make your watt graph (option on all rowing machines) to be flat- so your pace is consistent throughout.
• Push ups/sit up test- it is simple but important to find out your endurance levels. Most push ups and sit ups (do push ups first followed by a bit of rest and then sit ups- if done with a partner your rest is while the partner is going) you can do in a minute. Record your results.
• Flexibility test. Lie on the ground, arms by your side, squeezing your butt cheeks together lift your neck up as high as possible stretching in the back- measure how far you can get off the ground.

Fit & Invincible Workout

Below I have offered 3 levels per exercise, this means you can choose based on your fitness level, be honest with yourself, if you can complete the first level quite comfortably you need to go to the next level. Staying at a level that doesn't challenge you enough will serve no benefit, similarly as your fitness level increases you can keep this workout and move through to the next phase in the exercise. Make sure you don't automatically assume you are ready to progress in all the exercises, our body's muscles like our intellect have different strengths and weaknesses, it is likely you could be doing more harm than good.

	Level  1	Level 2	Level 3
Warm up:	3minute jog at 7.5km/hr	3 minute jog at 9km/hr	5 minute jog at 10.5km/hr

*Most people’s fast walking pace is at 6.5km/hr

Exercise 1: (stretch)

Down dog- 1 minute

Down dog with hip opener- 1 minute

One footed down dog- alternate after 30 seconds/combine all three levels in smooth transitions

 

 

Exercise 2: Repeat 3 times

Standing lunge, 15 repetitions- swap sides

Bulgarian split lunge, 15 repetitions- swap sides

15 jump lunges- rest then do 15 more

 

Exercise 3: Repeat 3 times

Squat, 15 repetitions

Standing jump squat, 15 repetitions

Box jump squats- 15 reps (onto a park bench/table)

 

Exercise 4: Repeat 3 times

One foot hops- straight line- 30 seconds *                               *                               *

One foot hops for 30secs- diagonal *                              *                                *

One foot hops- up & down a flight of stairs- 1 minute.

 

Exercise 5: Armed with great arms (repeat 3 times with 1 minute rest between each)

6kg chest press 6kg butterflies 6kg triceps extension- till exhaustion**.

10kg chest press 10kg butterflies 10kg triceps extension till exhaustion

15kg chest press 15kg butterflies 15kg triceps extension-till exhaustion

 

 

 

*Please note dependent on male/female and the level of exercise you regularly do you may need to adjust the weight range. The weights given above are an example of how you might adjust your own- keep in mind that the first stands for 3kg per hand (using dumb bells) and the second 5kg dumb bells per hand.

**Exhaustion refers to completing as many as you can do, usually people stop just as they feel a little uncomfortable but general rule of thumb is that most people have 5 more reps in them. It sounds crazy going to ‘exhuastion’ but when I started doing these I thought I wouldn’t be able to do what in essence began as 60 repetitions of arm exercises however because it is different ranges of movement & targets different muscle groups it is surprising what your body can do. The most important thing is you actually rest for the FULL minute between reps- you will recover. Take time to stretch too if you want.

Exercise 6: Repeat 3 times

Criss-cross legs- 15 repetitions

Weighted full body crunch- 15 repetitions (5kgs is a good even weight, but don’t just stay comfortable because you can it won’t change you)

Roll ups- 15 repetitions

 

 

Exercise 7: Repeat 3 times (rest for 15 seconds in between)

Plank- 30 seconds

Wide plank- 30 seconds followed by Narrow plank- 30 seconds

Walking plank- 1min- forwards (backwards as well for extra keen)

 

 

Exercise 8: Repeat 3 times (rest for 15 seconds in between)

Bridge (30 seconds)

Bridge clenched fists (1 minute)

One legged bridge (swap after 30 seconds)

 

Exercise 9: Power play

-skis -side hops -lateral bounds -gutter runs 30 seconds each (no rest)*

-skis -side hops -lateral bounds -gutter runs 45 seconds each (no rest)

-skis -side hops -lateral bounds -gutter runs 1 minute each (no rest)

*If you do need to rest obviously take the rest- but what you are trying to avoid here is your soft mind overtaking your invincible mind- don’t let yourself stop before you are really done.

 

Exercise 10: Bow pose

Half bow pose- swap legs after 30 seconds (1 minute)

Bow pose looking forward (1 minute)

Bow pose looking up (1 minute)

 

You will notice this workout combines legs, arms, high intensity style training. The majority of exercises do not use weights however you can definitely find exercises that are weighted if that is your desire.

