I've just completed a five-week healthy eating course called Menu & Mind, run by Marlow based natural chef Jo Colley-Keyes (Time to Nourish) and NLP practitioner Anya McFarlane (InMind Coaching) and it was brilliant, really inspiring, and just what I needed.  And when something is so good it absolutely deserves to be shared on my blog.  Jo and Anya are kind, supportive, fun and so so knowledgeable,  They make a fabulous team and their approach is to teach you that making changes to your diet and lifestyle is as much about your mindset as it is about practical things like creating a meal plan, knowing what to cook and what to keep in the cupboard.

I am as you know a real advocate of education around our health, whether that be what we eat, how we move or linked to life milestones like menopause.  I believe we all need to learn the basics first, fact based information that enables us to make the best decisions.

I wasn't going to do a post today but sometimes words just come to me and I want to write them down and I want to share.  It has been a weekend where everyone has been shocked and saddened by the news that Caroline Flack felt she had no option but to take her own life.  Midlife is a particularly difficult time for women with depression and anxiety one of the more common symptoms during peri-menopause.  Here are my thoughts on things we should all remember, let's support each other.

What are your thoughts on injectable 'tweakments' - botox and fillers?  It is not something I have even considered, up until now that is, seeing young girls with lip fillers and famous older women with stretched skin and unnatural expressions just didn't do it for me and having always looked pretty young for my actual age it hadn't even hit my radar.  Then I was invited to go along to the Bodyvie Clinic in Richmond to meet their Lead Doctor and Medical Director, have a chat about their 'meno-tweak' offerings, try out a treatment and chat about all things menopause.  I talked about this more in my post here - An introduction to advanced medical aesthetics with Bodyvie in Richmond.

​Bodyvie is a beautiful modern clinic, easy to find and access in Richmond and they made me feel very welcome.  They have over 20 years of experience in medical aesthetics and are now offering private HRT consultations, and at a very competitive price point too.

Tomorrow is Time to Talk Day, an initiative organised by Time to Change, a social movement who aims to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems.  Some of you may have seen a few of my recent social media posts and blogs where I have mentioned that I have been having a very low period of depression and anxiety.  I also explained in my new year blog post that I wanted to be more open and honest on my blog so Time to Talk Day seemed like the most appropriate time to share and talk and may be help someone else.

I have never gone public with this.  In fact I didn't even really know it had a name until I was nearly 30.  But I suffered most of my childhood, through my teens and well into adulthood, well until quite recently really.  I have emetophobia which is the fear of vomiting - it can include a fear of vomiting oneself in private or public, a fear of seeing vomit, a fear of watching or hearing the action of vomiting and a fear of feeling nauseous.  

In addition I do have episodes of anxiety, mild depression and insomnia.  I also had post-natal depression and I have had anxiety and low mood associated with hormone imbalances during peri-menopause.  The phobia is less of an issue in my day to day life now but depression and insomnia continue to plague me from time to time and I am still working on the best ways to deal with it when it does reappear.

But this is me, this is the bit that no one apart from my closest family and friends see, this is the me I usually keep private and if I do tell someone, I am usually met with surprised 'but you seem so confident!'  I have also accepted that I am an introvert, that I don't enjoy big events and I don't enjoy too much social media visibility - like changing room selfies!

I am currently in the midst of a particularly bad episode of low mood / depression and so opening up about my struggles helps me cope a bit more and find some perspective.  Last year was full on for me with, among other challenges, waving my daughter off to university then the long Christmas and New Year period with two bereavements and an even longer grey January.  Thank goodness that is over.   On my walks this week I have seen signs of spring.