Triple Two Wellbeing

08/06/2026

Happy Monday all!

Over the weekend I was asked by some family and friends what the 'typical' advice is around diet and nutrition.

Although every client has different needs and objectives aligned to their whole-person, whole-health status, I've listed the 7 most common tips that apply to the vast majority:

1️⃣'Crowd out' each meal with the 'good stuff' (salad or vegetables). Organic if you can stretch to it.

2️⃣Adding extra virgin olive oil to salads and vegetables boosts your essential 'good fats' intake. Omega-3 is also vital. Most people don't have enough good fats!

3️⃣Balancing the gut's microbiome has major and far-reaching health benefits (including mental health). Your gut needs probiotics (providing 'good bacteria') and prebiotics (to feed your good bacteria).

4️⃣Try to eat 30 varieties of plant (any plant!) each week to build a healthy microbiome, e.g. salad items, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs. Coffee counts! (but no more than 3 cups per day seems to be the recommendation)

5️⃣Make sure you're eating enough protein AND fibre. Most people don't have enough! There is strong evidence that eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. It also keeps you feeling full for longer and prevents energy crashes!

6️⃣Add seeds to porridge or yoghurt (it's an easy way to consume them and they provide essential nutrients).

7️⃣Avoid ultra-processed foods (like the plague!) Sadly this isn't just about McDonalds and ready-meals. Check the ingredients list on ALL food items you buy and replace those that contain ingredients you wouldn't find in your kitchen. The compound effect of consuming these ingredients day-after-day is causing untold damage.

More on protein:
https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/article/best-high-protein-foods

More on fibre:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/digestive-health/how-to-get-more-fibre-into-your-diet/

More on fats:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-super-healthy-high-fat-foods

More on ultra-processed foods:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/behind-the-headlines/ultra-processed-foods

More on probiotics:
https://www.verywellhealth.com/probiotic-foods-7970825

More on prebiotics:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/19-best-prebiotic-foods

NOTE: Everyone is different and so health coaches must start by understanding an individual's detailed health case history so that they are in a position to provide tailored advice. However, the above applies to the average adult with no specific problems that need to be worked around. Remember also that there's more to health and wellbeing than just diet and nutrition.

[Image courtesy of craiyon.com]

05/06/2026

01/06/2026

Our health span and life span are both declining

The health, and the wealth, of our nation is dependent on us taking radical steps to reimagine how people access and interact with healthcare provision. We urgently need to tackle the disastrous epidemic of chronic disease that's now impacting our 'health span' (the number of years we live in "full health") as well as our expected life span. The stats from the World Health Organisation make for grim reading in the Western world:

https://data.who.int/countries/826

This link is for the UK but you can choose any country to see its specific stats.
Scroll down to the "Life expectancy" section. You can toggle between the "Life span" and "Healthy life expectancy" stats.

For all their criticism, at the core of the emerging government healthcare reforms there'll be a more preventative approach to health and wellbeing. It will be essential that the approach encompasses all areas of society - at school, at home, in the workplace and in the community. Not just in healthcare as it is today.

Employers will play a big part in this, and, encouragingly, some are already expanding the portfolio of health and wellbeing related benefits offered to employees. They've recognised the investment possibilities to quash the negative health trends affecting productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism and ultimately profitability. It's also becoming a key differentiator in the range of benefits they are offering employees compared to their competitors.

Health Coaches will play a key part in our preventative approach to healthcare. As well as providing health education and support to employers and their employees, they can also offer a more targeted service for supporting individuals. This includes a consultation up-front to properly consider the individual's whole health and unique lifestyle. This allows them to develop a personalised plan that is realistic for the individual's status, lifestyle and life schedule. Regular check-ins provide support and nurture accountability for positive habit change affecting health and wellbeing.

Aspects such as health history, health status, diet, exercise, sleep, stress, mental health and exposure to harmful substances - all interact, so it's always essential to consider them all when working with an individual to plan their unique health and wellbeing objectives for change.

Health Coaches offer the best preventative approach today, especially as primary care in our current health service isn't funded in a way that allows our amazing GPs to invest the time they'd like to consider a person's life situation and whole-health status (rather than just focusing on prescriptions for symptoms).

