Blog posts

This feels like a vulnerable post to write.

What can this tell us about how to use our phones less?

If this winter has knocked the wind out of your exercise plans, please go easy on yourself.

When it comes to January changes, I quit formal "resolutions" a long time ago. I found myself not sticking to them, then feeling guilty and inadequate.   I do still take some time to reflect on the previous year, and think about what I might want less or more of. This year, I did this on a long New Year's Day walk with my husband, on a very chilly Walthamstow Wetlands. I realised that when it comes to my health, I feel like I'm already "in progress" and on a good track. I wa

It’s that time of year: your calendar is suddenly overflowing, and every event seems to involve booze, a three-course meal, or a steady drip-feed of chocolate. Maybe you’ve already developed a mince pie and Baileys habit (or is that just me…?) With all this going on, it’s easy to feel out of control around food. Exercise plans disappear because you’re tired, busy, or hungover. Many of my coaching clients are struggling with this right now - and so am I. It’s tempting to say “

How habits can make behaviour change easier - even when motivation is low.

My physio did everything right, and more. So why am I once again struggling to do the exercises regularly? Instead of giving up, I decided to coach myself through it.

So many people struggle with change because of low confidence or negative beliefs about themselves. Psychology gives us a clue about how to solve it.

In my last post I introduced the COM-B model of behaviour change. This week I’m zooming in: how does COM-B help us move toward body acceptance and away from diet culture? Capability: can you do the behaviour? Capability means the skills, knowledge and mental bandwidth to act. When we leave diet culture and try an intuitive approach, we’re often starting from scratch: we’ve been following external rules for years, so listening to internal cues can feel unfamiliar. Do you feel

We all find it hard to change our behaviour, to do the things we know are “good for us”.

In this post I’ll talk about some of the ways I’ve been working on feeling happier in my own body - and also why this is a problem that’s bigger than how we feel when we look in the mirror.

It feels like a hard sell to say that I’ll help people feel better in their bodies, but I won’t help them to lose weight. So why do I feel this way so strongly, and what’s the answer?

This exercise is designed to help you reflect on your core values.

I’ve been reflecting on how holidays, while joyous, can sometimes get in the way of the good health habits we put in place - but that this can change when we take a more intuitive approach.

“I’m fine as long as there are no snacks in the house or around me. If they’re there, I eat them. Once I open a packet of biscuits/chocolate/crisps, I end up finishing them. Once I’ve started being naughty, I might as well carry on”.

Big goals are helpful, but the nature of them is really important.

Some top tips from a great book on sustainable behaviour change.

Flexibility in behaviour change has come up a lot in the reading I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks. Some propose that the key to success in making health behaviour changes is to have plans and goals which are flexible, rather than rigid - that can adapt to whatever life throws at you. But is “flexible restraint” still just the same old restraint that we’re used to, just dressed up in a fancy coat? All or nothing approaches and the “f*ck it” effect Those of you fol

Some reflections on a great conference.

This week I’d like to share initial musings on this question, which I’ll be working to answer over the next few weeks.