Supporting Mental Health - Rachel Kemp

It’s been just 5 days since I announced that I was going to do a boxing fight supporting ‘Wood for the Trees’ and mental health awareness/support in a few weeks’ time. Over that time, I have gone through a few emotions – fear, excitement, nervousness, anticipation… and many more – with so much beautiful feedback and support from not only my family, friends and colleagues, but also from my wider network. It’s so lovely to hear all your messages, especially those who have their own personal and family ties to mental health.

I took the time to share it with you all, as early on I really didn’t know if I could do it. A lot of you wouldn’t know this about me, but I suffered a significant injury just 13 months ago. This injury meant no training, no strenuous exercise and a lot of healing required. After being medically cleared for this journey, I needed to see if I could do it – for real – when the rubber hit the road to say.

The first few weeks have been one thing – tough. The 5.15am alarms, the physical exertion, the eating plan, the no sugar…. And only one coffee a day has not been easy. I have an incredibly supportive fight training team in Erana, Courtney, Pip, Sheryl and Toni and an extraordinary fight coach in Amy McCully who have all helped make this possible. Although Amy terrifies me a little still (okay, a lot) she is an incredible motivator, technical expert and support person.

A quick reflection on my journey to date goes something like this:

- Week One: I am tired. I sat in a meeting at work on training day four and almost fell asleep sitting in my chair. It was hard to keep my eyes open. I hope no one noticed. I am starving by the time my next meal comes around each feeding time, and by 8pm I am struggling to keep my eyes open on the couch. Training is tough, I can’t keep up and I feel like I have a long way to go. I feel so unfit. Also, I have never ever drank this much water in my life.

- Week Two: I am grumpy, and hangry. Yeap, not hungry, hangry. I snapped at a friend for no reason and had to apologise. I dream of cake and cupcakes. I haven’t had pure sugar in 10 days and I want to take myself off to the bakery and eat 14 hot cross buns. It’s getting easier to get up at 5.15am each morning and get to the gym, but I leave feeling like death. I cherish my rest days, they are what I live for. I also need to buy more gym gear as I split my pants doing burpees this week...

- Week Three: I am actually starting to wake up before my alarm. My sleep quality is improving dramatically and I wake up ready for the day. The food is getting easier to palate, and my coach is giving me good snack options (hello chocolate protein powder with Greek yoghurt). I look forward to water and am drinking about 3L a day. I’m not hungry all the time and I have far more energy to deal with my day. Proper training shoes are the best things ever.

Just today I started training week four with a 6am group workout. We did hill runs as part of this, and I managed to sprint up the hill and run down twice. This is the same hill that I couldn’t even jog up the first training session I did! I am feeling like I can do this, I have the support and coaching behind me and I want to succeed. I look forward to meals, enjoy them (even if I am having salad, again) and eat to fuel, not for reward. So far since the 22nd of January I am 5kg down in weight too – an added bonus. I leave the gym in the morning feeling energized and ready for the day.

SO much positivity for a Monday, something I look forward to continuing on with, even when my fight is over.

Here’s to the remainder of the training – T minus 54 days to fight night…………

SHAMELESS PLUG: If you’d like to donate towards my journey, please visit https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/supporting-mental-health-rachel-kemp to donate - no donation too small, every little bit helps x