The Uncluttered Mind

23/02/2026

🐢My little tortoise has just survived his first brumation and if you have one, you'll know how momentous that is!!!

I checked him Saturday, his head & legs were tucked inside his shell, I was convinced he was dead!! I got that panicky feeling in my chest when something terrible has happened 💥

Anyhoo, FW 24 hrs & he's been stonking about & basking in the sunlight as if winter never happened and as if he has nt been asleep for 3 months.

🌿And it got me thinking about therapy.
Because this is exactly what the change process often looks like from the outside.
When you start working on anxiety, emotional eating, confidence, sleep, whatever it is thats troubling you, there’s usually a phase where it feels like nothing is happening.

Sometimes it even feels worse as you become more aware. You’re noticing patterns you ignored before. You don’t feel “fixed”. You wonder if it’s working at all?
Your brain starts doing what brains do: “This isn’t working.” “I’m wasting my time.” “Maybe I’m just like this.”

✨️However, underneath the surface, things are shifting.
Your nervous system is learning safety. Your brain is forming new pathways. Old automatic responses are changing.
It’s quiet, invisible work.
🐢Like a tortoise in brumation… it can look like nothing is happening.
Then one day you realise.....

🌿You reacted differently and you're sleeping better. You didn’t spiral. You made a decision calmly. You handled something that used to derail you.
And you think " when did that change?"

Change rarely arrives with fireworks. It shows up in small moments of “oh… that was different.”

If you’re in that middle phase right now, where you’re not where you were, but not where you want to be either, this is often the part where people quit.

✨️But it’s also the part where your nervous system is doing the most learning!

Consider this your reminder that progress isn’t always visible while it’s happening. Sometimes you’re just in your brumation phase and that's exactly where you should be right now 🫶

Claire 🌿

20/02/2026

🌿Last week I had a full wellness check with Kirsty at KnowU Wellbeing

Why? Because this time last year I was 3 stone heavier, I knew something needed to change but did nt have the motivation? Willpower? want it enough? (The things we convince ourselves are our fault).

Everytime I tried what used to work and failed miserably at, just corroded my confidence a little bit more, so ......... I got my bloods done & for me, it was an absolute game changer, my cholesterol was over 7 and this was enough to scare me, as having a family history of heart attack & type 2 diabates meant I could be next on the list 💥 This gave me the kick up the arse I so very much needed!

It's easy to for us to think the changes we’re noticing are just “you getting older” or “losing motivation” but they're not.

♀️As our oestrogen levels start fluctuating and dropping, it can affect cholesterol, blood pressure, sleep, mood, anxiety levels, even how our body stores fat.

So if you’ve noticed things feel different lately more anxious, more wired at night, waking at 3am with your brain running through every life decision you’ve ever made, craving sugar or carbs when you feel overwhelmed there are real physiological reasons behind that.

♀️Hormones influence our nervous system which influences our sleep & this increases anxiety and overthinking.

Anxiety increases cortisol (the stress hormone) when your cortisol is higher, your body looks for dopemeine, which it relases in response to eating sugary, sweet and high carb foods and this is the reason why emotional eating urges can feel stronger, something Id struggled with since my 40s but had no idea why 🤷‍♀️

Everything is connected, this is also why willpower alone rarely works long term. You’re dealing with basic biology, not a lack of discipline on your part, please know ITS NOT YOUR FAULT

🌿The good news is that when you begin to understand what’s happening & why, you can work with your body instead of fighting it and this is EXACTLY why I trained as a menopause & emotional eating coach to implement alongside CBT & Hypnotherapy. Ive been there, I was YOU, I understand the thoughts, feelings & behaviour that keeps you stuck in the loop of wanting to change, the idea that you're going to self sabotage if it works, the guilt when it does nt work and so on.......

Alongside therapy, small changes in sleep habits, hydration, nervous system regulation, eating patterns, and stress management can make a significant difference to both your mental and physical health during peri-menopause.

💉Getting health checks done is one of the most practical forms of self-care there is. You may think you dont need them, they're not glamorous. But they ARE powerful 💥

Knowing your chlosterol, BP, BMI and heart attack/stroke risk is so very important, like me, it may just be the trigger you need to make a change. Im pleased to say after losing 3 stone, practicing what I learnt & getting mine re-tested with Kirsty, my cholesterol is now at a 3 & I have a heart age of 48, at 53 I'll take that 🫶

If you’ve been hovering over the idea of getting support because things feel harder than they used to, or you're curious to know your numbers consider this your nudge, get your appt booked with Kirsty Wellbeing and if you'd like support with the way you're feeling about yourself and are ready to change, you can book a chat here ⬇️
https://theunclutteredmind.setmore.com

I often refer to HDL as the “Mr Muscle” of your cholesterol profile.

We hear a lot about bad cholesterol. The one that can line artery walls a bit like butter or lard poured down a sink.

But HDL?

HDL helps carry excess cholesterol away to be processed by the liver. It plays a protective role in heart health.

