Sam is a single mother of two - mental illness almost derailed her after the birth of second child.
Sam almost lost herself when postnatal depression hit – but strength training was her saviour
‘Outside of school, things were different and the swimming club beckoned where I was wining medals, but school activities were strictly more academic and creative like Irish dancing, school plays and steel pans. ‘I describe it a bit like wearing a mask,’ says Sam. ‘You have coffee with other mums, going through the motions of sharing stories about the joys of children, but steering the conversation away from deeper conversations about well-being.Sam says her hardest moments were when the children were in bed, she says she felt like she would be crushed by the weight of her loneliness.‘I was left with my thoughts, the mask dropped, and all the negativity and worries spiralled out of control.
‘I trawled the internet for guidance and weight loss and radically altered my diet, cutting carbs, doubling portions of vegetables, focusing on proteins,’ she says. ‘I became obsessed!‘I just didn’t realise about how much weight I had lost and an aunty in the family said I was painfully thin and that I should put on weight. I took a good look in the mirror, the first for a long time and saw myself properly and didn’t like what I saw.
‘I was soaking up as much knowledge as I could as part of a volunteer scheme, so I started working there and supporting an exercise referral scheme. It was not an average gym as many visitors were referred by medical practitioners to support their health.
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