I have been promoting a healthy lifestyle for a while now. Yet later last year/ early this year I was struggling and was feeling far from a good example of what I have been trying to promote. Despite eating a healthy diet & exercising regularly, I was struggling with anxiety, low self- confidence, and was extremely sleep deprived. Roll on 6 months and it is a very different picture…

So, what changed… Well, I confronted my anxiety head on, and cooked at Lisa Valentine’s wonderful weekend yoga retreat in January. https://www.lisavalentinevinyasaflow.co.uk/

During this weekend, I met some wonderfully inspiring people and was introduced to Dr Chatterjee’s 4 pillar plan & his fabulous podcasts.

As a result, I have learnt so much & empowered by so much information and passion, I made several small changes to my lifestyle gradually over 6 months. In each podcast he interviews a wide variety of experts in health who have researched/ worked in their fields for years…. The information and advice given is therefore invaluable. We are so lucky to be able to hear from the experts themselves & to learn so much!!

I still feel passionately about nutrition, and exercise, but I have experienced first hand that we can only experience the benefits if it goes hand in hand with rest, and relaxation. It is so important to address any stressors in our life… I was experiencing negative menopausal symptoms due to stress. Instead of producing important female hormones from LDL cholesterol I was making the stress hormone cortisol instead and the result was poor sleep, with its own impact on anxiety and stress.

So, what have I learnt and what have I changed…Well, so much! I made some very practical changes to improve my sleep: the most significant perhaps not drinking caffeine past midday, practicing daily mindfulness, and dramatically reducing my social media use.

However, probably more significant has been how I have now added in regular weekly activities I love into my lifestyle, started working collaboratively with other health & wellbeing experts,and engaged more with my community through volunteering.

I go to fit steps each week without fail .https://www.nobodysperfectdanceandfitness.co.uk/ I dance, I laugh & for 1 hour a week I totally get lost in the moment.

I enjoy a wonderful weekly dose of restorative yin yoga with Zoe yogahttps://www.facebook.com/zogayogacoventry/

I volunteer once a week at helping hands community café, where I have met, and continue to meet so many inspiring people.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=helping%20hands%20gateway%20cafe

I also always have a collaborative project/ event on the go. This week I am thrilled to be working with the inspiring Karen Parkinson, Together Ambassador and Mental Health Champion for England Athletics #runandtalk, and co hosting an exciting women’s health event on Wednesday evening.

So, what I am trying to say is we can make small simple changes that can have a tremendous impact on our health & wellbeing. They won’t be the same for everyone. I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to volunteer or make the changes that I have made, but there may be other changes that you can make that will have a similar impact on your health. It won’t happen immediately, but slowly but surely small simple changes that you make daily can have a huge impact on your long-term health…

There are recurring themes throughout Dr Chatterjee’s podcasts, but one which is so positive and inspiring to me is the one about empowerment… we do have the power to make changes to our lifestyle!

So, what are you waiting for, get yourself a prescription of Dr Chatterjee, ‘The 4-pillar plan’ and his brilliant podcasts… and like Jamie Oliver said in one of these same podcasts… share it with your friends, family and community!

https://drchatterjee.com/blog/category/podcast/