Jo is known by her twitter and Instagram handle @HappyHealthy50 which is where I first discovered her.
Jo is 53 years young and lives on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Jo is a single mum, after getting divorced in her early 40s and has two sons aged 21 and 17.
In May 2014, after the loss of her mum, Jo decided to row a million metres and marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support. For eight months Jo would head down to her local gyn and hop on the rowing machine. She would then row 10,000 metres. She would do this every other night after work - through her dedication and hard work, Jo raised £10,000 for charity.
During this podcast Jo also shared more about her experiences with menopause and peri menopause and how exercise helped her both physically and mentally and how she began to incorporate more of it into her life.
In September 2016 Jo picked up a paddle board for the first time and she had no idea where it would lead! Since that moment, Jo has gone on to become the first women to stand up paddle board (SUP) 162 miles /260km from coast to coast (Liverpool to Goole) across Great Britain.
Jo talks more about self confidence, dealing with grief, living her dreams, joy and learning to be proud of herself.
Show notes
- Who is Jo
- More about her family
- Her greatest joy at the moment
- Learning more about her childhood
- Growing up in North Yorkshire
- Her love of the sea
- What life was like in her forties
- Going through a divorce
- “I can’t do this anymore” - “I just want to sleep”
- Getting through the tough times
- Getting an old indoor rowing machine
- Starting to be able to sleep
- Fitting in the exercise
- Taking the first step
- Having no expectations
- Why fitness wasn’t a priority
- Raising money in memory of her mum
- Deciding to row 1 million metres and a marathon!!!
- Rowing 10,000 every over night for 8 months (200 days)!!
- Dealing with her grief and needing to get it out of her body
- What is was like turning 50
- Jo’s experience of menopause and peri menopause
- Having to put herself on the priority list
- The power of exercise
- Doing stuff (exercise) that she love
- Learning how to say no to stuff
- Joy!
- Jo’s paddle boarding journey
- Rain or Shine 30 - getting outside for 30 mins everyday
- Paddle board the North - 162 miles coast to coast in Great Britain
- Putting her dream away
- Needing to have a big dream to pull her into the future
- To trust in the timing of your life
- The planning and preparation for the coast to coast challenge
- Getting the time off work
- Working backwards from the start date
- Facts make dreams possible
- Why it didn’t feel hard
- The physical challenges of the expedition
- Living her dream
- Picking up litter on the journey
- Having people question her ability while on the water
- The positive impact on self confidence and believe
- Being proud of starting the challenge
- Trusting in herself more
- Creating a short 1 min film
- Final words of advice for women around being brave
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