I WROTE THIS FOR YOU...

Feeling frisky? Or has your sex drive flatlined?

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year when you really feel obliged to be frisky – and feel super-guilty if you don’t. For women, finding that ‘loving feeling’ is complicated, and there are so many reasons why you just don’t feel like getting jiggy with it at all. Here's what to eat to help. 

WHY IS MY LIBIDO SO LOW?

Having a low sex drive can be the result of side effects of medication, most notably anti-depressants, blood pressure drugs and, ironically, the pill. It’s also linked to chronic medical conditions like cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and relationship problems can play a huge role, and so too can stress.

But right at the top of the list for many women is hormone imbalance. When your hormones are out of whack, your libido takes a nose-dive. Fact.

When your menstrual cycle is fully functioning, the cyclical changes in oestrogen levels mean you have a few revved-up days...

One of the hardest things you’ll have to come to terms with when you want to lose weight is that all those things you have been led to believe over the years are wrong. And, although it’s not your fault, you’ve likely been going about weight loss the wrong way.

I’m sorry to have to be the one to break it to you but the weight loss industry is based on bullsh1t science. Literally, they just made it up somewhere down the line (scandalous, I know, but I’ll show you just how ridiculous it all is in a moment).

As you read this pondering, ‘why would they do that?’ keep in mind that this diet business was worth $212.1 billion globally in 2018 alone and is expected to rise to a staggering $348.1billion by 2025. Vested interests anyone? That’s not based on people eating real food, but on buying slimming products and attending diet clubs and the like. There are so many companies literally plotting against you on this because it’s simply...

This might be a familiar scenario. You’ve been doing really well with what you’re eating and drinking. You’ve maybe been more consistent with your attempts to exercise (or, hang that, actually DOING it). But then you eat a whole box of cream cakes (or whatever). You’re not even hungry. You can barely remember doing it. But you did. And now you feel annoyed. And puzzled.

WHY AM I SABOTAGING MY DIET?

Welcome to the land of self-sabotage. From a logical point of you, smart women can’t figure out what just happened. Why would you be getting in your own way and wrecking everything you have been working towards?

There are two sides to diet sabotage. There’s the downside that you feel bad and are putting the brakes on your progress. Then there’s the upside – you’ve something nice to eat that maybe you have denied yourself in a while.

There are many ways you can sabotage your progress (that’s for another post) but what I want to...

In case you hadn't noticed, it’s Veganuary, a huge celebration of being vegan. Although I'm not a vegan myself, I've worked with many vegan clients over the years and every year I do get a little 'vegan-curious'. This led me to sample the vegan burger (gluten-free bun and all) at my fave burger place. I should have known when I read 'vegan bacon' I was in for  disappointment. One of my least favourite things is heavily processed 'food' pretending to be other food. There was not a chance this smoky cardboard could even be a good thing. But back to you...

You might have been wondering whether you could go vegan and whether it will help you get healthier, lose weight and (if the vegan lobbyists are anything to go by) improve any one of a number of health markers.

And, while it’s true that some studies show that a vegan diet can do wonders for your health, it really takes something to make sure that a vegan diet is a good and balanced diet.

A REMINDER: WHAT IS...

Do you absolutely LOVE yourself or are there things you would change? This is a real January kind of question.

It’s at this time of year that you often read about being a ‘new you’. You might even have found yourself proclaiming that you are, since the clock struck midnight at the end of the year, a new person. And that new person behaves in entirely different ways and wears entirely different clothes and so on. Yes?

It always makes me smile. Like a ‘new me’ is even possible. I envisage myself all shiny and new, being unwrapped like a new fridge, first wrestling off the cardboard, then the annoying polystyrene and, finally and with some kind of flourish, dramatically unrolling myself of all the plastic wrap. I digress…

I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with the ‘old’ you. You are perfect exactly as you are and exactly as you aren’t. Sure, there will be some things that are not working right now. You might still be...

We’re all prone to a little indulgence at Christmas, but rich food and overeating can play havoc with your digestion leaving you bloated and uncomfortable. It’s not surprising - we consume on average 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone. That’s three times the recommended daily intake for women!

There are a variety of reasons why the holidays create more tummy troubles than the rest of the year:

• You often eat more than you usually would, putting pressure on the digestive system.
• You might be drinking a lot more when you eat – whether it’s prosecco at a party or red wine on Christmas Day – and this dilutes stomach acid, making it harder to properly digest your food.
• More rich, creamy foods than you’re used to can trigger heartburn or reflux or else make IBS symptoms worse.

Though festive food and drink can be tough on the digestive system, it doesn’t have to be this way. Just follow my expert tips to trouble-proof your tummy...

Let's face it, Christmas is NOT Christmas without mince pies. I conducted a small test last year in which I eat at least one regular mince pie every day, sometimes more and it didn't go so well for me come January.
This year I'm making this healthier version. Who's for trying? Want more recipes like these? Join my free Christmas Survival Challenge HERE and get your free ebooks. 

Makes 25

For the filling
1 large apple, like Braeburn, Gala
75g raisins
75g golden sultanas
75g currants
65g dried, unsweetened cranberries
60g other dried fruit (sour cherries, blueberries, mango, apricots - dried but unsweetened)
Zest and juice of an orange
50g coconut palm sugar (or 2 tsp Stevia if you’d rather)
4 tbsp organic butter, cubed
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
1tbsp brandy

For the pastry
150g ground almonds
75g coconut flour
1 tbsp coconut palm sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
zest of an orange
115g butter, frozen. Plus a little...

Has your weight been creeping up on you over the years and is proving difficult to shift – despite your best efforts? Or maybe your energy levels are on the floor? It’s easy to push to the back of your mind. Surely things can’t have got that bad… You’re not one of ‘those’ people whose food and lifestyle choices result in blood sugar levels so wonky, they find themselves in the prediabetes or diabetes trap… It’s easily done, and I see a lot of people in clinic who have been surprised to find they’re occupying that space.

It really is worth getting your blood sugar levels checked out. Once you know your numbers, you can do something about it and make a huge shift in all aspects of your health, including your weight. Whatever the tests say, I want you to know that, by making some simple changes to your diet and lifestyle, it is possible to prevent, control and, in many cases, reverse this condition.

COULD IT BE ME?

Could be...

The peri-menopause can be one of the trickiest times for women to get their head around. One minute you’re 30, full of energy to do all the things you want in your life. Yes, there may be challenges but none of them seem unmanageable. Life – especially when you look back – seemed pretty great. All of a sudden it seems life and age have snuck up on you. You’re just not quite the same person you used to be. You notice you get tired more easily, some days you’re literally dragging yourself through the day, you’ve lost your get up and go for no reason, the weight you used to be able to lose in the run-up to an important event stays stubbornly in place no matter what you try, and you can’t seem to shift that foggy feeling in your brain. But it can’t be the menopause, right? You’re too young…

The menopause actually refers to a time when you haven’t had a single period for at least a year. The run-up to it can last for...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a problem I see so often in clinic and it is problematic on many different levels. If you have been diagnosed with this condition, you may well have been suffering with it for years and, while a diagnosis can – at first– offer comfort in finally having a recognised problem, the satisfaction is short-lived because often that’s where all support ends, and you’re left no further forward in actually fixing what the problem is.The difficulty begins because IBS is essentially meaningless; it’s a catch-all term used to encompass a huge variety of digestive issues. If you’re serious about getting to the bottom of the problem (no pun intended), I’m happy to discuss your symptoms and help find a way forward. You can book a free IBS health check with me by clicking here.

In my experience, it’s likely to be one of the following five conditions.

1 SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth)

Around 60% of people with IBS...