As a working parent, how do you find the time, energy and patience to positively engage with and offer the right support for your teenager? I talk to parenting expert, Anita Cleare, who shares how working parents can switch mindset from work mode to parent mode to deal with the day-to-day challenges of parenting teenagers. Anita shares lots of practical advice for working parents on the importance of managing their own emotions and mindset as well as navigating the choppy parenting waters...

Why can’t you lose weight? You’ve cut out the fast food, revamped your diet and started exercising. But the numbers on the scales haven’t budged at all. What's going on? Diets don’t work because you brain controls your body weight. So whenever your weight changes too much, your brain will step in to push it back to what it thinks is the correct weight for you. And you might not like the same weight your brain prefers. Most of us don’t! To lose weight you need to make you brain more...

I know there’s a lot of stuff going on in your life right now. The endless to-do list, balancing home, work life, parenting and caring responsibilities. So it’s understandable if your happiness has taken a backseat. Today, we’re gong to change all that by giving you the secret ingredients that science has shown will help you live a happy midlife. Not only will these scientifically tested happiness hacks have a positive effect on you, they will also have a huge influence on those closest to...

Worried about the amount of time your teen is gaming? You’re not alone! 9 out of 10 parents say teens spend too much gaming. But what is too much gaming? When does gaming become unhealthy or even addictive? And what can parents do to support teens who are problem gamers? We answer all these questions today in a brutally honest interview with Patrick Foster, a former professional cricketer and school teacher whose life was shattered by a pathological gambling addiction that brought him to the...

Worried about the amount of time your teen is gaming? You’re not alone! 9 out of 10 parents say teens spend too much gaming. But what is too much gaming? When does gaming become unhealthy or even addictive? And what can parents do to support teens who are problem gamers? We answer all these questions today in a brutally honest interview with Patrick Foster, a former professional cricketer and school teacher whose life was shattered by a pathological gambling addiction that brought him to the...

The effects of trauma early in life can influence adult life in many different ways - impacting our sense of self, the way we communicate, and how we form relationships. Developing more self-awareness of our behaviours in adult life can help to undo the harm of childhood trauma. So, if you’re caring for a young person who has experienced childhood trauma or you’re living with the consequences of childhood trauma as an adult, I want to show you the different ways in which childhood trauma can...

Most women say that they “lack the knowledge” or feel “unprepared” for peri-menopause - the transition into menopause, which is when a woman’s periods stop and she comes to the end of her reproductive life. Although every woman’s peri-menopause is different, there are many common features. So today I want to talk through the symptoms you will experience during peri-menopause so you know exactly what to expect and how you will feel. In this episode, you’re going to learn:  What is...

What you choose to eat in midlife creates either an environment that nourishes your brain and nurtures your mental health or an environment that damages your brain and creates mental health problems. Today, I am going to unpack why eating a brain-healthy diet in midlife is the most important thing you can do to sharpen your thinking, boost your memory and improve your mood. And walk through the top ten foods that will nourish your brain and take good care of your mental health. In this...

Midlife can be a tumultuous time for many women. The words ‘midlife crisis’ can put a negative spin on this period. But it doesn’t have to be all bad. It can be an opportunity to reevaluate your life. It’s the chance to pause and spend time and energy figuring out what’s meaningful to you. So I want to share the signs you are experiencing a midlife crisis and give you six ways to manage it— and become happier and more fulfilled in the process.  In this episode, you’re going to learn: The...

Your teen’s stopped talking to you. They shut themselves away in their room for hours at a time. Any response you do get is an angry one-word answer along with some annoyed eye-rolling. Take a deep breath. Pulling away from parents is a normal part of development during adolescence. Whether you should be worried or not really depends on why your teenager has stopped talking. In today’s episode, we look at the reasons why teens won’t talk to their parents and how to get through to teens who...

When we go through trauma, our brains don’t function like they normally do. We shift into survival mode. Our brains direct all our mental and physical energy toward dealing with the immediate threat until it’s resolved. But it’s not only our brains that remember our trauma(s). Today, I discuss how unprocessed trauma can also get "stuck" or "stored" in our bodies and share some safe and effective ways of releasing these traumatic experiences from our body. In this episode, you’re going to...

As a parent of a teen, I am sure you do everything you can to help your teenager make good decisions, provide them with guidance, reflect on how that situation made you feel as a teenager. You think you have set your teenager up for success. So why does your teenager ignore all of your advice and go and do exactly what they were going to do anyway? Well, in today’s episode, I explain the brain reasons why teenagers think they know everything and parents know nothing. In this episode, you’re...

