Edel’s beating ‘mum guilt’ thanks to OT..
36-yr-old finding time to fit exercise into busy schedule
OPERATION Transformation’s Edel O’malley is getting up at 5.30am every morning to fit fitness into her busy schedule.
Edel, 36, whose son Daniel is 18 months old, told the Irish Mirror how she battles “mum guilt” if she’s not spending all her free time with her little boy.
She joined the show as she felt her busy family and work life had her stuck in a rut, and she couldn’t find time to exercise.
But the OT leader now realises she has to look after herself as well, in order to be a happier and healthier mammy to Daniel.
The Castlebar, Co Mayo woman said: “He’s a year-and-a-half now, so he’s busy. I’m working full-time and he’s in childcare, so we’re flat out.
“I suppose it never really goes away, what they call the mum guilt, the feeling you could be doing more, or doing better.
“I’m getting much better at balancing it and figuring out how to put myself and my own wellbeing into it.
“If I’m healthier and more energetic, he gets the benefits of that.”
The HR executive for Ashford Castle Hotel added: “Even
If I’m healthier and more energetic, my son gets the benefit of that
EDEL O’MALLEY
working full-time and him in childcare, you feel guilty.
You just want to do it all for them. I’ll get a pang thinking, ‘What
OPERATION TRANSFORMATION LEADER YESTERDAY is he doing while I’m doing this?’ Or wondering, ‘Should I be taking him to the park, should I be reading more books, is there more I could be doing?’
“It’s the guilt we put on ourselves.
“I never feel like what I’m doing is sufficient. Though I’m sure if he could talk he’d say he’s very happy.”
However, she knows the importance of going for a walk or a run, long-term.
“I’m coming to it, I’m getting there,” she said.
Edel, fiance Marcin and little Daniel live in Ballinrobe. Her fitness ambition is to run the 5k in Phoenix Park, Dublin.