These are a few of my favourite things

As I delve further into clinical experience I find what is a common element, especially with women - is the lack of emotional support and self love for their health.
I believe the below to be imperative to wellbeing.
A little self love, focusing on time, sleep and phones!
Read on...

Self love: So often people believe they will be a better happier person if only they could lose weight "when I get to my goal weight I will be...". 
The focus is on depriving themselves of any form of happiness and fun whilst on this journey.  Shifting belief patterns takes quite some effort and perseverance. 
The most important thing you can do is practice believing in yourself - by being thankful for your body to do all the wonderful things you take for granted.  Switching the focus from weight loss to nourishment is also incredibly beneficial - eating food to nourish the body rather than to deprive it is a wonderful mindset.  By practicing happiness now rather than at the goal will actually help you reach the goal earlier and easier. 

Time: As busy people we tend to put our needs last, especially if we have a family to care for.  It is incredibly important to set aside even 20 minutes per day for yourself, the most common excuse is time - there simply isn't enough.  Well I hate to break this to you - but you do have time!  Have you added up all of the time that you spend on social media?  Here is a great example - I recently deleted Facebook from my phone, it went from having 15% battery left at the end of the day to around 75%.  Now you tell me that I wasn't spending too much time on there!  At night I find it is having the biggest impact on my life - I read books again!  It really is the most marvellous feeling to get back into a good book.  Apart from keeping away from the impact of social media its wonderful for the eyes and sleep patterns. 

Sleep: If you have sleep difficulties one of the best things you can do is engage in good sleep hygiene practice.  This means putting down all your tablets and phones a few hours before bedtime, dimming the lights and developing a good night-time routine.  Think of how babies sleep better with the same routine, well it's the same for us adults.  Have dinner, relax/play, put the phones away, have a shower or bath, lay in bed and read (refer to above point) then lights out. It's best to aim to be asleep around 10pm - this works in line with our circadian rhythm where the sleep and wake hormones peak and trough to assist with the best sleeping time.

Phones:  I also don't underestimate the benefit of putting your phone on airplane mode overnight.  Usually we sleep with our phones next to our beds, so it's constantly transmitting while we sleep, if you can't commit to doing this then make sure your phone is on silent.  If you worry about someone not being able to call there is a Do Not Disturb function on most phones, this means people in your favourites list will be able to ring you if they call twice, otherwise you will not be disturbed by calls.