Most people don’t give their brain health the attention it needs — until it’s too late. Currently, if you live to 85, you have a 50/50 chance of developing dementia. That’s the flip of a coin! So how can you start looking after your brain to avoid disorders like dementia? A good place to start would be to adopt a functional medicine approach to your brain health. I talk to functional medicine practitioner, Dr Sarah Davies, about the huge benefits of functional medicine for your brain - using...

By the time we reach midlife, we all have some of the brain disease that causes dementia, but only some of us will go on to experience the symptoms of cognitive decline later in life. Why is that? The truth is dementia doesn’t suddenly appear. In fact, the seeds for dementia are sown inside your brain years, even decades before you will ever experience any symptoms. Today, I breakdown your risk of mental decline in midlife and what it tells you about your chances of going on to develop...

A new year often signifies a fresh start for many people - setting health and wellness resolutions. But, more often than not, these goals are unsustainable, leading most people to break their resolutions within a few weeks. To break that cycle of making the same resolutions year after year that you never keep, it’s important to make resolutions that not only improve your health, but are sustainable. Here are 10 New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep. I hope you have a healthy and happy...

Maintaining a healthy brain during your life is your most important goal for your health now and longevity going forward. If you don’t look after your brain now, you put yourself at higher risk for developing brain diseases that cause dementia. To help you get started, I share 5 lifestyle practices to preserve optimal brain, mental and cognitive function and avoid diseases that will affect your normal brain function and behaviour later in life. In this episode, you’re going to learn...

From hot flushes to low mood to insomnia to forgetfulness, many of the foreign feelings that women experiences during menopause are caused by changes happening inside the brain. Today, I breakdown the different brain symptoms of menopause, why they put women at higher risk of dementia, and what can be done to do mitigate this risk. In this episode, you’re going to learn: The brain symptoms that women experience during menopause. Why menopausal brain symptoms make women more susceptible to...

The transition from childhood through adolescence to adulthood is not an easy journey for teenagers or parents. Learning how the teenage brain operates can really help parents to understand a teenager’s mood and behaviour. So I want to share 7 things you should know about a teenager’s brain to empower you as a parent and help your teenager on their journey through adolescence. In this episode, you’re going to learn: Why a teenager is biologically programmed to strive for independence, take...

You might wonder why you aren’t as happy and fulfilled as you thought would be in midlife. Well, it turns out that midlife is a melting pot of lifestyle and hormonal changes that can affect your mental and physical well-being. Today I talk to Claire and James Davis, The Midlife Mentors, on why in midlife you should be looking forwards to a better quality of life, not backwards. In a wide-ranging interview, we discuss how awareness about your lifestyle followed by small changes to your mindset...

Mention brain fog to your doctor and you’re likely to be met with a dismissive tone and told that it isn’t a real condition. But if you describe brain fog to your friends, they’ll know exactly what you mean: fuzzy thinking, difficulty concentrating, trouble finding the right word, feeling like your brain has slowed down. I discuss the common symptoms of brain fog in midlife and how to get rid of the fogginess by creating new healthy sleep, stress, eating and exercise habits. In this episode,...

Whether you’re completely new to meditation or an experienced practitioner, I’m sure you’ve heard about the benefits of this ancient practice for relaxation and self-awareness. But do you know about the huge boost that meditation can give to your brain? I break down the mood-boosting, stress-reducing, attention-focusing and many biological benefits of meditation for your brain health and mental health. Meditation cultivates a more resilient brain that contributes a greater sense of...

Exercise causes physical changes to your brain that invigorate thinking, reasoning, memory and mood. Your brain receives positive benefits every time you put on your trainers and move away from the sofa. I breakdown how exercise keeps the brain young and what exercises women should be doing before and after menopause to enhance their well-being and safeguard against future dementia. In this episode, you’re going to learn: How exercise keeps the brain young, enhances thinking, memory, mood,...

The demands placed on women during midlife create a perfect storm for stress and mental health challenges. But do you know how toxic uncontrolled stress can be? It is literally shrinking your brain. But here’s the good news: there are simple ways to effectively manage your stress levels so that they never get to a point where you find yourself crippled by it. In this episode, I show you why uncontrolled stress during midlife is so toxic for your brain and give you some neuroscience-backed...

Do you have trouble sleeping? Can’t get to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night and then can’t get back to sleep. You’re not alone. Most people in midlife have trouble sleeping. I want to give you four scientifically proven methods to help you sleep better in midlife and specific steps that you can take to make it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep and wake-up well-rested. Adopting these methods will not only help you get a full complement of sleep every night, it will also improve...

Many of us get more forgetful as we get older. Most people need a bit longer to remember things, get distracted more easily or struggle to do some tasks as well as they used to. This may become more noticeable when we reach middle age, during our 40s, 50s and 60s. These changes are completely normal, but can be frustrating and many people worry that they’re the early signs of dementia. So, in this episode, I unpack what healthy ageing looks like and how it's different from the mild mental...