Ever notice how your body speaks up before you admit something’s off? Not all stress shows up as feeling “stressed”. Sometimes you feel fine. You’re coping. You’re getting on with things. You tell yourself you’re managing okay… and then your body starts tapping you on the shoulder. Maybe it shows up as poor sleep. A tight neck or sore shoulders that won’t settle. Gut issues. Headaches. Low energy. Feeling flat or more reactive than usual. Nothing dramatic. Just enough to get your attention. Our bodies are often way more honest than our minds. They hold onto things we’ve pushed past, ignored, or normalised. And eventually, they speak up because they need us to listen. I know for me, there have been times when I didn’t feel stressed emotionally, but my body was clearly carrying something. Slowing down and tuning in helped me realise that stress doesn’t always shout. Sometimes it whispers for a long time before it finally gets loud. So I want to open this up to you… has your body ever signalled stress before your mind caught up? What did it look like for you? And looking back, what do you think your body was asking for at the time? I’d love to hear your story.

It's easy to see how this one hits close to home for me... for most of my life, fitness wasn’t just something I did… it was who I was. The fitness instructor. The personal trainer. The one yelling “just one more rep!” I loved pushing hard. I loved sweating. I loved feeling strong and capable in my body. Then MND came along and stripped so much of that away. First I couldn’t run. Then I couldn’t lift. Then I couldn’t even move my arms. And I remember thinking… if I’m not the fit, strong, high-energy woman leading from the front of the room… then who am I? It felt like a bit of an identity crisis, if I’m honest. But here’s what I noticed instead... fitness was never just about burpees or weights or how much I could push through. It was about discipline. It was about mindset. It was about resilience. It was about showing up. And I am proof that those things didn't disappear when my physical ability changed. I had to redefine what training meant. I had to let go of the version of me who could smash out workouts and embrace the version of me who trains differently now. The thing is, this isn't just an MND story... so many of us go through this in quieter ways. Hormones shift. Injuries happen. Energy changes. Life gets busier. What worked at 25 doesn’t always work at 45 or 55. The real question becomes… if you can’t train like you used to, who are you now? How can we honour our body without constantly comparing it to a past version? Anyone else had to adjust your fitness identity at some point in your life? What was hard about it… and what did you gain from it?

What’s a piece of health advice you followed for years, only to realise later that it didn’t actually work for you? This question came up recently and it really got me thinking. I imagine, like me, most of us did exactly what we were told at the time… things like low-fat everything, being warned not to eat too many eggs because of “cholesterol”, and sugar never really being flagged as an issue as long as the fat content was low. Not to mention the heavy focus on breads and grains in our diet. Looking back now, we can see how much of that advice missed the bigger picture. These days, new guidelines are coming to light that emphasise protein and full-fat dairy, while reducing sugar, carbs and ultra-processed foods. Health advice changes. Bodies change. Life stages change. What worked in your 20s doesn’t always work in your 40s or 50s. And that doesn’t mean you got it wrong. It just means you were working with the information you had at the time. The real skill now is curiosity. Looking back on our decisions with kindness, not judgement, and being willing to adapt as we learn more. So I’d love to open this up to you…What’s a health or nutrition rule you once followed that you see differently now? And what did you learn from that experience? These conversations are powerful because they remind us we’re not alone, and that we’re all figuring this out together.

Something I see all the time is people blaming themselves for 'not being motivated enough' or 'not having enough willpower'... who's guilty of saying that!? But honestly? Most of the time, motivation isn’t the problem at all. We’re very quick to make it a personal flaw. This might sound like... 'I just need to try harder', 'I need more discipline', or 'I should be better at this by now'. But what if the issue isn’t willpower… it’s capacity? If you’re exhausted, emotionally stretched, hormonally challenged, under constant stress, or juggling a lot in life, your nervous system is already working overtime. Asking it to rely on sheer willpower on top of that is like trying to run a marathon on empty. I’ve learned this the hard way. There have been plenty of times where I wanted to do the thing… but my body or mind simply didn’t have the reserves. And beating myself up never helped. What helped was stepping back and asking better questions. Not 'what’s wrong with me?', but more 'what’s going on for me right now?' Because consistency doesn’t come from forcing yourself through resistance. It comes from creating conditions that actually support you, like enough rest, realistic expectations, the right kind of movement, emotional support, and sometimes a bit of flexibility instead of pressure. So if you’re feeling stuck right now, try this reframe: Maybe you don’t need more motivation. Maybe you need more support, more space, or a different approach. So, I’m curious… What do you usually blame when things don’t stick - motivation, discipline, or something else? And what changes when you stop blaming yourself and start looking at the bigger picture? Let’s talk about it.

I mentioned on Monday how there's been long held thoughts around fitness being all about how hard we push. How much we sweat. What the numbers say. But in reality, life doesn’t care how many reps you can do in a gym. Life asks different things of our bodies. It asks us to get up off the floor. To carry shopping bags. To feel steady on our feet. To have the confidence to move without fear. To keep doing the things we love as we get older. That’s the kind of fitness I care about - even more so now living with MND. I'm training for LIFE!! That means building strength that supports everyday movement. It means working on balance, mobility and posture. It means choosing exercise that helps my nervous system feel safe and supported, not constantly stressed or depleted. As our bodies change, especially through different stages of life, what we need from exercise changes too. That doesn’t mean we’re doing less. It means we’re training smarter. For me, movement is about staying independent, connected and capable for as long as possible. It’s about supporting my body so it can support my life. So I’m curious… when you think about fitness, what are you really preparing your body for? What do you want your body to help you do, now and into the future? There’s no right answer. Just awareness. Let me know in the comments.