I used a wellness coach in lockdown and this is how it went

Wellness in lockdown – those words together sound like an oxymoron because if you’re in Melbourne for the 2.0 version, you can’t exactly get out and live your best life right now.

But with the acceptance of my daily limitations, I’ve found a new way of being and it all began with the help of a dietician and a wellness coach.

A health setback forced me to consider meal planning for the first time in my life; and suddenly there I was plotting weekly meals trying to sort out my allergies, actual desires and other food I needed for my kids and partner too.

Who even thinks about what they’re going to eat on Wednesday let alone know that from the Sunday before? Well, lockdown certainly got me to rethink the meal wheel and do something I have usually winged before.

Not having a plan no doubt led to poor food choices on my part, even opting for take-out because exhaustion forced me to hit the home delivery button all too often.

My dietician has done wonders for my wellbeing, too. I haven’t actually met her in person, but she came recommended via my GP after a health episode in mid-June.

We talk on Zoom for an hour once a week and we discuss my food diary and check on my nutrient intake, why I crash around 3.30pm and the reason for a healthy smoothie around this time of day.

She’s given me plenty of reasons to be cheerful too – finding new ways for a healthy lifestyle during lockdown, which I wasn’t doing the first time around. I’m actually feeling better; mentally and physically.

I’ve always been a bit skeptical about wellness warriors purporting to help you on a happier life trajectory; but I thought I would try Katie’s Beauty Kitchen and see what she would offer.

Instead of a Zoom full of promises, she actually helped me work out how to make time for me during a term of remote learning two children under 10, why writing in a diary is beneficial for a mental detox and wait for it … meal planning made its way back on the dinner table too.

It’s all the stuff you know you should be doing, but in the hands of a wellness coach you have someone to support your intentions. It’s an external voice; a shoulder to lean or cry on and those words of wisdom help you achieve your goals.

There’s candles and bath soaks and detox + adrenal prescription kits to fill your hippy heart’s content, but I found I needed a voice of reason. I’m less into the airy-fairy storyboard makers and more about finding a way to align the chakras and have someone break down the mental roadblocks that were blocking my way.

I’ve tried many other services while I’ve been in lockdown too – because curiosity is a real thing when you’re home all the time.

I signed up for a 21-day free meditation experience with Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Choprah (thanks to a 4am Twitter ad that flashed on my feed); but it was actually pretty helpful and it was free.

While lockdown 1.0 saw me cook an overkill of comfort food and dial up the booze intake to 11, I’ve now swapped my full-throttled stage dive for a calmer internal soundtrack this round.

I never thought I’d be hanging with a wellness coach or Zooming with a dietician about my diet, but who was I kidding that I could walk this tightrope alone – especially during lockdown?

For now it’s working and when I emerge in the springtime, I won’t beat myself up for losing sight of the bigger picture.