Not your usual COVID-19 update…

Hey guys! 

I hope everyone has been able to isolate in a safe and supportive space. 

Here is a picture of my office in January when I was setting it up. My dad and I had finished painting and we were at the exciting finishing touches stage! I was super nervous and excited for what was to come – AND BOY did I have no idea what was to come. 

I faced challenge after challenge business wise in getting things going, it was tough but I worked through it because I was super thrilled for the opportunity to work as a dietitian. After months of hard work, just as everything was coming together, restrictions were put into place. My office is in a gym so this meant the loss of my business and any present and future income. A decision that was difficult, but that was fully embraced and supported given the importance of containing the virus. I am super lucky that I still have a job in retail, so that has made things easier.

However, while I should have been spending the past 2 months building up my business or working on marketing strategies, all I have done successfully is watch TV, scroll through social media, buy presents, and eat my feelings. The truth is – I’m unsure about my future. Career, finances, relationships. This all compounded by my constant knowledge that I am a single gal and I have reached my quarter century milestone.

Speaking of social media – everyone seems to be really good at being productive. Baking, cooking, upskilling, exercising, working from home, and for other health professionals: navigating telehealth. Again; reminding me that I’m doing a whole lot of nothing, because I have struggled with motivation to build my business. Is this because the less you have to do in your day the lazier you become? Am I unsure about what the future holds? Is it because I feel a bit unaccomplished compared to my friends and colleagues who are STILL smashing it despite the crisis we face? Honestly I don’t have the answer – Maybe it is a bit of everything! 

Luckily I have some AMAZING friends who check in daily to support me, and also a great family who make me feel better too! I also follow some really amazing accounts on Instagram, of supportive dietitians. 

There are two in particular that I feel the warm and fuzzies from, 
The Mindful Dietitian run by Fiona Sutherland 
https://www.instagram.com/themindfuldietitian/

Dietitian Anna by Anna Sweeney 
https://www.instagram.com/dietitiananna/

Both of these dietitians are massive in the non diet approach area of practice and HAES (health at every size) advocates. The COVID messages they have presented are ones of nurture and survival. We don’t need to come out of lockdown thinner, fitter, smarter, richer, more accomplished or more savvy in any way. All we need to do is come out safe, alive, and surviving. Honestly I think I’m nervous about how to navigate life once it goes back to normal too… because I don’t know how to go back to that, or how to navigate those next steps – a bridge I’ll cross when I get to it!

Whatever situation lockdown has put you in I hope you have taken time to take care of yourself, and that you have support around you in some way. To finish on a quote I read on Instagram (sorry I don’t know who to give credit to for this)

“You don’t have to feel hopeful about the future, it’s enough just to be curious about what is coming” 
And maybe that is enough for now… 

Until next time, 
Big Sis x

P.s just wanted to say I am all good, but if you yourself are feeling too overwhelmed by the current situation, please contact Lifeline https://www.lifeline.org.au or call 13 11 14