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Our hormones affect our well-being and our propensity to put on weight.  Looking at the menstrual cycle first, there’s basically two halves. The follicular phase starts with the first day of your period and lasts for around 14 days, with ovulation in the middle. ...

Over the last two years I've enjoyed walking and cycling trips with friends, all in the UK.  I needed to get back on a plane and widen my horizons so I booked this trip through an adventure company called Exodus. It was trekking in the Aitana Mountains, which lie just...

What an interesting topic this is. Let’s dive straight in!  Number 1: Every illness or condition you google there will always be, under the heading treatment or avoidance, the words ‘Do some exercise’.  Give your heart and lungs something to work for, give your joints...

Some people avoid eating fat because there is a tendency to think that it has something to do with the reason their clothes are too tight.  But it is eating too much of anything that is the reason we have love-handles. Fat is essential in our diet because aside from...

Last week, I paid one of my regular visits to the chiropractor. While one of her bony elbows was digging into my glute (she called it “releasing”) I remarked (through quick breaths akin to childbirth) that I had been feeling very tired lately.  “Well stop hiking up...

Losing fat is about losing fat.  It's not about losing weight.  The whole process can be emotionally charged so let's make it easier for ourselves.  Hide the scales. When our clothes get tight, it’s because we've eaten more than we usually do, even though we've...

This, my lovely friends, is a dish which my colleague Emma knocks up regularly for her family as a lunch or a light supper.  I'm sharing it with you, given it's the festive season and you may be heartily sick of rich food.:) 2 red peppers, deseeded and thickly sliced...

The marvellous Joy Skipper has done it again.  A delicious (and slightly less calorific) version of this seasonal favourite. Thank you Joy ! 300g mincemeat (or you could make your own....if you had absolutely nothing else to do in the whole world) 25g dried cherries...

(Not my recipe you'll be relieved to hear). This gorgeous cake comes from the woman at the centre of all things home-grown and home-baked, Joy Skipper.  She has very kindly shared this recipe with us, so here it is: Vegan Christmas Cake Serves 12-16 slices I kg dried...

The pelvic floor muscle (PF) is a sling of muscle, like a hammock which goes from your pubic bone, under your bits and bobs, to the coccyx (tailbone). It is part of the ‘core’, and works with the deep abdominal muscles and the diaphragm to strengthen the spine and...

  Cholesterol.  Smacks of bad news, doesn’t it?  But actually cholesterol is pretty jolly vital. It’s made in the liver and forms part of the membrane of every single cell. It’s used to help us make vitamin D and hormones and we can’t do without it. It’s not...

I stole this recipe from Woman&Home magazine (November 2021) because it's so lush. Perfect for meat-free Mondays. Serves 6. 400g prepared butternut squash (actually you can get this in the freezer cabinet too) 3 garlic cloves skin on 2 tbsp olive oil 2 large...

You might be by the pool in a quarantine-free country, lapping up the cheap beers and endless sunshine so motivation for anything other than reading the next chapter of your book or choosing which bistro to visit is way down the list.  But September is here and that...

Thank you to Rukmini Iyer, author of "The Roasting Tin Around The World" for this recipes.  Makes a lovely lunch or light supper. Personally, I would reduce the honey and halve the oil, but then I'm no fun. Serves 3-4 3oog baby carrots whole 225g halloumi cut into 1/2...

Many of you followed me on Instagram during my recent  4 day trip walking The St Cuthbert's Way (100km in Border country up north) and it seems my enthusiasm for plodding along in the outdoors has is contagious.  You want to know more.  So here are my tips for a very...