"It's not a good place to start, but it's A start." - Henry Cavill

**TW: Discussion of miscarriage and loss.

Where it all Started

After following Henry on Instagram for a while, I came across this video which was posted in 2017. During this stretch, he was working on Batman vs. Superman and had injured his knee. This video inspired me to get moving back then and I've held that with me since.

In 2017, I suffered a miscarriage at 17 weeks gestation. It was devastating. My whole world flipped. Miscarriage has been a taboo topic for centuries. Like, Kings would get a new wife if they miscarried because they thought it was the work of evil spirits.

Sadly, early miscarriages are common. In the first 3 months, 1 in 4 women will have a miscarriage.  After 3 months, the risk of having a miscarriage goes down significantly.  

A late miscarriage (after 3 months but before 24 weeks) is much less common. This happens in around 1-2% of pregnancies.

-Tommys.org

So, if it's so common, why don't people talk about it? It's simple. It makes people uncomfortable. You may be uncomfortable right now reading this, and that's okay.

Miscarriages can cause a whole host of issues for a mother (and their partner). My hormones crashed, and for several weeks I was an inconsolable mess. This caused a domino effect in my life. I missed work for several weeks, and upon returning... my students wanted to know why I was gone. This perpetuated my PTSD, but I had to do my job. I became pretty despondent, and basically ignored the people around me. I gained quite a bit of weight from spending most of my free time laying in bed or eating pretty unhealthy foods.

My therapist recommended getting a dog to help with the emotional trauma. I did, and she was the most wonderful dog I could have ever asked for. Getting her encouraged me to get up and take a walk... along with (tying this back to Henry's post) his words of advice in this post.

"It's not a good place to start, but it's a start.... If you're out there -and you think, 'Hey look, I can't run.' Neither can I. I really can't.... So, try it. Get up. Go for a run. Just go for a mile. Run really slowly. Like, run-walk it. -Henry Cavill

He's referring to his training for the Durrell Challenge, and his recovery from his injury. In watching the video, I took away the get up and go part. So, this video, combined with getting my dog got me back up and moving. I started slow as he suggested. Running truly has never been my strong point...but I can speed walk like no other! My first walk was 10 minutes. Over several months, my walks were several hours including steep hills. I started to feel better. Thanks to Henry (and my dog, Ruby) for the inspiration and encouragement.

Starting Over Again

Clearly I've hit another rough spot in life. I've mentioned in previous posts the onslaught of poor occurrences that have happened recently. Over time these have made it increasingly difficult to get motivated. I attempted to start my Cavill Challenge in the summer of 2022. I bought resistance bands. I put an app on my phone for interval walking. I tried, and then I lost my dog to a neurological disorder. All motivation for walking went out the window.

My motivation has shifted to being healthy for my daughter. While I don't just sit around with her (we go to the park, walk, swim, etc), I'm exhausted afterwards.

Enter this Instagram post again, and it inspired me to try... again.

Update on my Progress

I've been doing much better with preparing meals for myself the night before. I have it all set in the fridge in one spot so that I can grab and go. I'm tracking my calorie intake as well. Sticking pretty close to that 1200 goal that my app recommends.

The next step will be adding a exercise component. Today I ran around the house with my daughter doing a lightsaber battle. It was something small, but I was up and moving.

My plan right now is to start some somatic yoga and do resistance band training again. There are tons of YouTube videos that you can get started with for free! Shout out to the ACHV Peak channel on YouTube for making resistance band training fun and non-intimidating. Doing this at home also makes it more comfortable, and I'll be able to work it into the times I have available.

I will start logging all of my exercises to share with you all.

I'd also love to hear where you're starting! Are you going to walk to the end of the driveway and back to get going? GREAT! Are you going to get a membership to a gym? AWESOME! Where ever you start your Cavill Challenge, please share!

Stay tuned for The Cavill Challenger Instagram, coming soon.