Pippa O'Connor's tips for health and vitality | Irish Examiner - Irish Examiner
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Pippa O’Connor pays attention to her physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing and believes in being good to herself, she tells Sharon Ní Chonchúir.
MODERN mums face a constant struggle to juggle work and family life.
However, if there’s one person who seems to have it sorted, it’s the lifestyle blogger, author, and former model Pippa O’Connor.
Pippa’s two boys, Ollie (aged 3) and Louis (aged 5 months) take up a lot of her time. But this hasn’t stopped her from setting up the enormously popular www.pippa.ie, a lifestyle website where she gives daily updates on her outfits, fashion finds, and beauty secrets.
Nor has it prevented her from becoming a social media star, with more than 186,000 followers on Instagram, 200,000 on Facebook, and 62,000 on Twitter.
Pippa has also established herself as a beauty entrepreneur.
Last year, she released the Pippa Palette, which consists of eyeshadows, a highlighter, blusher and bronzer. More than 80,000 have been sold in Ireland to date.
In September, the busy mum of two released her first book. Pippa: Simple Tips to Live Beautifully is a collection of useful tips and advice on all things, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.
From how to get ready in 10 minutes to the essential items every woman needs in her wardrobe and easy ways to create a beautiful home; this is a book that has you covered.
It’s just as popular as Pippa’s previous ventures, which reached number one in the book-selling charts in its first week of publication and still selling in huge numbers.
Even more recently, Pippa also launched her own POCO by Pippa brand, featuring five different styles of jeans for her first collection.
So, how does she do it all? How does she manage to look after her children and run a growing business empire all while maintaining her social media following and always looking good?
“It can get hectic, especially now that I’ve got a young family,” admits Pippa.
“Life is so busy for me now but I think that the secret is to always make some time for yourself and to look after your own health as well as that of your family.”
Pippa and her boys take multivitamins on a regular basis.
“I don’t see them as being a quick fix, like some people do,” she says.
“I see them as more of an investment in long-term health. They’re great for the boys, especially the vitamin D supplements which I didn’t realise were so important until I had children. Taking them is now part of the routine for the whole family.”
It’s this commitment to her family’s health that made Pippa such a good fit for the new Future Proof Your Health campaign for Sona.
Research carried out by Sona found that 93% of Irish adults believe that Ireland is a more health-conscious nation than it’s ever been before.
However, 40% of us worry about our personal health more than we worry about any other aspect of our future lives.
This is where Sona and Pippa come in. They encourage us to act now to look after ourselves in the future.
“This research by Sona confirms that we could all be doing more to ensure we take care of our future selves and lead longer and healthier lives,” she says.
“As a busy mum, it’s so important to me that I do everything I can to protect my family’s current and future health.”
Pippa makes sure to look after every aspect of her own health.
“I pay attention to my physical, mental and emotional wellbeing,” she says.
“I really believe in being good to myself.”
She tries to eat well and focusses on maintaining a balanced diet. She tries to exercise every day too.
“I don’t do as much as I should but I know how good it is for you,” she says.
“It’s good for your mental health and good for your weight to do something active every day, even for a half an hour, so that’s what I try to do.”
She also sets aside time for rest and relaxation.
“I’m busier than ever now but I’m not superwoman and I can’t just keep going all cylinders firing,” she says.
“I take time out. I plan breaks from the kids and from work for my own sanity and health. Making that time for myself — even if it’s just 20 minutes to go for a walk or a swim or to read a magazine — makes all the difference.”
Despite the fact she is so active on social media, she sets limits on that too.
“I’ve found that it helps if I zone out a little bit so I have a cut-off time in the evenings after which I don’t check my emails or social media accounts. It’s important to take that break.”
Under more time pressure than ever, she learned the importance of delegation. This applies to her family life as much as it does to her career.
“I can’t do everything so I make the most of everyone around me,” she says.
“My husband Brian and I work together to look after the children as much as possible. Neither of us works nine to five so that makes things a little easier and now that Ollie is going to preschool in the mornings, that makes things easier too.
“Between us, as a family, we make things work our way.”
And her motto for a happy life? Pippa quotes the closing words from her book: ‘If you want to live beautifully, look after your body and your mind and be good to yourself’.
“That’s how I do it.”
1. Be good to yourself.
Don’t make the classic mistake of putting your husband and children’s needs before your own. You need to be looked after too and it doesn’t have to take too long. Twenty minutes a day of me time can make all the difference.
2. Make sure to take some time out every day.
Whether this is something like going for a walk, going for a coffee or getting your nails done; it helps you to stay calm and collected.
3. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure.
Pippa may come across as some sort of superwoman but she is quick to assure us that this is not the case and nor does she want it to be.
“You can’t do everything,” she says. “It’s ok to let the house get a little messy or to let the washing pile up. Those aren’t the most important things. Your mental, physical and emotional health and that of your family is much more important.”
4. Take some time to plan ahead.
“I always do this,” says Pippa. “I set aside some time every day to prepare for tomorrow and to think about what will need to happen in order to make things easier for me and my family.”
5. Don’t think that spending a few minutes making yourself look good is a waste of time.
“We’re all under pressure when it comes to time,” says Pippa.
“But even a few minutes spent fixing your hair or applying lip gloss will put a pep in your step and give you the confidence you need to take on the day.
“On the odd occasion that I make absolutely no effort, I never have a good day because I just don’t feel good about myself. No matter whether you’re a stay-at- home mum or a busy businesswoman, these few minutes will make all the difference to your state of mind.”
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