Confessions of an Instagram over-thinker

September 24, 2016 by Amy Abrahams in Fitness, Think, Move

Someone recently commented on the fact that I post a lot of selfies on Instagram. I was a bit thrown because, firstly, I didn't think I did post that many, and secondly, no one wants to be perceived as vain. But then I thought, 'Well, this *is* my face...' Should I hide it? I often think that selfies are just a modern take on the artist's self portrait. A moment to say, 'This is me. I exist. This moment, now.' I don't mean to be vain. I promise you I'm not. Sometimes I don't post for ages because I think, 'What the hell is Instagram about anyway? Who really gives a shit about what I'm doing?' But what I am interested in is stories. I'm interested in the truth. I'm interested in communicating feelings. I'm interested in reaching out. I'm interested in learning about other people. And yes, sometimes I'm interested in recipes, and gym exercises, and fashion, and other people's lives and all the things social media lets us peer into. So here I am. I'm 34 years old. I think it's important to talk about age because getting older doesn't make you less interesting. Less exciting. Stale or suburban. It means life. It means experience. It means we're all always, always learning. Anyway. I've just been to the gym. People over 30 do this! (I do this a lot. It makes me feel good. I lifted some heavy weights and my legs trembled and my shoulders ached and I'm still absolutely APPALLING at lunges.) I'm really trying to be straight up with you on here. No bullshit. No pretending life is always peachy. Maybe I'm overthinking Instagram, probably I'm just overthinking life. Sorry if I'm vain, but this is my face, and I exist.

Running pep talk (Yes, you CAN be a runner - here's how to think your way to the start line)

May 25, 2016 by Amy Abrahams in Run, Move

From fitness-phobe and insecure weirdo to running person with medals and stuff, I may still be an insecure weirdo at times, but at least I know I'll always have running to help me out. It took me ages to allow myself to entertain the idea of exercise, and appreciate how good it is for my mind, so if you are in need of a little pep talk to help fast-track you to positivity, et voila! I've written this especially for YOU.

Discovering exercise has changed my life - from how I see myself to how I approach my career to how I have relationships. Exercise has boosted my self-confidence, helped me like my body and respect it for what it can do. Factoring it into my life isn't about fitting into a certain clothes size or looking like a superstar - it's a way to feel strong and happy.

But having gone from an official non-sporty person running a total of zero miles to a born-again runner taking on two major marathons in sixth months (to then not running for ages to then starting up again to then losing my mojo, then regaining it and so on...), I know a few things about the highs and lows of running motivation. But the one thing I never, ever forget now is that I can run. Where once I thought it was a physical impossibility for me, like flying, turning invisible or just eating one Jaffa Cake instead of five, it turns out running is a thing I now know I can always do - even if it doesn't always feel easy. I often get people saying to me that running just isn't for them, and I always say...

What I've been up to, in web links...

April 25, 2016 by Amy Abrahams in Move

The past four months have been rather busy, so that's my excuse for not blogging more. Of course, there are other reasons (and other blog posts) on why I've remained somewhat silent on here - turns out pouring forth the contents and emotions from your head onto a website poses more challenges that I first anticipated - not least, editing which thoughts and which emotions to write about first (or at all). But while I shall endeavour to write more on here from now on, in the meantime, just to prove I'm not just sitting at home eating cake fannying about on Twitter now that I'm a freelance, here are some of things I've been writing lately for GLAMOUR, some for the magazine, some for online, some both.