Weights are usually used to give yourself more resistance and if you want to increase muscle mass. You will also increase your tone provided you aren’t doing mass amounts of repetitions; therefore the weights you can see that have been used are light/moderate this is because this workout is designed to build cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and muscle tone. It should also show you how you do not need to turn up to the gym for an individual weights, plyometric, intensity or calisthenics session- you can combine it all into one and you’ll be far more entertained in your workout.

So see how it goes and let me know what you think...keep looking back on the blog too for your weights and cardio challenges that I’ll post up for the coming week.

 

Celebrating success

Yesterday you were clued in to the methods of becoming a positive person so today I am going to continue with that theme.

A big part of our life is spent on the rigmarole wheel, because we operate in a series of everyday patterns sometimes we forget to celebrate the simple things in life that make us happy and that at times we take for granted. One of my first serious boyfriends was a doozy of a partner and his family had some rather questionable concepts that frequented their rigmarole wheel however one thing, despite all their bogan-ism, that they understood, was how to celebrate life's little successes and have gratitude for even the small things. This would happen at least once a week over family dinner where they would light a candle and take time to talk as a family about those little successes. For all the interesting ideals this ex and his family had this was definitely one worth remembering, it is something that I adopted and since I have experience how lovely it makes me feel reflecting on the good I am going to continue it.

Celebrating success regardless of how you do it is very important. Sometimes success is just about celebrating your ability to make the effort to do something you couldn't really be bothered to do. Like getting the washing in quickly as the rain starts falling, getting up and out of bed for exercise despite hearing rain spitting on the window panes or making dinner when you could easily go and get McDonalds each night. Irrespective of how small or big success is it still needs to be measured. This is especially important in today's society where effort is less valued and everything is far easier, quicker and less drama for us to do things; thanks to technological advances.

Today all I want to do is encourage you to celebrate some of your success, small or big. Write a list about them and take note of how you feel. You may also find when you write about your own success you can imagine success in the characters' lives that you write about and that it in fact changes your perspective on stories and plot development. After all sometimes it's the simplest things that get audiences connected the most.

So here is my little bit of success to share with you this week:
1. I tried on my bodysuit that I haven't worn for 4 years yesterday & it fits. That is the first time since I hired my own personal trainer (back in 2008/09) that I have been toned enough to pull it off comfortably again- except this time I'm even more comfortable than before!

There is a whole lot more I have written down for myself as well that is worthwhile celebrating, but I'd rather keep that private. What success stories would you like to share? Please share any success stories of your week so far that you are happy about....  small or big. Till next time,

Stay positive :)

Living a positively peachy life #conquerseries

Hello lovelies, last week I said I would share with you my secrets to being a positively peachy person so I'm unleashing the goods! Being positive allows yourself to be free, realise your untapped potential for yourself and embrace who you are- yes it sounds warm and fuzzy and that's exactly how you feel day in day out when you choose positivity!

So we know how positivity towards something (like a goal) can help us achieve great heights but how do you maintain positivity throughout your week? Your month? Try my secret tips to a positively peachy life.

1. Figure out what consumes your thoughts. Why do you do the things that you do? Is it just for pleasure or a greater plan? Do you have a reason? Does it matter that you don't? We all think about things we consider to be important but sometimes their true importance is far less than the amount of time we give them. Gain a sense of reality about what should be taking up your time- then you'll know what you need to fix and what is wasteful thinking!

2. Base everyday on reality- life goes up and down; if it is down now it'll soon be making its way up. Through this thought alone we can focus on a positive outcome- its not about 'hoping' it will happen we know it will happen.

3. Pay attention to your verbs- the more 'should's' we say the greater ability we have to feel we haven't accomplished something in our day. Speak in 'wills' then you will feel less obligated to do things you don't have time for or don't feel like, leaving you feeling more fulfilled and also more accomplished.

4. Instead of thinking 'why did this happen?' ask yourself 'how does this event fit my plan or grow me?' Basically remove the cons from your pros and cons list. There is a good reason for everything happening. It's just sometimes we find out years later.

5. Do things for yourself. Take selfies and post them, talk to yourself lovingly, pamper yourself with nights off cooking, days at the beach, a cheeky almost-unaffordable getaway, a massage and DON'T feel guilty. Guilt is just a way of negativity creeping in again, you deserve to be positively happy, so don't let it win. You should also never feel like you should 'get back into your shell' other people are uncomfortable because you are comfortable with who you are and that is (for some) miles away from where they are; remind them they are missing out by being unapologetically yourself.

