The Lifestyle Psychiatrist (2025)

10/01/2025

🚫 No barriers here 🚫

Except when it comes to habit change there are loads of barriers aren’t there?

Internal barriers - low motivation, low energy, pre-contemplation, low ability, low knowledge, external locus of control, lack of agency, disempowerment, tiredness, worry and fear, self-stigmatisation, illness, pain

Structural barriers - lack of time, lack of money, lack of availability, lack of transport, lack of practical support, lack of resource, poor accessibility

Social barriers - negative peer influence, lack of social support, stigma, discrimination, prejudice, judgement, lack of community, lack of social integration, isolation, loneliness

The list goes on and on. What can we do to overcome the barriers, individually and collectively? What can we do to create healthier communities? What can we do to create healthier populations? How can we build opportunities for health into everything we do in society?

03/01/2025

Sad facts 😔

It’s the 21st Century and global health is in a sorry state - 7 of the leading causes of global deaths are non-communicable (non-infectious), preventable diseases 😔

There is a rise in people being admitted to hospital for vitamin deficiencies - this should not be a problem of the 21st century 😔

And the Food Industry continues to churn out and promote ultra-processed, calorie-dense but nutrient-deficient ultra-processed foods. Foods that are addictive, that fill the belly but do not nourish the body’s cells, that do not provide the building blocks of health and life. That are deliberately manufactured to be delicious and irresistible. That are contributing to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, poor mental health, and premature mortality.

These cereals in the supermarket made me sad today. I love chocolate and I love cake, but not for breakfast! And especially not for children 😔

And this is not to blame individuals - this is a global problem. A problem of industry, a product of capitalism. And a failure of governments all around the world. The Food Industry and the governments will talk about personal choice and personal responsibility, but it’s a Hobson’s choice when fresh fruit, veg, meat and fish can be more expensive, less convenient, less promoted, less accessible, and people are not given the knowledge and skills they need to make the healthy choice 😔

Refs:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death
doctors.net.uk news article
Sad supermarket shelves

Rant over 😬

Tips:
Check out ’s books and website for very budget friendly healthy, easy and delicious recipes 📚
Go to the supermarket at the end of the day for discounted items 🛒
Buy frozen and tinned veg, pulses and fish 🐟
Batch cook and freeze portions to save time and effort 🍛
Check out ’s campaigning and ’s book and documentaries
Eat for your body’s requirements, not just your tastebuds’ folly 👅

Please share other tips team ⬇️

02/01/2025

My previous post about my little tomato timer inspired a super-conscientious medic friend of mine to try the Pomodoro Technique today (using the timer on her phone), and she finished work on time for the first time in about a decade!! I’m so happy for her! 🙌 🙌 🙌

Messages shared with permission 😃 🍅

01/01/2025

Starting 2025 as I mean to go on, with movement (thank you for the fabulous silent disco yoga ! 🤸🏻‍♀️🪩), friendship (thank you ! 🤗) and cold water swimming (thank you .club!🥶) Looking forward to lunch with my lovely little family now 🥰

Reflecting on privilege and good luck (to be safe and free and able to move my body and participate in joyful things is not to be taken for granted) and expressing gratitude 🙏

Here’s to the New Year, 2025, and may all beings everywhere be happy and free 🙏 🕊️

30/12/2024

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions (spoiler: they don’t work) but as an INFP personality type (and possibly undiagnosed high-functioning ADHDer) I manage my energy really well and get a LOT of stuff done (eventually), but I’m less good at managing my time - I win at procrastinating, I avoid boring tasks until I’m at the deadline, I am either super-focused or completely unfocused, I’m not good at prioritising, and I am not good at stopping and starting things. Yet somehow I get by and do alright 🤷‍♀️

To help me manage everything in life I write a LOT of lists and this Stuff To Do pad is working really well for keeping me on track (much better than digital for me - out of sight is out of mind). I also bought this little pomodoro timer to help me try to use the Pomodoro Technique of time management by encouraging me to break tasks into manageable chunks and the tomato makes me happy, although I keep forgetting to use it… 🍅

So I guess although I don’t have a New Year’s resolution I’m setting an intention for focus, productivity, and better time management, but I think energy management will still win, and that’s ok, we are how we are 🤷‍♀️

Are you better at managing your energy or your time?

20/12/2024

No filter on this epic Worcestershire sunset yesterday, which gave me such a feeling of awe and peace and joy 🥹

On the same day that heroic Gisele Pelicot’s ordeal concluded with guilty verdicts for all of the perpetrators and shame finally changed sides 🙏

Towards the end of a year that has seen so much suffering worldwide and particularly so for women and children - Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, the list goes on 😔

A year where the global political landscape is baffling and horrifying in equal measure 🌍

A year that I am glad to say goodbye to for personal reasons too 😢

As the beautiful sunset reminds us, tomorrow is a new day, farewell 2024, welcome 2025, with hope 🕊️

Signing off until the New Year 😘

02/12/2024

BJ Fogg writes and talks about Tiny Habits - making a new habit really small, really easy, tagging it onto something you already do so you have a prompt, and celebrating each time you do it - so that motivation and will power are not needed for success.

