This week, instead of thinking about habits to add I thought we might think about things to stop. Harmful substances like: 🍷 Alcohol 🚬 Smoking 🍔 Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) In order to quit a harmful substance there's a few steps you could take: 1: The “Awareness Reset” (Easy win) Before changing anything… just observe. For the next 7 days: Track alcohol intake (units) Notice any smoking/vaping triggers Identify UPFs in your diet (anything packaged, long ingredient list, engineered for taste) 💡 Aim: No judgement Just awareness Most people underestimate these by 30–50% 👉 This is your baseline. You can’t optimise what you don’t measure. 🥈 Step 2: The “Reduce by Half” Challenge Now we start nudging behaviour. Pick ONE of the following: Cut alcohol intake by 50% Cut cigarettes/vapes by 50% Replace 50% of UPFs with whole foods Examples: Beer → alcohol-free alternative Crisps → nuts / fruit / hummus & veg Ready meals → simple whole-food swaps 💡 Aim: Not perfection. Just meaningful reduction. 👉 This alone can significantly improve: Blood pressure Inflammation Metabolic health 🥇 Steop 3: The “Clean Week” (High impact) Go all in for 7 days: ❌ No alcohol ❌ No smoking/vaping ❌ No ultra-processed foods Instead: Water / sparkling water / tea / coffee Whole foods: meat, fish, eggs, veg, fruit, nuts, grains Cook simple meals (doesn’t need to be fancy) 💡 What to notice: Energy levels Sleep quality Cravings (they often drop after 3–4 days) Mental clarity 👉 This is where people often realise: “I didn’t know I could feel this good.” --- To do this it's usually best to replace the thing we're quitting with something positive. For example, you may want to have lots of fresh food on hand for tasty snacks instead of processed foods. 💬 comment below: Which option are you choosing? What’s your biggest challenge with this area?

Good afternoon. With it being Easter weekend a lot of people, including myself are away on Sunday. As such I'm going to cancel our usual Monday catch up, but we will post in the group and arrange a catch up after Easter. Wishing everyone a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Hi, sorry I missed the catch up on Monday. I fell over and broke my shoulder 😳. Feeling very sorry for my self 😞. Fortunately still have some roasted chickpeas to cheer myself up 😅

This week's tip was inspired by my 5 year old son. I was watching him happily devour a load of grapes and strawberries—then casually tell me he prefers them to sweets. Okay, so eating grapes by the box load may not be perfectly healthy, but It got me thinking about other things we could swap to better alternatives. 💡Embedding a small change that you stick with for years will be far more powerful than any short-term fad diet or exercise regime. And that’s where healthy swaps come in. 🔄 This week’s challenge: Make ONE simple swap Pick something easy. Something realistic. Something you’ll actually stick to. Here are a few ideas: 🍓 Swap sweets or chocolate → fruit 🥕 Swap crisps → carrots, peppers & hummus 🥜 Swap biscuits → a handful of nuts 🥙 Swap processed snacks → roasted chickpeas 🍞 Swap white bread → wholegrain or sourdough 🚲 Swap driving --> Cycling or walking 🛋️ Swap sitting on a sofa watching TV --> A short walk listening to a podcast or sitting in a squat position watching TV Why this matters: These small changes help to: • Stabilise blood sugar • Reduce excess calories • Improve cholesterol and blood pressure • Lower long-term risk of stroke and heart disease And crucially—they all add up. 💬 Your turn What’s ONE swap you’re going to try this week? Message in the comments below —I’d love to see what you come up with 👇

Good evening. I'm afraid I've gone on a last minute family trip and so won't be able to do the community call tomorrow. I've moved it to Monday for now, but if you would prefer me to put it back to Saturday so you can all catch up in happy to do so. Nik