The Heart-Healthy Living Blog

Recipe Book, 12-Week Course (Digital or Printed), or 1:1 Coaching If you’ve landed here, chances are you care about your heart health. Maybe you’ve recently been told your cholesterol is raised. Maybe you want to avoid or delay statins. Maybe you’re simply tired of conflicting advice and want something structured. Over the last few years, I’ve created different ways to work with me - not because one is “better” than the other, but because people need different levels of suppo

If you’ve been told to make lifestyle changes before your next cholesterol blood test, you may be wondering how quickly cholesterol can actually change. This post explains what is realistic, what affects results, and how to use the next 12 weeks well.

Know what to do to lower cholesterol naturally and lose weight but struggle to stay consistent? Learn why it is not a willpower problem, and how to build realistic habits that fit real life.

A calmer, more sustainable approach to weight loss and cholesterol. Learn why adding more fibre, plants and structure can help you feel fuller, support LDL cholesterol and lose weight without another restrictive diet.

If you've recently been told your cholesterol is high, one of the first questions you might ask is: "How long will it take to improve it?" The answer may be more encouraging than you think. While every person is different, meaningful improvements in cholesterol can often happen within a matter of months when the right lifestyle changes are made consistently. In fact, one client's journey which shows this also completely changed the direction of my career and ultimately led to

SEO Meta Description: Discover the 5 lifestyle changes that matter most for lowering cholesterol and improving heart health naturally - without extreme diets or all-or-nothing thinking.

If you’ve ever wondered whether vitamin D and cholesterol are connected, the answer is yes… actually more than many people realise. But does low vitamin D cause high cholesterol? And can taking vitamin D supplements improve your cholesterol levels? The answer is a little more nuanced than many headlines suggest. In this blog, we’ll break down: How cholesterol and vitamin D are connected What the latest research actually shows Whether vitamin D supplements can lower cholestero

If your eating and exercise haven’t felt like you lately, it’s easy to think you need more discipline. But what if that’s not the real problem? This post explores why habits slip, what’s often going on underneath, and a kinder, more effective way to get back on track.

If you’ve ever gone “all in” to lower your cholesterol, seen results, and then found yourself right back where you started… this is why. And more importantly, what to do instead.

One of the first things people think when they’re told their cholesterol is raised is: “Right… what do I have to cut out?” And usually, the mental list starts forming pretty quickly. Biscuits. Chocolate. Takeaways. Cheese. Alcohol. Before long, it feels like everything enjoyable has been put into the “off limits” category. And if that’s the approach, it’s no surprise that things either feel overwhelming… or don’t last very long. So let’s take a step back and simplify this. Be

Do You Need 3 Different Diets? If you’ve recently been told you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or pre-diabetes - or even all three - you might be feeling overwhelmed. One of the first questions people ask is: “What am I actually supposed to eat?” Because when you search online, it quickly feels like you need three completely different diets. Low fat for cholesterol Low salt for blood pressure Low carb for blood sugar And suddenly it feels like everything is off l

If you’ve been trying to lower your cholesterol for a while, you might recognise this feeling. You’re making changes. You’re trying to eat better. You’re being more mindful. You’re thinking about your health more than you ever have before. And yet… it still feels harder than it should. Progress feels inconsistent. Motivation comes and goes. You’re not always sure if what you’re doing is even the “right” thing. So you start questioning yourself: “Am I just not disciplined enou

Being told that your cholesterol is raised can trigger a mixture of emotions. For some people it creates immediate motivation to make changes. For others it brings confusion, frustration, or anxiety about what it might mean for their long-term health. One of the challenges is that the advice people receive at this stage is often very general: “Improve your diet.” “Exercise more.” “Watch your cholesterol.” While these suggestions are well intentioned, they rarely provide the

When you’re told your cholesterol is raised, something shifts. It might not feel urgent. You might feel well. You might look well. But somewhere in the background, there’s a niggling question: Do I need to do something about this? And shortly after that often comes another question: Is investing in support actually worth it? It’s a fair question. Because if you were to buy a course, flick through it once, and leave it in a drawer, then yes - it would be expensive. If you ne