I have been learning languages with Duolingo for more than a year now, and sure it can’t compete with tutored classes and speaking opportunities with real life people, BUT just look how a few minutes every day adds up! It’s small, it’s easy, I can tag it into things I usually do, Duo often looks like he’s sad, angry or dying in the widget, which is an effective prompt to practise, and you gain XP and gems and Duo celebrates your success! 🙌

Anyone would think Duo had capitalised on the findings of behaviour science research or something 🤔

I also like the summary slide showing how many mistakes I’ve made because we learn more from failure than we do from success and we should celebrate our mistakes too 🙌 This is the whole premise of one of my favourite podcasts, How to Fail with Elizabeth Day

In essence, tiny habits can create big results and lasting change, seemingly effortlessly, and failures are an important part of the process, whatever new habit you are trying to embed. How could this principle work for you? Are you starting a new habit?

27/11/2024

Let’s create meaningful change! Who’s in?!
💪 🧠

If physical activity was a pill or supplement EVERYONE would want to take it - who doesn’t want to feel better, look better, sleep better, have more energy, have more social connection, more self-confidence and self-esteem, more focus and concentration, and HUGELY reduce their lifetime risk of developing depression, dementia, type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, hip fractures, and all-cause mortality?

Who doesn’t want to live a longer, happier, healthier life?

Physical activity is this pill and it can be free and accessible to everyone in one way or another and without any side-effects 💊

Guidelines give us a framework, something to aim for, something to recommend, but they don’t create change. What can we do to embed physical activity into daily life again? Please share your ideas 💡

I’ll start:
🚶‍♀️ 🚲 Investment to make active transport safe and accessible, with connected, well-maintained, well-lit, routes (see the incredible work of Chris Boardman CBE for examples of what can be done)
🏫 Change the way schools teach PE and Games. So many children become disenfranchised at such a young age because they learn that physical activity is not for them. I was one of these kids - bad coordination, slow at running, slow at swimming, no good at dancing, couldn’t hit a ball, got called a Lemon by a Games teacher… BUT I loved walking and moving and discovered yoga age 18 and never stopped moving in non-competitive ways that I enjoyed🤸🏻‍♀️

Your turn! 🏃‍♀️

15/11/2024

Recommendation, not an ad.

OMG, the world news is BLEAK at the moment and I keep finding that I’m doom-scrolling myself into a state of helpless rage and fear at the state of the world 🌍

It’s important to know what’s going on politically and environmentally, but consuming non-stop horror and devastation is very detrimental, so I’m taking a conscious break from the News and diving into the Positive News for some welcome relief and recalibration. I need a strong reminder that good things are happening in the world too, and that there are good people - people that care and are making a difference. Balance is everything in life after all and we need to protect our inner peace and state of mind to be effective - learned helplessness helps no one.

This is not an ad. I am a paying subscriber of the Positive News and gain nothing from sharing this, other than the hope that it might help someone else regain and maintain some hope and positivity too.

Best wishes ✌️ 🕊️ 🌍 ✊

07/11/2024

Lessons in life from an ancient mosaic - eudaemonia.

We were in Naples, Italy, a few weeks ago and spent time exploring the city (vibrant, hectic, noisy, amazing food, cool street art, excellent public transport), Pompeii, Herculaneum, and a little bit of the Amalfi coast. We spent most of a day at Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, seeing all the treasures pulled from the ruins of Pompeii. This little mosaic captured my heart, both for its cute little skeleton figure and for its message - time passes, everything is temporary, all is impermanent, death is inevitable.

Maybe it’s strange, but coupled with my recent losses of loved ones, and the quote I shared from Elodie Harper’s book (the second of The Wolf Den trilogy, following the life of a slave girl in Pompeii), I found it incredibly comforting. Life is short! Everything ends! Enjoy it while you can! Embrace all of it - the good times, the bad times, the joy, the suffering - for this is life! It’s a once only opportunity! LIVE IT!!

And this brings me to eudaemonia - the concept of the happiness and satisfaction to be found in living a good life, an ethical, moral life. A life of meaning and purpose, rather than a life of hedonism and selfish pleasures. A life of gratitude and optimism and appreciation and contentment. A life of simple things. A life of helping others enjoy a life worth living too. A life of kindness and sharing, not of greed and grasping. A life of compassion. We need more of that in the world, please 🙏

Peace out ✌️

03/11/2024

In response to my recent post about The Food Programme episode and eating for brain health I received this very pertinent comment on Facebook - “But how do you when quetiapine is screaming FEED ME SUGAR!”

The challenge is real - antipsychotic medications increase appetite, increase cravings for sweet and sugary foods, can cause significant weight gain, increase blood glucose and lipids, thus increasing risk for cardiac disease and metabolic disease and contributing to the excess morbidity and mortality faced by people with serious mental illness.

One of my patients told me that she snacks on dates to satisfy her sugar cravings, so I shared this idea and it’s taken off! 🙌 💪 🧠

Disclaimer - dates are not a cure for the side-effects of antipsychotics. Dates are full of fruit sugar so shouldn’t be eaten in excess. BUT if snacking on dates reduces snacking on cakes, biscuits and chocolates it’s a win in my book, not to mention the benefits of the fibre for gut health and happy poo! 💩

25/10/2024

A description of the perfect Mediterranean diet for a healthy body and mind, Pompeii, circa 2000 years ago - olives, salads, bread, fish, meat, veg, legumes, fruit 👌

The slavery, violence, brothels, misogyny, oppression, not so good… but plus ça change…

The Lifestyle Psychiatrist

10/01/2025

03/01/2025

02/01/2025

01/01/2025

30/12/2024

20/12/2024

02/12/2024

27/11/2024

15/11/2024

07/11/2024

03/11/2024

25/10/2024

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