I've always wanted to do a job that involved working outside and which used my body as well as my mind. For the last few years I have been carrying out office and retail jobs, and there's nothing worse then being stuck in doors scratching at the window wanting to get out. So, I was very happy to get a traineeship which will hopefully be followed by a permanent role outside. Having a chance to work outside has been great, but I've also noticed some other positives that have come from it (and possibly one negative).
The one negative was that I had hoped that spending this amount of time would alleviate my allergies (especially as my main issue is dust mites), but unfortunately this hasn't been the case. In fact, it's almost been worse and was particularly bad when the heather flowered (something I've never been allergic to before). Hopefully I'll get used to whatever it is that I've reacted to in the long run and I should be able to stop taking antihistamines.
On a positive, I'm far more fitter now than I've ever been before (not surprisingly). I walked and ran before starting this job, but this is nothing compared to the none stop exercise I'm doing at the moment. I wasn't entirely sure if my body would be able to take it, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised and I'm much stronger and faster then I was at the start. I'm hoping this will carry on and it's a little strange to be fitter in your 30s then you were in your 20s.
It's been a lot easier to eat healthier. Partly because I spend most of my day miles away from any shops, which means I can only eat what I bring with me. As long as I make sure that I only bring healthy food then that's all I get to eat. And partly because my craving for 'bad' food seems to have reduced quite a lot. I can get away with eating less healthy food now then I did before, but even when I go to the shops I end up picking the healthier options. I'm not sure if it's because I'm healthier in general or because my body is getting used to not having sugar all the time, but it definitely doesn't crave it as much as it used to.
I've lost fat a lot faster in the last 5 months then I've done in the last few years. I have been trying to loss weight for health reasons for a while and had managed to loss a fair amount, but it has been a very slow process and had begun to plateau. This time, probably due to the healthy eating and sheer amount of exercise, it seems to be dropping off again and at a faster speed. It does seem to be plateauing again, but I'm at a healthy size now so I'm happy with that.
Dry skin has always been an issue for me and I have had some bad eczema from time to time, especially on my elbows and on the backs of my knees. It mainly flares up during times of stress, but the dryness is also caused by things like central heating. Since starting my role the problems I've been having with my skin has practically gone away. I have been having some drying now that the weather has cooled, but it's been nice not having to moisturizer my skin throughout the summer.
Sleep has also gotten a lot better since May. Insomnia was always something I've struggled with and, even on nights when I seem to have slept the whole night, I used to feel tired almost every morning. This hasn't been an issue for the last four months and I've literally gone out like a light when my side light goes out. The reason has probably been all the exercise and buckets of fresh air, and there's nothing more enjoyable then drifting off to sleep instead of lying in bed for hours as my mind whizzes through thought after thought.
The biggest positive this job has had has been the effect it has had on my mood. There are obviously still the natural rise and falls that come with life, but the bad does seem to be quite to awful when your getting to be surrounded by wildlife all day long. Even on miserable days weather wise I still come off the hill feeling calm and happy. There have been some pretty unpleasant and stressful moments in my personal life over the last few months, but no matter how unhappy I've been as I walked up the hill I've always felt better by the time I'd come back down. For some reason I always feel much more capable of dealing with whatever life throws after a day of physical labour and green surroundings. I would definitely recommend trying it.
Obviously working outside isn't for everyone, and there have been days when it has been very difficult with miserable weather. But overall, it's has been a great change for me. Best of all, as I'm spending all my day outside using my own energy to do the work my carbon footprint is less then it was when I was doing an office job. Making this work also more sustainable then those I've done previously.
Dry skin has always been an issue for me and I have had some bad eczema from time to time, especially on my elbows and on the backs of my knees. It mainly flares up during times of stress, but the dryness is also caused by things like central heating. Since starting my role the problems I've been having with my skin has practically gone away. I have been having some drying now that the weather has cooled, but it's been nice not having to moisturizer my skin throughout the summer.
Sleep has also gotten a lot better since May. Insomnia was always something I've struggled with and, even on nights when I seem to have slept the whole night, I used to feel tired almost every morning. This hasn't been an issue for the last four months and I've literally gone out like a light when my side light goes out. The reason has probably been all the exercise and buckets of fresh air, and there's nothing more enjoyable then drifting off to sleep instead of lying in bed for hours as my mind whizzes through thought after thought.
The biggest positive this job has had has been the effect it has had on my mood. There are obviously still the natural rise and falls that come with life, but the bad does seem to be quite to awful when your getting to be surrounded by wildlife all day long. Even on miserable days weather wise I still come off the hill feeling calm and happy. There have been some pretty unpleasant and stressful moments in my personal life over the last few months, but no matter how unhappy I've been as I walked up the hill I've always felt better by the time I'd come back down. For some reason I always feel much more capable of dealing with whatever life throws after a day of physical labour and green surroundings. I would definitely recommend trying it.
Obviously working outside isn't for everyone, and there have been days when it has been very difficult with miserable weather. But overall, it's has been a great change for me. Best of all, as I'm spending all my day outside using my own energy to do the work my carbon footprint is less then it was when I was doing an office job. Making this work also more sustainable then those I've done previously.
