We’re a quarter of the way through. All things considered; I think it’s a good time to reflect on what the year 2020 has been like so far. Before we do that, let’s take a quick glance back at 2019:
- Moving between cities
- Fast food
- Challenging project
- Team drinks
- Good family and friend circle
- Birth of my newborn niece
My core circle is in the Midlands. Difrent were supportive and accommodating, which meant I worked from home two out of five days. When I was in Blackpool, as colleagues tend to, we socialised a lot. We usually stayed at The Village Hotel, ordering more food then we could eat, with a few beers in the evening. In Wolverhampton, towards the back end of the year, we had reason to celebrate. My beautiful baby niece was born, and we took every opportunity to wet the baby’s head…. a lot!
Last year, one of my close friends and main drinking partner, decided not to drink for the first three months of the year. This year, I thought I’d try it too. My New year’s resolution was a sober quarter, the start of January to the end of March without a single sip. A lot of people were recovering from Christmas and doing dry January, so it all felt pretty normal. A couple of weeks in, I started to notice others caving in, I still had two and a half months to go.
I was back in Newcastle, on NHS Jobs, still working at least two days a week from home. I was largely familiar with the team, having completed an eight-month stint there from 2018. I was the Business Analyst, within a new squad that was brought in to compliment the delivery. Our squad bonded pretty quickly, we’re all unique characters, with lovable personalities. We found similarities between some of the hobbies that we enjoy. Myself and Dave Clark, the delivery manager on the team, went for lunchtime walks. We either went to Asda, or the chip shop. He’s pretty big on fitness, and I’ve always enjoyed to train. Admittedly falling out of love with it and becoming a bit sloppy over the last few years.
Anybody that knows me in any depth at all, will tell you that I’m also a huge foodie! I frequently visited restaurants, and I ate fast food regularly. It was at least daily, but more likely, multiple times a day. On one occasion, Dave and I were walking, and I said to him, let’s go to the chippy today. When we got there, I couldn’t decide on what I wanted. There was too much choice, I wanted it all! I decided, I’d have a fish and chips…. and a donner burger. Then we walked back to the office, and I stuffed my face.
This was the changing point for me, I had already vowed to complete a sober quarter, now it was time to kick more unhealthy habits. I ate the double lunch, it was nice, sure, but something in my gut (probably the donner meat), told me that I should be doing better with my health. At this point, I was 16 stone and 3 pounds.
I substituted fizzy drinks with water and cut out 95% of my fast food. I began to order meal preps from Musclefood. It was three small meals, and three healthy snacks, throughout the day, for five days. I’d eat as healthily as I could in Wolverhampton and take at least two days’ worth of lunches to Newcastle. For lunch on the third day, I’d have a salad. Breakfast at the hotel, would usually be granola. I also needed to ensure that this diet was maintainable. So, for dinner I could spoil myself, and bless a healthy(ish) restaurant with my presence. Alongside this, I started to train, probably four or five times a week. A mixture of cardio and weights. In just one week, I lost eight pounds.
Now I was beginning to feel better. Physically, I was healthier, stronger, faster, fitter. It was starting to come together. I had more time, more energy and more drive. One of the days, I was on Instagram, talking to Jo, the marketing manager at Difrent. We were talking about reading, which we both enjoy. I generally tend to read articles, blogs, or the news. For some reason, I’ve always struggled with books. Other than The Elves and The Shoemaker, or Thomas the Tank Engine, I’ve only ever managed to complete one book. It was The Alchemist, a couple of years ago, a game changer of a book. I had a lot of free time and still it took me months to complete.
I spoke to Jo about this and I asked her, ‘what’s your reading technique’? She told me; she reads no more than one chapter a day. That gives her enough content to think about, and the ability to reflect on what she read. I thought to myself, okay, maybe that’s where I’m going wrong. I don’t read enough, a few pages in, ten at the most, I put the book down. Now I’m going to aim for a chapter a day. This was early February, by the end of the month, I had completed the book. ‘Can’t hurt me’ by David Goggins, 364 pages in a matter of weeks. This book was brilliant, it was about pushing yourself to your limits, passed the pain you feel. It was about trying and failing and trying again until you succeed. It was about combining physical strength with mental toughness. The 40% rule, when you think that you’re ready to give up, there’s 40% still left to give.
Since March, it’s been a tough time for everyone. The world has been turned upside down. Businesses have closed, governments are introducing unprecedented new measures. People are being confined to their homes. Difrent got it right, and called it earlier than most, everybody to work from home. In my role I’m pretty lucky, I’m used to working from home anyway. Our teams are already prepared, and I know I’m geared up.
Now it’s about routine, mental toughness and preparation. As an extravert, on days I’ve struggled with this, but I’ve tried to keep a positive outlook. I’m now 14 stone and 9 pounds, having lost a stone and a half, in just over two months. I’ve upped my training to at least once a day, twice a day on some days. I have a treadmill, a punch bag, a skipping rope, dumbbells, barbells and I’ve just ordered a bench press. I’m trying to focus on myself and continuing to improve in health. Having a bath is so underrated. I regularly order bath products and I find it’s a great way to relax.
From a social and well-being perspective, Difrent did well again. There’s loads going on. Virtual PT, twice daily coffee catchups, breakfast clubs to name a few. I regularly attend the coffee catchups, dedicated time for normal conversations with people you usually socialise with anyway. That’s definitely my cup of coffee!
Right now, I’m trying to think positively. I find it’s a great time for family, more quality time with my loved ones. The other day, we were eating dinner, speaking about key workers and we started a spontaneous game. Guess words that have a double meaning. Rules:
- Must be spelled the same
- Must be spoken the same
- Mustn’t be a variation of the same word
In addition, I have group chats with my friends, and we talk every day. In normal circumstances, we would meet up on the weekend. On Friday, one of them said, ‘Boys, we can’t even ask what time we’re linking today’. We had a light-hearted laugh and started making plans for when the situation improves. Like many others, I’m making a conscious effort to talk to more people and check in with others more often than I usually would. I find myself remembering conversation, either with colleagues, friends or family. I’m remembering, and I randomly start laughing. The quality of conversation must have improved!
I worry too, of course I do. In Wolverhampton, I live with my younger sister and my parents. My parents are still going into work. Recently talking to them, the horrors facing the world seemed all too real. There is going to come a time when the situation improves. The way I’m trying to look at it is, as long as we follow government advice, and do our part, everything else is out of our control.
The thing I’m struggling most with is not seeing my older sister. She’s a year older than me, we were in sixth form at the same time and we have a similar group of friends. We typically see each other quite a lot. She would usually ask if I’m WFB’ing (Working from Birmingham). That’s where she lives, and on a Monday or Friday, that’s where I would usually have been. I think the most difficult thing for me has been not spending time with her and my niece. She falls into the high risk category too, so I’ll have to accept that I probably won’t be seeing them for a while.
The last thing I’ll mention is that I’m trying to keep my mind occupied. In the middle of last month, I started another book, ‘The Eyes of Darkness’ by Dean Koontz. I completed it a couple of days ago. I’m not usually big on conspiracy theories but I picked up on the attention it’s been getting in recent times. *Spoiler alert*….. The book is about a particular kid, who was supposedly killed in a tragic accident. His death was a cover up, he’s actually alive and being held captive. The boy manages to develop psychic powers which leads his mother to finding him. The reference that has generated attention, comes in at the second to last chapter.
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