WELLNESS WEDNESDAY WITH AMANDA BYRAM
Welcome to ‘Wellness Wednesdays’ where I’ll be chatting to various different people each week about their lifestyle habits. Each week the same 10 questions will be asked but as you’ll start to see yourself in the coming weeks, the magic lies in the variety of answers I’ve been getting which just proves how individual and inspirational we all are in our own unique way.
My first ‘Wellness Wednesday’ guest is one of my ultimate girl crushes, TV Presenter Amanda Byram. I know Amanda for such a long time having modelled together during our early careers and we also grew up in the same area in Dublin. She is insanely beautiful both inside and out which you are about to see for yourself!!
Amanda is known the world over for her presenting skills having hosted The Swan in America, Total Wipeout, Sunday Brunch and The Big Breakfast in England and also our very own Ireland Am here in Ireland to name but a few. At 42 she’s looking and feeling better than ever before. She has just launched her new website amandabyram.com, plus a new YouTube channel dedicated to health and fitness, which I know you’ll love as much as I do. Add to that her work as a positive image campaigner for women and she is one amazing lady.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LIFESTYLE?
Since I turned 40, my lifestyle has been based around health. Of the mind and body – I don’t believe you can have one without the other! My day to day always includes some sort of physical activity, I can’t exist without it. And trying to better myself. We are too hard on ourselves, especially us women. We try to be the best career women, mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, girlfriends. It’s too much! We need to stop and breathe every now and then.
WHAT YOUR FAVORITE FOOD, NAUGHTY OR NICE?
ooooh Well, interestingly, ever since I’ve become super healthy, I crave healthy things more often than non-healthy! I love sushi, and a good Christmas dinner doesn’t go unnoticed!
DO YOU EXERCISE AND IF SO WHAT DO YOU DO TO KEEP FIT?
Yes! It’s key to a healthy mind for me. I try to mix it up these days. I used to do long cardio sessions, but I have since ruined my knees from running so much! So now I tend to focus on high intensity for less time, I love weights sessions to burn fat and get lean, and pilates. I also spin these days, it’s the best low impact high intensity cardio!
HOW DO YOU FIND BALANCE IN YOUR DAY-T0-DAY LIFE?
That’s tough for me. Balance is something I have struggled with my whole life! I am an all-or-nothing kind of gal. But I’m working on it! I have to put my computer down and my phone too, at a certain stage in the day. Social media is mind cripplingly addictive and can really affect your mood. I think we tend to live through other peoples lives, and its not real. My boyfriend is the key to my balance these days. He is a great for reminding me that there is not just me in my life anymore! I can’t be selfish, so now i would rather put tools down and go out for a bike ride or the movies with him instead!
HOW DO YOU MANAGE STRESS IN YOUR LIFE? DO YOU MEDITATE?
I try, but it’s not easy! I talk about stuff a lot – I find that is a great stress reliever. My boyfriend studied psychology, so he get the way the mind works, so we talk it out. Also exercise works as a stress reliever for me! I also visit an amazing NLP therapist called Akcelina Cyijetic http://akcelina.com/ she teaches me how words can affect everything – and how to stop living in my head and live in the now!
PEOPLE OFTEN SET GOALS OR INTENTIONS AS THEY GO THROUGH LIFE. IS THIS SOMETHING YOU DO?
Yes, I often envisage my life as I want it to be. I’ve been doing that since I was a teenager! Nowadays I write cosmic order boards, and manifest good things into reality 🙂 On New Years Day I wrote out 50 goals, in each area of my life that I wanted to improve on or achieve. Re-reading the list every now and then is a great reminder that a) you’re on the right path b) you’ve achieved things you set out to do c) you need to be more mindful of the things you haven’t yet done!
HOW DO YOU UNWIND AFTER A BUSY DAY?
Just being with my boyfriend is enough to make me unwind! We chat about the day and other stuff and watch movies. Living in London can be quite busy and stressful, so it’s really nice just to ‘BE’.
ITS THE WEEKEND, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN?
Well, I don’t drink anymore, so I find it hard to figure out what to do at weekends, seeing as most people focus their social life around drinking! We tend to be active and head to Brighton or the coast a lot. Movies is always a big weekend activity, but in truth I travel so much that I’m normally doing something in a foreign city or country!
WHAT’S YOUR TOP HEALTH TIP FOR OUR READERS?
Oh, so many! Well first and foremost… Give yourselves a break! Be kinder to yourself and everything will fall into place. More practically, quit or cut back on booze if you can. It is full of sugar and toxins, and we don’t realise it, but by over drinking it puts us in a haze for the rest of the week, until we start all over again at the weekend!
FINISH THE SENTENCE – BEING COMPLETE FOR ME MEANS…..
being fulfilled in my work and personal space, rising to every challenge, saying yes to every opportunity and always knowing that i have tried my very best.
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