I went into survival mode.

It was about getting through the day. Food was instant and comforting (I ate a lot of biscuits) and exercise wasn’t high on my list of priorities.

My world shrunk down to whether or not James had a wet nappy! Cuddling on the sofa was the extent of our activity. Nothing else mattered. And if he was poorly again, I know it would be exactly the same!

We all have times where we shift into survival mode. We aren’t thinking about eating healthily or exercise, we are literally just getting through the day.

It might be a poorly child or it might be a completely different reason – stress, hangover, struggling with anxiety or depression, grief, conflict, etc, etc. The list is pretty endless and some more serious than others.

But I do think most of them come from a negative place and they all lead to having a period of time (hours, days, weeks, months even) where we don’t care about ourselves enough.

So what to do when survival mode hits?

I’ve thought about this a lot as James has got better but actually I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes you can’t do anything.

Sometimes you’ve just got to ride it out and know that this too shall pass.

How long it takes will depend on what’s caused it. For me, as soon as James was back to his normal self, I was able to think about myself again and luckily, he recovered pretty quickly. (This parenting lark is pretty stressful at times isn’t it?!!!)

I’ve had a relatively healthy weekend and this week I’ll get back to exercise. I’m not going to beat myself up about the packets of biscuits that were consumed last week!

If you find yourself in survival mode then don’t panic. Don’t add to the negativity by feeling guilty. Just go with it. Do what you need to do and when you’re ready to come out the other side, know you will be able to get back on it. Repeat after me: ‘this too shall pass’ …it helps I promise!!!

And if you ever need a cheerleader or someone to help you get back on track – I’m always here! Pop over to look at my Kickstart programme by clicking here. It might just be the thing to help you. Or feel free to email me and get in touch (lorna@alittlemorefabulous.co.uk). I will always reply. My facebook page is also fab for quick motivational posts. Come on over and have a look by clicking here. 

If you finished reading to the end…well done! ha!

Now go out and have a positive day. Look after yourself as well as you can.