What does your new normal look like?

Driving to work this morning through furious rain, windscreen wipers thumping, other drivers snarling in the choking traffic, their horns beeping, I had to laugh. Is this the new normal? It seems exactly like the old normal! What happened to those declarations that we would learn from the coronavirus lockdown and make a change? Maybe you, like me, had vowed that you would make that awful experience count for something and hang onto the slower, more measured pace of life we experienced. Hmmm. I’m discovering that it’s easier said than done.

In fact, creating a ‘new normal’ takes as much careful thought and dedication as changing any other unhealthy habit. So, with this in mind, this issue is centred around giving you all the tools you need to emerge from this strange time stronger, healthier and lighter, too. If you’ve put on a few COVID kilos (hello, home-baked banana bread!), then turn now to our story “12 smart ways to stay lean for life” (on page 58). It’s packed with simple, actionable tips to help reset your relationship with food. It’s not a diet, but a kinder, gentler and smarter way to eat well, which will also help you keep off unwanted kilos.

On a different note, one of my favourite stories in this issue is of a consultant breast surgeon who was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. “I got the one illness I’ve spent years training to treat,” she says. Things she was taught to say and do turned out to be all wrong and going through the harrowing experience has transformed the way she deals with patients. Her journey makes compelling reading on page 90.

In magazine publishing, we prepare issues way in advance, so much of this issue was created from our individual homes (connecting via entertaining Zoom lunchtime catch-ups to break up the sense of isolation). Every one of our team adapted to the challenge with a great hands-on-deck spirit and the issue ended up being a terrific one to print. Heartfelt thanks to each one of them.

Enjoy the issue!