That said, cholesterol is never about chasing one number as high or low as possible.

It’s about balance.

If your HDL is on the lower side, there are ways to support it:

🌿 Move regularly. Brisk walking, strength work, anything that gently challenges you

🌿 Include healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds and oily fish

🌿 Stop smoking if you smoke

🌿 Keep alcohol within recommended limits

🌿 Focus on consistent, sustainable habits

Very high or very low results should always be interpreted in context, alongside your full profile and overall risk.

Because cholesterol is never just one headline number.

Know your numbers.
Understand your normal.

Your wellbeing starts with knowing you 🌿

17/02/2026

Incase you had nt noticed, its Pancake Day 🥞

Which means flour on the worktops, maybe a bit of nostalgia, maybe a bit of “I’ll start again tomorrow.”

And if you’re already feeling hormonally tired, emotionally stretched, or not quite yourself, today can quietly stir things up.

Late winter has a way of doing that.
The excitement of January resets has worn off. The lighter evenings aren’t fully here yet and your body’s still working hard to regulate sleep, mood and energy with very little daylight.

Add fluctuating hormones and suddenly you’re:

• More tearful than usual
• Snappy over small things
• Craving comfort
• Wondering why you feel so flat

This is emotional overload meeting winter fatigue. When oestrogen dips, serotonin dips with it so your sleep becomes lighter making your nervous system more reactive. Everything feels louder and more stressful, your patience feels thinner and your mojo has disappeared.

This is usually the point where you tell yourself to “sort yourself out.”
Instead, what if you slowed it down? Today here is your permission to

🥞 Eat the pancake without guilt.
🌿 Step outside for last 10 minutes of daylight.
💭 Notice the thought that says “I should be coping better” and letting it pass.

🌿Through Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, I help women understand how hormones, thoughts, feelings and the nervous system all link together & gently retrain everything to find calmness and confidence again.

✨If you’ve been hovering over the booking button, this is your sign.
I’ve opened up a few spaces for spring.

👉 Book your discovery call here: theunclutteredmind.setmore.com

16/02/2026

🌿If your mind won’t switch off from overthinking and you are struggling with broken sleep, which is leaving you feeling tense for no reason and you find yourself eating when you’re not even hungry because you just want a bit of comfort.… this is for you.

I’m running a Mindfulness & Guided Relaxation Taster Session throughout February and you can even do it in the comfort of your own home if you are n't able to get to me (good internet connection & quiet surroundings required).

60 minutes | £45 | in person | on line

In the taster session you’ll learn:

Calm breathing to settle your nervous system

A simple mindfulness exercise (nothing complicated)

Deep muscle relaxation to release tension

A gentle intro to hypnotherapy

You’ll leave with tools you can use again and again.

Book here: https://theunclutteredmind.setmore.com

14/02/2026

❤️🩷Around Valentine’s Day we often notice a particular kind of overthinking creeping in.

You’re scrolling social media and everyone looks happy, loved-up, life sorted. Fancy dinners, flowers and perfect photos.

Meanwhile you’re feeling tired, juggling work and family commitments and trying to remember the last time you relaxed properly.

It can leave you feeling strangely emotional or flat, and then you begin to question yourself for even caring.

Comparison can be hard on the brain.

Every time you measure yourself against someone else, your stress response ticks up a notch. More stress means poorer sleep, lower self esteem, stronger cravings and less patience. It all links together quietly in the background.

❤️🩷So this weekend I usually suggest something very practical.

Reduce the input a little.

Less scrolling and comparison will give you fewer things that make you second-guess yourself. Giving your brain some much needed breathing space.

Your nervous system settles when the background noise drops.

If you’ve been feeling a bit tender or self-critical lately, you’re not alone in that. This time of year does it to a lot of people. I see you, I'm hear if you need me 🌿

12/02/2026

Tonight is the night ♀️Ladies & 🚹Gentleman, myself Gorleston Menopause Mayhem and KnowU Wellbeing look foward to seeing you there 🩷❤️

According to RJS Family Law “A menopausal divorce occurs when a woman seeks divorce during her menopausal years, typically between the ages of 45 and 55. The menopause divorce rate statistics are quite striking: among opposite-sex couples in 2021, over 60% of divorces in the UK were initiated by women and the average age for women to divorce was 44.5 years, which directly coincides with perimenopause and menopause.”
Let’s buck this trend by educating both men and women. Who knows if we are all educated more then this may not happen.

09/02/2026

🥱It’s 3am and your brain is wide awake.
Not gently awake.
Properly awake.
You’re re-arranging the furniture in the house you’re not buying, replaying a conversation where you wish you were more assertive, questioning your life choices and somehow concluding everyone else is thriving and you’re failing miserably.

Meanwhile your body’s exhausted. Nothing’s gone wrong here. This is what sleep anxiety and an overthinking brain do at night.

When everything gets quiet, your mind tries to problem-solve. Trying harder to sleep usually wakes you up even more.