The UK & International Health Coaching Associated (UKIHCA) are doing incredible work in pushing this new and essential approach to prevention, but we in the Health Coach profession need your help in spreading the word.

Do you know someone who could benefit from working with a health coach?
Do you know of a company that understands the investment opportunity in offering health and wellbeing services to their employees and wants to understand what that might look like.

The investment is not as large as you might think.

More information about this growing area of healthcare is available here: https://www.ukihca.com/

For a free no-obligation chat to discuss your situation, please use or share this link: https://222wellbeing.co.uk

21/05/2026

I help professional midlife men in three dimensions:

1️⃣Tackling specific challenges, for example: stress, sleep, blood pressure, cholesterol, pre-diabetes, weight management, and nutrition.

2️⃣Helping them THRIVE - optimum energy, positive mindset, stopping the brain fog and afternoon energy crashes.

3️⃣Prevention - Helping clients avoid ill-health and the 60% of chronic conditions are preventable.

But how does Health Coaching work?

Well, it goes beyond calorie counting and the gym.

It's about translating evidence-based science into relevant, practical adaptations that are tailored to each client's unique health profile, lifestyle and day-to-day schedule.

It's about education, support, accountability and sustainable habit change.

If you know any professional men suffering from stress, brain fog, afternoon energy crashes, patchy sleep, yo-yoing diet or mental health challenges, then please share this post with them (or share the links below).

To find out more, or even get FREE advice in a friendly and absolutely NO obligation 30 minute chat, please take a look here: http://222wellbeing.co.uk

To learn more about Health Coaching then please see the UK & International Health Coaching Association guide here:
https://www.ukihca.com/images/Guide-to-HC---2025-FINAL.pdf

20/05/2026

This week is Lifestyle Medicine Week.

But what is Lifestyle Medicine?

There are six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine -

🍏 Nutrition
Food as (preventative) medicine and avoiding ultra-processed ingredients.

👟 Physical activity
Moving the body more through the day, rather than necessarily joining a gym.

🧠 Mental Wellbeing
Stress resilience, relaxation techniques and re-connecting with nature (and if you think the last one is 'woo-woo' then you need to do your research!) Stress resilience is more important than many people realise!

💤 Sleep Management
Correcting issues, achieving optimum restorative sleep. This one is also more important than many people realise.

🫂 Social Connection
Sufficient social connection, healthy and meaningful relationships.

🚭 Minimising Harmful Substances
Addressing poor habits, awareness of harmful everyday product ingredients.

Qualified health coaches have to be knowledgeable in all aspects and it's common that they ALL need to be addressed to some degree when working with clients. They are all used as the foundation for a holistic, whole-person approach to improved health and wellbeing which offers evidence-based guidance, support and accountability for habit and behaviour change with a ‘medication last’ approach.

Lifestyle medicine should be the only medicine that we use as a starting point (unless a referral to a GP for medication is necessary immediately, of course). I wish I could say it doesn't happen.

I'm mainly focusing on helping professional men in their 40s, 50s and 60s, as we are notably the demographic who are the worst at looking after ourselves. We were brought up on the just-get-on-with-it, assume-all-responsibility, show-no-weakness alpha-male approach to getting on in life.

The mortality rate in men for cardiovascular disease is 60% higher than for women, and the rate for cancer is 41% higher*. Sadly, common (immediate) challenges in male clients are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes and excess visceral fat. But these issues don't have to be insurmountable. Cue the Lifestyle Medicine approach.

We often put our health in later life down to genetics, but science shows that whilst our genes 'load the gun', it's the environment that we expose our genes to that 'pull the trigger'.

The environment in this case is our lifestyle habits. Lifestyle Medicine has been shown to unload the gun.

If you know someone who needs some lifestyle medicine, then please share this post with them.

*Statistics from UK Government in 2023 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortality-profile-march-2023/mortality-profile-commentary-march-2023

[Image courtesy of Craiyon.com]

11/05/2026

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week.

It's always a good reminder for me about how lifestyle can affect mental health.

