HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Our Wellbeing
I am sure you have heard the phrase ‘be kind to yourself?’ To be honest, I am not a great fan of this phrase because when you are struggling in life and someone says ‘you need to be kind to yourself,’ my first reaction is well what does that mean?
Our wellbeing is crucial as we go into mid-life years and beyond. Keeping our mental and physical health is a priority and we need to stop being so hard on ourselves, so I guess that means being kind to yourself! Happiness is a short-term emotion and one that we all need, but contentment is really what we are aiming for and is what makes us feel good each day, even when life gets messy.
As I reflect on Wellbeing, I look at the members of my team and how they approach life. Their mission each day is to protect me, to eat often, enjoy regular exercise, give an enormous amount of love and sleep all on repeat. It is a simple philosophy, but the world we live in seems to make life more complicated than it needs to be. I like routine, as do all the members of my team, and if something unexpected happens which alters my routine, then I find myself floundering. Whilst this may make me sound boring, I assure you my life is rich and fun because I thrive on routine. For this reason, I hated shift work as a Nurse, but some of you may thrive on not having a routine – everyone is different and finding what gives you have a sense of wellness and contentment is very important. It is linked with Health and Serenity, so when you start working on these pillars, Wellbeing starts to fall into place.
Our Serenity
What does Serenity mean to you? The classic definition of this taken from the Oxford Dictionary is “the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.” I think that most of us would say that this is idealistic and difficult, and I agree it can be a challenge every day. However, it can be practised and nurtured!
Please book in your free 30-minute no obligation consultation if you would like help and support with Serenity or book onto my 8 week online Health & Wellbeing Course which starts in January 2025.
DIABETES
In the UK, more than five million individuals have been diagnosed with diabetes in 2024, with Type 2 diabetes accounting for most cases. The underlying reason why Type 2 Diabetes is increasing is due to the western diet and the amount of fat, salt, and sugar in the foods we buy and consume regularly. Additionally, the rising cost of living is making a nutritious diet unaffordable for millions of people, and this is contributing to the rise in obesity, which in turn increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, alongside genetic and other causes.
Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
Pre-diabetes is a condition where your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Additionally, it indicates a significant risk of then going onto developing type 2 diabetes, if you continue your lifestyle as it is. The National Health Service (NHS) describes Type 2 Diabetes as “a common condition that causes the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood to become too high”. Symptoms include increased thirst, unintentional weight loss, blurred vision.
How do I know if I have Pre-Diabetes or Type 2 Diabetes?
It is very easy to find out whether you have pre-Diabetes or Type 2 Diabetes with an HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) blood test. You can obtain an HbA1c blood test through your health care provider, and the test accurately shows an average of the blood sugar level in your bloodstream over the past 90 days.
How Can SHW help you?
All my working life in the NHS has been practising preventative medicine and I specialised in Diabetes, so I have a wealth of experience in supporting you to make lifestyle changes that can prevent you from developing Pre-Diabetes or Diabetes. However, if you have been diagnosed with either of these, I can also extensively support you in managing these so that you can either reduce your medication (if you have been started on this) or prevent you from having to take medication. Putting Diabetes in remission is possible (think Michael Mosley) and I would be delighted in supporting you to do this.
RAISED BLOOD PRESSURE
I am fortunate that whilst I have other health issues, raised blood pressure isn’t one of them! However, as part of my role in the NHS, I have looked after countless patients with raised blood pressure, started and titrated patients’ medication and most importantly discussed how lifestyle impacts positively or negatively on our blood pressure. If you have raised blood pressure and this is genetic, rather than due to lifestyle, then I would never advise you to stop your medication. However, looking after blood pressure is still vitally important to our health, especially as we age as we are more prone to seeing an increase.
What does Raised Blood pressure mean?
Another name for high blood pressure is hypertension. When your blood pushes too hard against the blood vessel walls, it causes your blood pressure to increase and this can lead to a heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, and dementia. Additionally, anxiety and stress can also increase your blood pressure. Being overweight, being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, drinking too much alcohol, eating too much salt and not being active are some of things that can increase your risk of raised blood pressure.
How Can SHW help you?
Whether you have raised blood pressure or not, I can help you and support you with some of the risks you may have. I can’t reverse your age or genetics, but I can help you look at ways that can reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. I am happy to measure your blood pressure if I see you face to face. However, this sometimes results in what we call “white coat syndrome”, where your blood pressure increases because you are having it taken by someone else, historically a medical person. Therefore if it is very high, I will advise you see your healthcare provider before working with you in reducing any lifestyle risks that may be contributing to it.
Menopause Weight Gain and Tummy Fat
Over the last five or so years, Menopause has been largely discussed and brought into the light. There are celebrities discussing it, magazines highlighting it and research now realising it doesn’t increase the risk of developing breast cancer as once thought. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is more widely known and healthcare providers are happier to prescribe this now a days than they were ten years ago. There is also a lot of pioneering going on to make sure that Menopause is a significant part of medical training. But for now, we still need help to muddle through this new era of life!
Women worry about gaining fat around their middle areas and believe it is inevitable. The causes for this include a reduction in our hormones and our varying lifestyle.
How Can SHW help you?
I love talking about women’s health and I would be honoured to be able to help you in this area of your life, wherever you are in your menopause journey. We can discuss hormones, HRT, alternative therapies and lots more, so that you can embrace this new era of your life feeling more prepared. My Menopause journey took nearly five years for me to find the correct help and so I truly want to make sure it doesn’t take you this long.
Cardiovascular Disease
I think it is fair to say that we all take our health for granted, until something happens or something “goes wrong.” For me, I would broadly agree that I had sailed through 49.5 years of my life in reasonably good health. However, on February 14th 2018, I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed. Thinking I had hurt my back, I somehow managed to arrive to start a new job in absolute agony. To cut a long and painful story short, I ended up having my right hip replaced the day after my 50th birthday, six months later, due to osteoarthritis which I have inherited. Less than three years later, I had to have my left hip replaced and so now I am even more determined to keep active, eat well and look after my health. I want to be the best I can be and this is what motivates me each day to live well.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
Just before my 15th birthday, my brother and I were taken out of our classrooms at school. We had no idea why, but there was a fear in us both that something life changing had happened. We were silently walked across to the Headmasters Office, where our father was waiting to break the sad news to us that our mother had died of a heart attack the night before. She was 41 years old.
Cardiovascular Disease is a collective term affecting the heart and blood vessels. It is typically linked to atherosclerosis (narrowing/thickening of the arteries), the accumulation of fatty deposits inside the arteries (cholesterol) and a higher risk of blood clots. Some of the risk factors associated with CVD are smoking, being overweight, having raised cholesterol and high blood pressure.
How Can SHW help you?
I am passionate about helping people to reduce their cholesterol levels. So whether you are taking medication or not, I can support you plan Unapologetically Delicious Meals and we can talk though some of the other areas of your life which might need some tweaking to help in further helping to reduce your cholesterol levels.
PLEASE NOTE: Some people will have to take cholesterol lowering medication for the rest of their lives, especially if you have already had some cardiac event. For others, diet alone may prevent you having to start medication. If this is an area you want to work on, I will ask you to obtain an up-to-date blood test from your healthcare provider, so we have a baseline to work from.