Cholesterol is an important part of heart health, but it does not always tell the full story. For some people, risk is influenced by factors that are not routinely measured or discussed. Lipoprotein (a), often referred to as Lp(a), is one such factor and is gaining increasing attention. It is a genetically inherited lipoprotein that behaves differently from the cholesterol markers most of us are familiar with. Let’s break it down clearly and calmly. First things first: this

Recently, I turned down what would probably have been a very lucrative opportunity. Not because it wasn’t tempting. Not because it wasn’t well presented. But because my ethics are not for sale. I will keep the details vague, but I was approached by someone entering the supplement space. They had a product that claimed to help lower cholesterol and support weight loss, and they wanted my opinion on whether it could be a good fit for my audience. On the surface, this might soun

Why I don’t personally recommend these approaches for people with raised cholesterol If you’ve been told your cholesterol is high and you’re exploring different dietary approaches, it’s very likely you’ve come across keto or carnivore diets. They’re often framed as a solution to modern health problems. Cut the carbs. Eat more fat. Simplify everything. And for some people, that message is understandably appealing. But when it comes specifically to high cholesterol , these are

If your cholesterol has crept up in your 40s or 50s and you’re sitting there staring at your blood results thinking, “But nothing’s really changed…” , you’re probably right. This is something I see all the time. Women come to me confused and frustrated because they haven’t suddenly started eating 'badly' or stopped moving, yet their numbers have shifted. They replay what they eat, how much they exercise, whether they’ve done something wrong, and often end up feeling like thei

If you’ve ever thrown yourself into a strict plan to “finally sort your health out” - only to burn out, give up, and end up back where you started - you’re definitely not the only one. Whether your goal is to lower your cholesterol, improve your fitness, lose weight, or just feel more like yourself again, it’s very easy to treat health like a sprint: New rules New habits Go harder, go faster, do it properly this time But that “all in” approach is often the very thing that ke

Why that matters for your heart. At this time of year, you’re probably seeing and hearing a lot of “new year, new you” messaging. New habits. New body. New rules. A complete reset. For many people, that messaging feels motivating for about a week - and then quietly crushing. Because real life doesn’t pause in January. Work is still busy (if not more so!). Family responsibilities don’t disappear. Energy levels might be low. Motivation comes and goes. So what if you didn’t nee

Bear with me, this is about to get very metaphorical. So, the vast majority of people I work with are classic all-or-nothing thinkers. They have never reached their health and fitness goals because they live in either extreme. They’re either going to the gym six days a week. Or not at all. They’re either eating nothing but lettuce leaves. Or anything and everything they can get their hands on. Essentially, they’re all in. Or they’re all out. It’s either black, or it’s white.

If December always feels like one long internal battle between “being good” and “sod it, it’s Christmas”, fear not, I'm going to help you find the middle ground. If you’re living with high cholesterol, a family history of heart disease, or you’ve just hit the age where your annual blood tests have started to invoke anxiety, this pattern can feel even more stressful. You want to enjoy yourself, but you also don’t want your health to slide. The good news? You don’t need to be

So you've got high cholesterol… and now it’s nearly Christmas. There are mince pies in every room, your inbox is full of party invitations, and there’s a permanent box of “just help yourself” chocolates in the office. Part of you is thinking " What’s the point? I’ll just start again in January.” The other part is quietly panicking that every roast potato is clogging your arteries. If that sounds familiar, you are absolutely not alone. In this blog, I want to help you: Drop th

Have you ever caught yourself saying… “I’ve ruined it now. I’ll start again on Monday. Why can’t I just stick to it like everyone else?” If so, you're not alone and you’re not the problem. You ’v e just been taught the wrong approach. In this post, I want to unpack one of the most common patterns I see as a health coach and how one client’s story (which reflects so many others) shows us what real progress actually looks like. Because it turns out… it’s not about being perfe