Chronicles of an Inspired Single Mom

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to my space, where I try to inspire you to live your best life!

And just like that, we’re into the month of March. One of my youths from a youth group I am affiliated with stated that “We’re marching into March with Authority!” I share this sentiment because despite obstacles, delays and adversities that I am currently facing I am indeed making every effort in every area of my life to March forward and today I’m challenging you to do the same.

I was in the gym the other day and I said to my trainer hmmm it’s very quiet here. He replied ‘yes because all of the January people are now gone!’ All I can say to you my wonderful readers, is that I am so glad I’m no longer amongst the “January people”. I don’t do new year’s resolutions. What I do is to evaluate different areas of my life, at the end of the year, then using different categories for example; spiritual, emotional, physical and financial devise new ways, in the upcoming year in which to improve these areas. Additionally I have some words that are my action words for the year to include go, consistent, focus, do….these words keep me motivated and working towards achieving my goals. The changes that I am making are inspiring my children to make changes in their lives as well. One such change is our health.

What started off as a Lenten activity (though I’m not Catholic) has now transformed another area of my life. For lent this year I decided to give up eating meat, dairy products and drinking coffee. I am exercising more and as a result of these things, I feel brand new. No more curling up in bed watching tv and eating a tub of haagen daz ice-cream or eating a full big bag of doritos for me. My kids have jumped on the healthy train with me. My daughter has reduced her meat intake as well and is avoiding unhealthy snacks. I had to compliment her. She said she was inspired by someone (looking at me and smiling, I got teary eyed). My son, bless him, has been drinking lots of water, eating more fruits and has decided to give up McDonald’s for a few weeks. If you know him you know he lovessss McDonald’s so this is a big deal for him.

“Mommy your tummy is not so big anymore!” That’s what my favourite boy in the whole world said to me the other day whilst I was exercising at home. I could’ve gotten offended but I was happy that my efforts were finally starting to show. My daughter was in stitches…uncontrollable laughter one night when she went to lock off my phone and saw my alarm saying ‘unbig your back girl’. That was my attempt to encourage myself to exercise, no matter what and this little reminder is working because I do lose momentum at times, but now I’m encouraged to keep going.. One of my words for this year is ‘consistent’, so i’ve been trying to be consistent in the things I eat and how active I am. I may not exercise everyday because of my schedule but each week I am engaging in physical activity or eating healthy well balanced meals. Swapping out processed snacks for fresh fruits and drinking more water, especially coconut water. I took up swimming and was quite astonished at my fitness level in this regard. My first session left me sore for days.

I made the lap across the pool and honey I was gasping for the oxygen that God said was free and available to me. My legs were on fire and I felt like one of my lungs had collapsed, shriveled up and disintegrated in my chest. When I got home after that session I sat on the sofa for a bit to regain my strength then I went straight to bed! Saying I was exhausted is an understatement. All in all it has been a good journey. I’m still boxing a few days a month and working out at home. One workout I find particularly helpful is ‘Fupa fat Burn Walk’ by MRLondon on youtube. This is perfect for anyone regardless of your fitness level. To make it more challenging for myself, I use hand held weights during the workout. https://youtu.be/5lXxHKNFRqU?si=XnRXlkfIJcYYQkal

To be honest I started off focused on losing weight. Now I’m focused on just being healthy, and being able to run behind my very active seven year old. Additionally I realised just how much my children were following in my footsteps and so my perspective and approach to certain things has changed. I realised that my attempt at ‘treating them’ buying them donuts and sugar cookies as an afternoon snack, was slowly setting them up for health issues in the future. Now I buy less snacks or find a healthier option for their favourites. Instead of fried crisps, baked crips. we’ve swapped out ‘cow milk’ as they would say in Britain for oat milk and everybody has their supplements or vitamins to take daily. We eat more fruits and make time to rest. This is key in being healthy. People don’t rest anymore it seems, everybody is busy hustling and grinding.

You might be wondering what inspired such a change? As I said earlier in this post, I originally gave up meat, dairy and coffee as part of lent but the overall push to eat better and exercise came from the realisation that I wasn’t truly caring for myself and I may soon be susceptible to certain diseases. My daughter said to me one day, “mom, don’t use so much butter, I want you to be around for a long time”. I felt that!. I understand all too well what it’s like being motherless having lost my mom in December 2022. There are three well known diseases that seem to be woven in the fabric of my family’s DNA; cancer, diabetes and hypertension. It’s not enough for me to say that these illnesses will not be me or my children’s portion while I keep poisoning myself with so call “treats”. I have to give myself a fighting chance, I want to not just live, but live a healthy life. I don’t want my days spent in bed, in the hospital or popping pills to be able to function “normally”. Now i know better I’m trying to do better.

I know by this time of the year, you may have lost sight of your goals and dreams. Actually maybe you didn’t have any. My challenge to you is to do better for yourself. If not for you, do it for your children so they can have a parent that’s active in their life and not one that watches from the side lines. Eat that salad, go for that walk, put down that beer or alcoholic beverage, drive past McDonald’s, say no to chicken and malt! (lol if you’re Montserratian you know exactly what I’m talking about) Do whatever you can so that you can have an enjoyable life.

If you’re interested in how I’m getting on with my journey, you can check out my tiktok

https://www.tiktok.com/@tashaknw?_t=8knz1cDCkSm&_r=1

I post my fitness videos once a month. Also don’t forget my first book is coming soon. In this book I’ll take you on my journey towards being #inspired. So keep an eye out for that! Until next time…Besos