As a previous sufferer of anxiety and depression, getting my body moving and paying closer attention to what I was putting in my body (along with targeted and clean supplementation for specific deficiencies) was transformational in getting a resolution for my mental health and avoiding ongoing medication.

Back in those days self-help through desperation and an aversion to medication were all that was driving me to get back my life back.

This was my inspiration for becoming a Health Coach, and fortunately, today, there is a growing force of qualified Health Coaches that can support individuals in making targeted lifestyle changes around diet, movement, sleep management and stress resilience - All of which are a common root causes of some prevalent mental health challenges (not to mention many of the other common health issues and chronic illnesses that plague western society!)

If you are suffering, you need not battle on alone.

You can find a local qualified Health Coach here: https://www.ukihca.com/locations
More information about Health Coaching is available here: https://www.ukihca.com/rhc

If you are an individual who would like support (or maybe you represent a company that could benefit from a Health Coach on the team to optimise your team's health and wellbeing), and you'd like to know more about how I can help you, then please do book a free informal chat here:
https://222wellbeing.co.uk/

I'm always happy to provide free advice, especially regarding what helped me with my own health challenges.

Perhaps there's someone else in your life who could benefit from this information. Please do share it with them.

Here's to releasing the grip of mental health challenges in modern life.

08/05/2026

Happy Friday!

If you suffer from sleep issues, specifically where you wake up at 2,3 or 4 in the morning and struggle to get back to sleep because of a racing mind, then try this…

Walk for at least 10 minutes after your meals - especially your evening meal.

Also get yourself checked for a magnesium deficiency.

(Magnesium Glycinate is the specific type required for improving sleep and anxiety)

This worked for me and a surprising number of my clients.

Have a great weekend.

05/05/2026

Workplace wellbeing is a business-critical risk strategy

Last Tuesday was World Day for Safety and Health at Work, and it's been encouraging over the last week to hear some of the organisations in my network recognising that rising employee ill health, increasing absence, and mounting economic pressure are creating a pivotal moment for the modern workplace. The question is no longer whether to invest in whole-person health and wellbeing - but how quickly you can act.

UK & International Health Coaching Association's latest insight, 'From Pricing Risk to Reducing Risk', explores how forward-thinking employers are shifting from reactive cost management to proactive risk reduction - embedding prevention, resilience, and behaviour change into their workforce strategy.

The data is clear:

• Mental ill health remains one of the leading causes of long-term absence
• 22.1 million working days were lost to stress, depression, and anxiety in the UK in 2024/25
• Poor workforce health is now directly impacting economic productivity and growth

Yet many organisations are still treating wellbeing as a peripheral initiative - rather than a core lever for performance, retention, and cost control.

This is the moment to grab the bull by the horns.

Employers who act now can:

✅Reduce long-term cost exposure
✅Strengthen workforce resilience
✅Improve engagement, retention, and productivity
✅Future-proof their organisation against growing health-related risks

👉 Read UKIHCA's full report here:https://hub.ukihca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FINAL-From-Pricing-Risk-to-Reducing-Risk.pdf

You can also explore more insights on the UKIHCA Workplace Wellbeing page here: www.ukihca.com/workplaces

If you want to talk about how a health coach can specifically support you in your workplace wellbeing strategy, then you can request a free no obligation call here: https://222wellbeing.co.uk/

27/04/2026

London Calling

As a health coach I try to meet clients face-to-face when possible, but I do spend a lot of time in my home office.

Today I’ve arranged to meet a networking colleague in London. It’s the sort of thing that contributes to my own social connection, an important pillar of health and wellbeing that can be neglected, especially if you’re mainly a home worker, or your day-to-day includes a lot of solo time.

Scheduling a catchup with a friend, colleague, connection or family member in advance and on a regular basis makes sure that social connection happens, even when your week gets busy.

Have you scheduled some social connection this week?

24/04/2026

Happy Friday!

Social connection is an important pillar of health and wellbeing that can often get neglected.

Friday morning could be a good time to get in touch with that friend or colleague for a coffee and a catch-up before work, or whatever you have going on today.

Some studies show that Monday morning is even better as it sets up your mind-set up nicely for the week.