Guest Post by Sundried Ambassador Anne Iarchy

As a first time author, this month was supposed to be a very exciting one. My book, "5 Simple Steps to Releasing the Real You", was published on March 24th and a book launch by my publisher had been scheduled for that evening in Central London. A more local book launch was planned for Monday 30th in North London. And then boom, Coronavirus hit the UK hard. Events got cancelled right, left and centre. What should have been a very exciting time was suddenly totally in limbo.

My publisher cancelled the central London event, while I decided to still host mine, but move it online. Many people learned how to use video conferencing tools they never used before. The reason why I decided to push on with my book launch, in its new format, is that if we learned anything from this pandemic, being healthy is a lifesaver.

So far, on top of the elderly and those with an autoimmune disease, those suffering from high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes are as much at risk as the elderly. Except for type-1 diabetes, the other ones are lifestyle related, hence totally in our hands. I myself struggled with my health and weight for many years while working in the corporate world. I didn’t know how to juggle a healthy lifestyle and a very demanding job, while adding some social events in the little spare time I had.

I was always told that I just had to eat less and better and move more. Unfortunately, as much as I knew that was the answer, I had no idea of how to implement it for long term results. Yes, I always loved healthy food. And I’ve always been sporty. But when you are traveling a lot for work, entertain clients a lot, and come home too tired to cook and move, it’s not easy, or at least I didn’t find it easy, and I didn’t find anyone that understood my lifestyle and issues and could help me change. All I got was the all or nothing approach. And that didn’t work.

After tearing the ligaments in the knee and doing rehab, I found a personal trainer course that I could combine with work. Studying on the train and plane was ideal. Ten years ago, I made a massive career change and became a personal trainer. Somehow, I thought that if I got my clients to workout well, they’ll want to eat better as well. Even after adding nutrition to my qualifications, most clients were still not compliant with what I suggested. So I had to dig further, and realised that unless we also work on our mindset, our habits and behaviours, sleep enough and reduce stress levels, "eat less, move more" won’t work.

It’s only when you set up your environment both mental and physical to support your efforts that you will achieve long term results. By being stuck at home, and being forced to slow down, we now have an incredible opportunity to review both our mental and physical environment. Working through "5 Simple Steps to Releasing the Real You", the reader will be asked many questions that will help them recognise their downfalls and their barriers, while finding ways to surmount them and build a new and healthy plan around the 5 steps of Mindset, Habits & Behaviour, Nutrition, Exercise & Movement, Sleep & Stress.

Are you ready to make a change? Join the online book launch on Monday March 30th at 7pm UK time, and get a signed copy of the book. Buy your ticket on https://anneiarchy.com/book-launch

If you can’t make it, then buy your signed copy on my website https://anneiarchy.com/book or your kindle edition on Amazon.