As those of you who read my blog or have worked with me on bespoke plans will know, I take an obsessive interest in learning all I can about fitness. In the process, I’ve garnered a good knowledge and decent set of qualifications. When it comes to giving advice (if I do say so myself) I’m reasonably on the ball. When it comes to taking my own advice, however… I’m a bit of a disaster.
It’s been clear to me for quite some time that if I’m really going to start taking care of myself properly, I need some outside guidance (read: someone else cracking the whip). Tasked with this rather formidable challenge is KX Fitness Manager and fountain of fitness knowledge, Gideon Remfry.
By now, you’re probably familiar with KX gym and Gideon, but if not here’s some catch up reading for you. In short, I’m VERY lucky to have someone so savvy, respected and inspiring on board to help me out.
And so begins… My KX Fix Diary.
For my initial consultation with Gideon, we went through my signs and symptoms – poor sleep habits and crazy cravings to name a few – and created my timeline. The timeline identifies potential catalysts for the symptoms I’m experiencing now. A key ‘stress’ period was the three and a half years during which I lived in New Zealand, aged 14-18. Not only was this an unhappy time for me but I spent the majority of it suffering from anorexia. Whilst I consider myself to be recovered, the physical and psychological impacts of this are on-going and the personality traits that contributed to my eating disorder still put my wellbeing at risk in other ways. Over-achiever-control-freakism is great for getting stuff done, but not so hot for health.
And the first step towards a healthier, shinier new me is… sleep.
In Gideon’s words: “Charli’s empire is only as strong as the foundations it stands on. Sleep is your number one fix to build a strong, lean body and clear mind!”
My body clock is a mess. However pure my intentions, I invariably end up on the iPhone or laptop into the early hours, then spend a good hour or three lying awake until my brain switches off adequately to sleep. I subsequently proceed to wake up every hour, on the hour, until whatever time it is I have to get up – anything between 6am and 10am depending on my schedule. Often, my middle-of-the-night waking thought will be work-related, so I’ll have to get up and do whatever it is that’s bothering me before I can get back to sleep. I confess… I suffer from terrible, self-inflicted Internetsomnia.
I’ve long appreciated this isn’t healthy behaviour, but it’s taken a kick up the ass from Gideon to actually do something about it.
So… for the past four nights, I’ve been ON IT. I’ve been in bed before midnight. I’ve eschewed technology for at least half an hour beforehand (I’m working up to an hour). My phone no longer resides by my bed. And guess what? Four nights of falling asleep within half an hour and sleeping almost solidly for a good eight hours. If this is the level of progress before introducing blackout blinds, a sunrise simulation lamp, a caffeine curfew and a full hour’s technology-free downtime, by next week my foundations will be positively Roman.
Bring on the zeds!