Lockdown Lowdown With Lisa Raleigh

What is the first thing you’ll get up to when lockdown is over? For myself: I’m going to have my hair and nails done because I need to touch up my roots and have my acrylic nails redone urgently. With my family: we’ll be heading to the closest park without a doubt, so that we can all stretch our legs. I have a Jack Russel and an almost 4-year-old daughter, both with boundless energy, so a walk in the fresh air to stretch our legs will be much needed! With my hubby: we would love to go for a 5km neighbourhood run together, and ideally we’d love to have a bite to eat at one of our favourite restaurants close by in Parkhurst, but this may not be possible for a while.  Which restaurant do you miss the most?  I really miss the Asian Fusion restaurant called Momo Baohaus in Greenside. Not only is it affordable, the food is absolutely delicious. We always enjoy their vegetarian options and can never get enough of their fresh veggie poke bowls, vegetarian sushi, deep fried tofu and the fiery green beans, I can’t wait to go back! What’s your favourite home-cooked meal you’ve made during lockdown? We’ve had such a variety of delicious food over this lockdown period – it’s hard to pick just one meal. We all love cooking and eating Mexican food. The Very Mexi Bowl recipe I originally got from U-Cook is one of my favourite recipes and we make it often. Here’s a link to the recipe on my blog. We also love a classic Waldorf salad that we eat for lunch and dinner. (In fact, we’ve been experimenting with a few salad recipes). For a healthier comfort meal, I like to make a quesadilla with mashed roasted butternut, feta, mozzarella, pickled cabbage and a little guacamole and sour cream. It's rich, creamy and so tasty. This week we also made homemade pizzas with a variety of toppings which everyone enjoyed. And a nice treat for us lately is that once a week my stepdaughters (aged 16 and 19) have been cooking a meal for all of us. Last week, my husband and I celebrated our four-year wedding anniversary and we were spoiled rotten with a delicious, three-course meal made by the girls. Besides setting the table beautifully and creating the ultimate romantic setting, they also made us a standout meal which was a Jamie Oliver salad for starters, vegetarian lasagne for mains and a decadent flourless chocolate cake for dessert. It was a meal made with love that I’ll never forget! https://www.instagram.com/p/B_P36DwlbMa/ What are you watching on Netflix? At the moment, I’ve just finished watching the short series called Unorthodox – which I loved. My copy editor told me about it, and it was fascinating to watch. I also enjoyed Ozark and Succession.  Have you picked up a hobby or perfected a skill? I haven’t had the time to pick up a new hobby or skill because I’ve been working a lot on my business to transform it into a predominantly online business – with live consults and rebounding classes through Zoom. Luckily, my business has always been predominantly online – as I have a website, with an e-store and have always serviced international clients through Skype and Zoom meetings. However, I’ve had to work quite hard in the past few weeks to ensure that everything is online and runs smoothly. My team and I have always worked from home, but I do miss the weekly meetings, Parkhurst rebounding classes and one-on-one time with clients.  There’s been no time to sit back, I’ve had to be very proactive and think on my feet to meet clients’ needs during lockdown! https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FKxxelpzh/ What are the three staples in your kitchen right now? We always have my Caprese egg muffins in the fridge for a quick and easy breakfast. I talk about them on my blog, which can be found here. We keep deconstructed salad ingredients in various containers in the fridge, such as chopped lettuce, chopped cucumber and tomatoes, lentils or chickpeas, carrots etc, so that we can throw a healthy salad together in minutes. During lockdown, there’s always something freshly baked in the kitchen – either a cake, trifle, tray of cupcakes or muffins. We all love to bake and have more time to do so. I must admit, I’ve had something baked every single day! Coffee or tea? Rooibos tea is my favourite. Who are you in lockdown with?  My dog, Harley; our live-in helper, Thule; our au pair, Gillian; my husband, Stafford; our four-year-old, Bella and two teenage stepdaughters, Amber and Bethany. It’s a full, happy house!  https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zGjwllf3S/ What are you currently most grateful for?  I’m so grateful that I have an online business right now (which hasn’t had to come to a grinding halt during lockdown), and that I can continue to do what I love, and to service people, as well as motivate, inspire and help them to live their best, healthiest lives.  I’m really grateful that I get to earn a living and pay my staff during this difficult time and I’m excited to be able to forge a new way forward and seize new opportunities that have come my way. Fitness is one of those things that just works really well online and I’ve been able to “meet” people where they are at, which has been wonderful.  This lockdown has also forced me to make some of the changes I’ve needed to make in my business - a lot faster than I anticipated which has been a blessing in disguise, amidst the chaos this virus has caused.  How do you keep yourself going and motivated during this time? To be honest, I had a very very busy first three months of the year, and although the coronavirus pandemic has been scary and very bad for our country, I personally feel that the lockdown is what I needed to bring down the pace a little bit.  Also, I haven’t been as snowed under as some people have with having to cook and clean, homeschool etc, without help, because I do have help at home thanks to my au pair, helper and my stepdaughters. As a result, I haven’t felt as stressed and overwhelmed as some of my friends and family members have, and this has helped to keep me motivated and focused on what I need to do in a day – which is to keep the business going and ensure my staff stay employed in this difficult economic time.  https://www.instagram.com/p/B_NBGLzlICx/ Although I have had a handful of down days during lockdown, (which I blame on a terrible night’s sleep), I’m generally an upbeat, positive person who likes to see the glass half full, rather than half empty.   If I do feel upset, angry, stressed or depressed – I let myself feel these emotions because I know it’s normal and we can’t be happy all the time. This allows me to release the negative feelings and move on, rather than holding it all in and letting it fester. I’m never too hard on myself and that has been an important step for me in this process.  I’ve also had to find the strength deep within me to just keep going and not give up. Not just for me, but for my staff and family too. I try not to use this pandemic as an excuse to be less productive. So, when I’m feeling good, I go for it, and when I’m not, I let myself be - and just choose to have a slower day.