Get beach beautiful with Lydia McCall
As the tide turns to the summer months there are a few things that are certain to become resolute fixtures as the weather warms up. Glasses of pinot rose on rooftop garden bars, flip flops, bare legs and weekend barbeques with friends, all the makings of a glorious summer. Of course there’s another, less joyful fixture in the warmth, the annual panic that seems to ensue each year with colleagues and friends once they’ve booked their summer holiday; the dreaded bikini diet. It seems as soon as a lovely relaxing beach holiday is booked our minds are hardwired to freak out, swear off carbs and spend the ensuing months looking mournful whilst everyone around us is indulging in Soleros and Pimms.
Here at Your Coffee Break however, we’re all about making a change this year. We’ve been thinking for quite some time that there has to be more to whipping into shape than just deprivation and just as our thoughts turned to health rather than just weight loss, we came across the inspiring story of health coach Lydia McCall. Having suffered a bad relationship with food in her teenage years, Lydia has talked about falling into the familiar trap that so many of us seem to have struggled with; yo-yo dieting, crushed self esteem and low confidence.
Having finally decided to take control and get healthy, rather than diet, the wellness mastermind decided to use her experiences to help others trapped in a similar cycle. Enrolling at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Lydia studied over 100 dietary theories, lifestyle management and innovative coaching methods with some of the world’s leading health and wellness experts, including Geneen Roth, an expert in emotional eating and Dr Walter Willett, Chair of Nutrition at Harvard University.
Now a certified health coach, Lydia sees clients on a one-to-one basis, creating personalised programmes to help them achieve their goals. With her extensive training branching out in holistic nutrition, health coaching and preventative health and personal experiences, she works closely with clients to make real and more importantly, realistic lifestyle changes to aid long lasting results. After all, why focus solely on looking your best for a week in Marbella when you can make a lifelong change. Living a beautiful healthy life will inevitably translate into your body shape but we think it’s about time the “health” takes precedence.
Lydia focuses on creating a healthy relationship with food and your body. Rather than punishing yourself through restriction the emphasis is on falling back in love with yourself and learning to make the right choices through a more holistic approach. Refreshingly it’s an approach that negates the usual fad diets that infiltrate summer. Programmes include not just bi-monthly one on one sessions, but email support, recipes, nutritional knowledge and a personal commitment to your health.
The joy of enrolling with a health coach is that not only will you have the support to keep you going when motivation wanes (which no matter how determined you are is bound to happen at some point) but you’ll learn about new foods, increase your energy levels, understand your cravings and how to reduce them and ultimately work towards building the confidence to create the life you want.
So this summer, rather than beating ourselves up or holding our bodies up to an unrealistic ideal, let’s make a change. After all, a beautiful, healthy mind and body speak for themselves.
For more information on Lydia McCall’s services and to learn more about health coaching please visit www.lydiamccall.com or email lydia@lydiamccall.com. You can also follow her on twitter at @Lydia_McCall.
