Despite feeling as if a knife has been dangling over my head for the past 7 months, I've remained fairly positive throughout COVID-19 thus far. I will admit that the initial shock of possibly losing everything I've worked so hard for these past twenty years kept me up at night during those first few weeks of lockdown. And, yes there were quite a few days in which I felt depressed to only be booking 4-5 sessions each day, instead of my usual 7-12 sessions each morning alone. However once I realized that I had very little control over how this pandemic would effect my business, I decided to change my entire viewpoint on the current situation. And rather than become enraged with our Government for forcing the closure of businesses and blaming other countries for possibly starting this virus, I decided to put my focus primarily to improving both my physical health and my mental health.

Let's be honest, a lot of us shit the bed with our health and fitness earlier this year when most of the world went into a complete lockdown due to COVID-19. I mean unless you were an avid outdoor runner or had access to a Private Training Facility on a regular basis, then you were pretty much shit out of luck when it came to your training and exercise.

When it comes to diet and managing stress levels, there are two types of clients in which I work with. The first type of clients are the ones that either forget to eat or just can't eat because they are too stressed to even think about food. Then there are the other type of clients which tend to go in the complete opposite direction when they are stressed, and eat anything and everything they can possibly get their hands on.

I think it's important to realize that stress is not just in your mind. When stress is chronic, as it so often is in our chaotic, fast-paced world, our bodies produce high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol triggers cravings for salty, sweet, and fried foods. When we are feeling overly stressed we tend to gravitate towards the foods that will provide us with a burst of energy and pleasure within a few short minutes. Simple Carbs, Trans fats and anything with SUGAR and/or SALT, usually fit the bill perfectly in these cases.

I think it's also important to note that Emotional Eating is not just brought on by stress. Sometimes we tend to overeat because we are sad, or because we are upset, and eating "fun foods" is a good way to escape our current reality (at least temporarily anyways).

Unfortunately filling up on sugary snacks and fried foods WILL NOT fix our problems. In fact, it will only create more problems long term if this is your solution to coping with day to day challenges and issues that may and will arise.

Okay, I'm not actually retiring from the Fitness Industry, however I would be lying if I said that the thought hadn't crossed my mind at least once or twice over the past six months. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job and enjoy working with every single client that trains with our company. However 2020 has presented numerous obstacles in which I, like many other Small Business Owners have had to try and overcome.