LIFESTYLE Q&A: Clare Kambamettu, 2010 Rose of Tralee and research psychologist
Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?
Relatively healthy. Like most of us, I try to eat well and exercise, but sometimes it can feel like everything and anything is unhealthy!
How often do you exercise?
I was never a particularly sporty person but after taking up running, I found that exercise really helps me clear my head. At the moment, I am trying to run at least three times a week and I am just about to start swimming once a week too. When I don’t go, I find I get stressed out more easily – plus the amount of dessert I have eaten lately makes it pretty important if I am to fit into all the dresses I have had to buy!
Do you get your five a day?
I try to get my five a day, and most days I do. I keep some carrot sticks in the car to munch on, and I try to have a big bowl of fruit salad for breakfast. I find if I do that, I feel better about myself and my eating habits for the rest of the day.
Do you worry?
I am naturally quite an anxious person, but the nature of my work within mental health has made it really important for me to learn how to control this. I have worked in very unpredictable environments where emotions run high, so I think if I couldn’t control my worrying, I wouldn’t cope. Of course, I have the usual worries that we all have too – death and taxes and all that. It’s pretty impossible to be completely worry-free!
What do you do to relax?
I run. As unrelaxing as it sounds, it really helps me to escape everything, and I feel very chilled out when I get home.
What’s your unhealthiest habit?
My unhealthiest habit is my barely- in-control coffee addiction – which has definitely worsened since I moved from London back to Ireland. And chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate . . . mmmm.
In conversation with
Joanne Hunt
