For those of you that don’t know, I host a Clubhouse on a Wednesday night at 6pm UK time each week with Anna Frueling and Ally Houston. It’s a regular weekly meet up for people with food/sugar addiction and we have a different topic each week to discuss. People can just listen or can come in and join in the conversation. You’ll see me post the links each week if you follow me on Twitter @jen_unwin Last week we discussed ‘movement’ and I thought it would be good to write up a blog as a follow up and there were some great discussion points.  You’ll notice I’ve called the blog ‘movement’ and ..read more

Hope has been defined as the belief that pathways exist towards our desired goals and that we have the motivation and skill to pursue those pathways. Hope is the belief in a preferred future.  A positive psychology researcher, Charles Snyder (2002), summarised the research in this area. Hope is a major component of well- being and adjustment to adversity. High hope individuals have greater self-reported wellbeing and health. They are actually less likely to get ill and cope better if they do (Unwin et al, 2009; Billington et al, 2008). They consult less. They even live longer ..read more

Music might be a great resource for shifting cravings or lifting mood. This week’s blog has me musing on the power of music to change our mood and how it might help with mastering cravings and recovery. I enjoy music but am sadly not musical myself. I did get grade 3 clarinet at school but only so I could get out of PE lessons! However, I’ve always had an interest in how music can affect us emotionally and physiologically. Forty years ago, this summer I was taking A level biology and for my practical exam I rigged up my school friends to a respirator and heart rate monitor and played various t ..read more

The power of shared goals I’ve been thinking about shared goals recently. Anyone who knows me will have heard me talk about the importance of hope. Hope is a sense of a better future, seeing the steps towards it and having the self-belief to take those steps. Hope is fundamental to our sense of well-being and links to some really key outcomes such as better health, less pain, consulting the doctor less and even living longer. Hopeful people are happy people. Hopeful people adjust to new circumstances. You get more hopeful by focussing action on aspects of the future that you can improve. Many ..read more