Married at First Sight 2023 star Shona Manderson. has spoken about her wellbeing and fitness routine as the latest season on MAFS is now on air. Shona spoke to Platinum Spas about her wellbeing and the importance of self-care.
Shona revealed the tricks she uses to stay calm in a stressful environment, adding: “My main ones are listing, journaling, and collecting my thoughts on paper because my mind can run wild. So I wake up and think, ‘Right, what’s today? What’s the priority?’ And then let’s order it.
“I always appreciate a little moment of gratitude, I always find that whenever I’m feeling a little bit stressed, a little bit overwhelmed, just doing a little bit of gratitude and thinking, ‘What’s positive right now?’ can really help. I think, ‘Who is in your life? What is coming your way?’ and that just keeps me in check.
“Also, movement, even if it is just going for a dog walk or just doing a little bit of stretching in the morning. Due to work, I need to get up and I just need to move because I don’t have a nine to five. I don’t really have a schedule, I’m a freelancer, so I always must set my alarm, and be very disciplined with going to bed early, which can be tricky because I’m such a night owl at heart.”
On exercise, Shona said: “My top one would be running because it’s so good for my mental health. Yoga changed my life since I started practising. A lot of people think that ‘I can’t go to yoga because I want to go to a workout class,’ but yoga is an amazing workout for the mind!
“Recently, I’ve started lifting a lot more weights in the gym and that just gives me a great pump that makes me feel good, which I never ever thought years ago I would do.”
On food, Shona said: “I just make sure that I’m eating a lot of colourful food, I try not to focus too much on nutrition because in the past, I have focused way too much on this, I was in a bad habit of calorie counting. So, if my food is colourful, I know it’s healthy. I know what makes me feel good and digests well in my body. I’m all about how does it sit in my tummy as well.
“I don’t like stuff that’s too heavy, so I try to eat more mindfully, colourfully, and not focus on anything like, ‘Oh, this has got this amount in or this amount,’ because I get way too overwhelmed with that stuff and I know what makes me feel good. I hate cooking, but I know poke bowls will take me like 10 minutes, and I love them every time.”
But there is one food she can’t avoid. Shona said: “Yeah, white chocolate cookies, the squidgy ones from Sainsbury’s! I’m that person – I’ll pick up the packet and I’ll squeeze it first, if it’s not up to my standard then I’ll put them back, which I just realised isn’t very polite. I have just discovered a white chocolate Biscoff bar in my local Co-op and hardly anyone’s tried it. I feel like it’s there just for me, and that’s my favourite.”
Shona says she has recently changed up her fitness routine, adding: “I’ve just done a marathon in April, which was amazing. And I think when you complete something so big like that, you realise you can need a bit of a break from fitness. I was slightly injured too, and don’t want to push myself too hard.
“I’ve shifted my mindset from working out to lose weight to working out because I want to know what I can achieve – How fast can I run? How heavy can I lift?
“When I did the marathon, I noticed I gained weight and I had to really sit with myself and think, ‘OK, that’s fine, I am strong, I’m running marathons, for God’s sake!’
“I put the weight on because I was fuelling my body for the runs. So I’m really working on my mindset from weight loss goals to fitness goals and I’m starting a plan with my personal trainer now which focuses on my lifting. This is my goal because I used to fear weights. I used to think weights weren’t for me and that the gym was only worth it if I got a good sweat on, but with weights, you absolutely can!
“With weights you can’t really compare to the runner’s high, there’s nothing like it. When I run, I don’t know about you, but I like singing so loud down the street, you feel like you’re a character in a movie. I feel so powerful when I run, it’s such a good feeling.
“I would debunk that weightlifting leads to bulking, especially for women. It takes a lot of work and dedication to build hench muscles. So don’t think you’re just going to do it overnight. People have said to me, ‘I can’t run.’ A lot of it is in your mind; you can run for a bit, and you can walk for a bit, and this helps to build your pace up. Everyone thinks you must be a natural runner. That is a myth and lie, I will debunk that now. Just go out, get some good running shoes and give it a go.”