6. Laugh. Force yourself if you have to (I definitely have had to at times, positivity is really hard when you get really bad news so its important to make yourself). Delve into your comedy collection of films and laugh yourself senseless if necessary.

7. Notice others. You might recall my love challenge and a post on Random Acts of Kindness- this comment is the same- notice other people, their lives, what they do for each other, what they do for people they don't know and celebrate humanity. Tell people about what you witness. No one around? Get on your Twitter or Facebook soapbox and hashtag it to the heavens then write it down and stick it up somewhere as a constant reminder of the GOOD in life.

8. Remove and reject negativity. MOST IMPORTANT. This is also one of the most difficult things to do and with tact. You need to make it clear that you are about being positive, that you will look for it in every situation and that negative people aren't who you want to hang around. Get comfortable with saying it, believing and living it. And tell those struggling with it to try and be more positive.

9. KNOW YOURSELF. So the last one is very important but all of these things I've mentioned is null and void if you don't do the MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR YOURSELF IN YOUR LIFE which is knowing who you are warts and all and getting comfortable with it. Jennifer Anniston is not even perfect despite what the media suggests. Be prepared to list your strengths and weaknesses as a person. Why is that highlighted? You are not your job, you are who you choose to be, who are you as a person? How does this help with positivity you might ask? When life presents you with challengers, people who question who you are, you can celebrate a positive relationship (they know you well) or confidently reject falsehood with a smile.

10. Smile- regardless of how shocking your day is force yourself to smile- it makes a BIG difference.

11.  Use mantras. I used to think that positive mantras were an Eastern hoodoo that only the air headed would get involved in. Oh how wrong I was. A mantra, for those who don't know, are a short positive phrase you say to yourself to reiterate the knowledge you already have about something or yourself. They are absolutely worth adopting. You probably think I haven't had injuries and have had perfect fitness my whole life especially since adopting this goal. Wrong. In fact I have injured my ankles playing football approximately 16 times, an avid user of my own wobble board didn't stop the fact that getting on and off trains in London would give me momentary nightmares (whilst awake) of my ankle breaking and being at right angles to my tibia and fibula. I was honestly quite afraid of stepping on and off trains, that is ridiculous! Either way you cannot attack a goal with doubt in your mind about the capability of your body. So, I have a mantra for when/ if my ankles' proprioceptors (the sensors that allow our body to know where it is in space and time) over correct on uneven ground. The mantra is simply, 'slow, steady, you're strong'. It is based on knowledge of myself and what I have to do- go slow, steady your mind and remember you are strong. I have used it on various hikes, sometimes I say it at any given point other times I've said it when I have got a minor scare and my anxiety towards a mass injury disappears, resulting in sustained focus. Hence why now I can do approximately 4000 jump squats a week, putting my ankles under a lot of stress, and nothing ever happens. Point being...adopt a mantra. Now.

12. Positivity/Motivation board- get your favourite quotes off Pinterest about positivity, motivation, fitness, courage and determination and plaster them about your bedroom or a space you frequent a lot. Make the quotes/images the wallpaper for your Ipod/IPad or mobile phone. Surround yourself with constant reminders of positivity.

12. Music, music, music- in case you haven't guessed this one is about tunes. Just like the positivity or motivation board music really gets your mood going. If you use apps like Spotify you can access their already made playlists for various moods or alternatively create your own like mine...Bright and Fun. In the morning get ready to the happy tunes for the day- it'll really set the tone. Plus let's face it music is always better than television!

So there are all my tips. Now that you've read them please don't expect an overhaul overnight. Many people think, I've changed my mindset why isn't it working now? That is because a mindset isn't changed until you experience many challenges. For me my challenges were with people who were used to focussing on negatives because of fear. I had to explain to them that I didn't want a life run by fear but rather confidence and fun- you are in effect asking someone to think about a mindset they have had for their whole life though, that's tough. Other challenges I encountered was finding how to be positive when life got tough. It's not easy knowing people are suffering and you are being positive- but the way I see it is like this...anyone suffering wants a positive person around them not a negative one so think of your positivity as a benefit, it is in essence not about you it is about noticing someone else (which is a tip to more positivity!). These two examples I've shared really are the hardest challenges, they seem simple but until you experience them it's hard to relate. Last but not least realise as well that challenges won't stop happening but overcoming them is the best part- it fuels more positivity and happiness.

I hope you have enjoyed this post & have been able to take something away from it. Please feel free to leave comments. Till next time...

Jules xo