An analogy to think about when it comes to what you eat and how you take care of yourself.

A true story about Olive my Car. 

We stop off to fill up the tank so we can get on the motorway...... 

My husband was tired and a little fuzzy around the edges from the wedding fun. He went to fill the tank Olive the diesel car. 

He filled her up and we headed off on our way. About 5 minutes into the drive, he suddenly realised the fuel he used for poor Olive was not diesel but instead he’d used petrol. Oh boy oh boy! Things were about to get messy. 

I was not happy, to say the least. We were in the middle of nowhere and the sun was starting to set. 

We had to go back to the petrol station, there was no help there, it was a small country road and a Sunday evening. 

All we could do was call someone. But who? Paramedics ? Doctor ? Car garage? 

We finally managed to call a man from the local area who had the required equipment to operate on Olive and empty her out. 

It was long, it was painful (we had to empty the car), the kids, the grandmother, the bags, the seats had to move, and he had to get deep into her tanks, that’s right, two tanks! 

It was a stressful experience, and two very young children were tired and grumpy by this point. 

The emotions were high!

It took around 3 hours before we could get on the road again. Grateful we had at least managed to get this resolved, instead of driving all the way home with the incorrect fuel in the tanks, may have been more disastrous for Olive.

So this one goes down into the memory books, and can be spoken about with amusement at times!

The moral from this story is twofold.

How you look after your car can be a little analogy to think about with your own health.

Would you go and put petrol into your diesel engine or vice versa? I’m guessing not willingly!!

Put consideration into your fuel source.

Sweet treats and easy foods be it a microwave meal or a takeaways are rewarding after a long work week or an exhausting day parenting. Maybe a nice big glass of wine is your delight or your reward for getting to the weekend!

However, these are not the fuel source your human engine wants or needs.

It’s really what you do for the majority of the time that will matter. Choose the right fuel for your body to process throughout the day and keep it functioning optimally, consider the care you give yourself, for your mind, your emotions, and your rest.

Take some time to consider investing in yourself to help you thrive. 

Would you like to help the aches and pains in your body ease so you can be strong to carry on your daily routines? 

• This could look like a bag of Epsom salts to soak in the bath with. 

• Maybe joining a Pilates class or even doing one-on-one with a Pilates instructor to tailor the right movement for your body. 

• Acupuncture may sound like just needles and pain, but there is a fantastic relief from this traditional Chinese therapy. Combine it with massage and your physical pains can be relieved. 

These are just some suggestions based on my own experience, I live by these routines, they have almost become rituals because they help me live through my physical pain. 

If you need to know more about these techniques and want to try any, I am happy to talk with you about how they work for me and recommend the professionals I use if you are in the South Herts/North London/ Essex borders.