So rather than forcing it, I teach clients something simple and evidence-based. It's called The Benson Method:
Repeating the word one, one, one, one, over and over again.
If your mind wanders, just come back to “one”.
That’s it.

🌿It gives your brain something dull and repetitive to focus on, which helps switch off the stress response and lets your body settle naturally.
Nothing fancy.
Just physiology doing its thing.

If you’ve been hovering over the booking button, maybe this is your sign to get some proper support with your sleep.

07/02/2026

Menopause: What Is All The Fuss About - What Men Need To Know, takes place on Thursday February 12, 2026, from 7-9pm, at Gorleston Pavilion

05/02/2026

📸 You know when you see an old photo of yourself…
And you think, God… I forgot I used to look like that!!!

Not just younger.
But lighter.
More carefree.
More alive in your own skin.
And it’s not even about looks, is it?

✨️It’s the vibe.... The energy.
The version of you who didn’t second-guess everything.
Who didn’t overthink every word.
Who didn’t carry 72 invisible responsibilities in her head at all times.

Then life happened.
Kids. Work. Stress. Hormones. House. People needing you.
And you slowly became the woman everyone relies on…
but who no one really checks on.

And now the kids are older, doing their own thing…
You’ve got space again.
And that’s when it hits 💥

Who am I when I’m not needed every minute?

Here’s the truth:
You’re still in there.
The woman in that photo didn’t vanish.
She just matured, adapted, survived, and carried a lot.
And now she’s ready to come back, not as the old you…

✨️But as the 'you' who finally gets to be whoever she wants to be. This is me giving you permission to prioritise yourself

Https://www.theunclutteredmind.co.uk

03/02/2026

🌿How do you manage hormones & emotional eating?

All the Christmas food and drink has probably gone.
The “new year, new me” thing is all but forgotten.
Perhaps now is a good time to stop trying so hard.

Not starting another diet or exercise plan hoping that this time it will actually work
Not promising yourself you’ll be “better”.
Not trying to overhaul 'everything'

Just… slow it down a bit.
Because this is the time of year a lot of women are quietly fed up with themselves.

Overthinking everything.
Picking at food when they’re not even hungry.
Feeling uncomfortable in their own skin.
Wondering why they can’t seem to get a grip on it like everyone else appears to be.

And it’s tiring.
Especially when your hormones are all over the place and your sleep’s been questionable.
Your system’s already under strain. So adding pressure on top rarely helps.

In my work as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist, we don’t start with willpower.
We start by calming your body first.
Because when your nervous system settles, so does the pressure.

And when your urgency drops, you naturally make better choices where you can sit back, breathe and ask yourself:

🌿“What do I actually need right now?”

Not what you 'should' do because that just adds pressure.
Asking yourself this question is simple but it works towards understanding whats going on inside.

February can be a gentle reset towards steadier, kinder, a more realistic view of yourself and your goals.

Get your free Nutrition for Menopause guide:
Https://www.theunclutteredmind.co.uk

01/02/2026

🍭🧁🍧Why do sugar cravings feel so strong in everyday life?

If you find yourself reaching for the sweet stuff when you’ve already decided you don’t want to, there’s usually a pattern behind it.

🔎 This is what research shows, in everyday terms:
• Sugar activates the brain’s reward system
• Sweet foods increase dopamine, which reinforces behaviour.
• Your brain remembers sugar as something that brings relief or pleasure and nudges you to repeat it.
• Cravings are learned through repetition

🍭🧁🍧If sugar has helped you cope with stress, tiredness, overwhelm or switching off, your brain links this feeling with sweet things. Cravings then show up automatically in similar moments.

• Highly processed sugary foods don’t keep you full for long. They digest quickly, raise your blood sugar, then it dips again. That dip can trigger hunger and more cravings, even if you’ve eaten recently.

• Research shows that trying to strictly cut sugar often makes us think about it even more. This is because when something feels “off limits”, our brain keeps it at the front of our mind.

• Stress amplifies cravings
When your nervous system is under pressure, your brain looks for fast comfort. Sugar provides quick grounding and familiarity, which is why cravings often hit hardest when you’re already worn down.

• This is down to habit, stress response and biology
Sugar isn’t classed as an addictive substance in the clinical sense. What most people experience day to day is a learned response shaped by routine, stress levels and availability.

🌿What this means in real life
Cravings are information and they point to moments where your system is tired, overloaded or looking for relief.

Change usually starts by noticing when your cravings appear, not by arguing with them.
Once you understand your patterns, you can begin responding differently.
That’s how people gradually loosen sugar’s grip, without battles or all-or-nothing rules.

🌿Reflection question:
When your craving shows up, what’s been happening just before it, in your body, your thoughts, or your day?

You’re not trying to stop the craving here.
You’re gathering information.

That single question helps shift your brain from an automatic reaction into awareness, which is where change actually starts.

If you'd like to work with me to overcome emotional eating, book your consultation here:

https://theunclutteredmind.setmore.com