The Wellness Scoop

Changing the Birth Narrative

What happens in birth? Why are we so afraid of it? Do we need to be that afraid of it? Can you really have a calm, empowered experience? Does it hurt? Will I tear? What are my choices? This episode looks at the FAQ’s and the current conversation around birth, breaking down the culture of fear and dread and questioning the current dynamics through the lens of #metoo and whether birth can be a feminist issue. From the widely differing stats of different birth choices and their respective outcomes to hypnobirthing, tearing, birth plans and doulas, this episode looks to guide all women through their thinking and create a positive outlook for all of us. Milli Hill – The Positive Birth Book & Give Birth Like a Feminist Ina May Gaskin – Guide to Childbirth Emily Oster - Expecting Better See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learning to Fail

We talk to Elizabeth day, host of How To Fail, about failing at body insecurity, relationships, wellness, children, families and careers; looking at how failure is an intrinsic part of success, how our mistakes help to move us closer to what we want, the importance of vulnerability and embracing our flaws. We’re looking at all of our biggest failures, what we’ve learnt from them and how that openness is able to connect us and allow us to get to know ourselves better. Elizabeth Day - How To Fail, Book & Podcast The Mo Gawdat episode is episode 4 of season 4 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How To Have a Healthy Gut

What is a healthy gut? How do I know if I have a healthy gut? What’s normal? We’re talking to Dr Megan Rossi from Kings College about bloating, gas, constipation, heart burn & reflux, IBS, food intolerances and so much more. From how to nurture your gut microbes to the impact of caffeine, alcohol, sugar, yo-yo dieting, high protein diets, exercise, restrictive eating, antibiotics and probiotics on our bodies; plus the extent to which stress affects our wellbeing, why fibre is so important and the practical solutions to understanding what’s going on in your body and how to feel better. Books: Dr Megan Rossi – Eat Yourself Healthy Earlier podcast episode – The Gut; Why it Matters, season 1 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imposter Syndrome and Self-Doubt

70% of women and just over 50% of men have had imposter syndrome, a constant, nagging sense of self-doubt, insecurity and the fear that others think we’re not good enough to be doing what we’re doing. In today’s episode we talk to clinical psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd about how to get comfortable being uncomfortable; how to differentiate between everyday fear and the negative thought patterns that hold us back and how to create a new mindset that allows us to celebrate our achievements and escape the mind-trap of insecurity that so many of us fall into. Books: Dr Jessamy Hibberd - The Imposter Cure: How to Stop Feeling Like a Fraud and Escape the Mind-trap of Imposter Syndrome Sheryl Sandberg - Lean In Dr Steve Peters - The Chimp Paradox See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plant Power; Eat Yourself Healthy

Can we really eat in a way that supports and prevents some of the biggest health issues affecting us today? Will going vegan result in vitamin deficiencies? What's the difference between a vegan and a wholefoods, plant-based diet? Should we eat five or ten portions of fruit and veg a day, does it make a difference? What benefits does eating organic really have? With so much conflicting information about diet and lifestyle, this season finale takes a deep dive into the data, evidence and studies around the power of a plant-rich diet with Dr. Gemma Newman. Gemma goes into the facts and figures, as well as talking us through her own experience with the power of a wholefood, plant-based diet and what she’s seen in her patients, touching on everything from cardiovascular disease to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, B12, childhood nutrition, mental health, pregnancy and so much more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happiness As A Choice

Are you happy, present, at peace with yourself and the world around you? Can you maintain that sense of happiness when life becomes difficult? Finding true happiness is something we all strive for, but so many of us struggle with. This week we’re talking to Gelong Thubten, a Buddhist monk and meditation teacher, who believes happiness can be a trainable skill, a skill that allows us to control our thoughts and therefore consistently choose the positive. In doing so we can make happiness an internal quality, rather than something that requires external validation or something we’ll receive in the future when we achieve or complete a goal. Thubten talks us through his pillars for happiness – discipline, mental freedom, compassion and forgiveness; as well as the science behind meditation and how it benefits us physically and mentally; how you can transform a negative experience and your own suffering into something positive; how to navigate the business of modern life, social media, emails 24/7 news and where to start on your journey with meditation and mindfulness. The episode closes with a short guided mediation by Thubten. His book, ‘A Monk’s Guide to Happiness: Meditation in the 21st Century’, really is one of the most powerful reads on the subject of happiness. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sobriety, Insecurity & Transforming Your Life

How do you make a huge shift in your life, especially one that may make you feel isolated or insecure? This week we’re talking about alcohol, the social constructs that exist around our drinking culture, the rise of sobriety and our fear of being seen as boring. Through the lens of one woman’s journey from alcoholic to teetotaller, we look at how to be vulnerable, how to make a change, how to honestly identify when we need that change and how to deal with the fear of being different to those around us. Our guest this week is Catherine Gray, author of ‘The unexpected joy of being sober’. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Our Food Affects Our Mood

Is there a proven link between our diets and our mental health? Could our diets be connected to the rise of anxiety and depression? Are there foods that boost your mood? Can we really eat for happiness? How does your gut health play into your mental health? We’re joined today by Felice Jacka, who gives us a clear insight into the most recent science, definitively answering whether there is a proven link between diet and mental health and separating myth from fact. We look at all the key questions posed above, as well as the role of our gut and our immune system, the relevance of pregnancy nutrition, the extent to which what we eat as children can impact on us later on and answer all your questions on sugar, caffeine, supplements and alcohol. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who, Why and How We Love

Does love at first sight exist? What’s the difference between love and lust? What do we look for in a partner? How does our upbringing influence our relationships? Why do people cheat? Love is a complex topic and one that we have a lot of questions on, so this week we’re breaking these common questions down, looking at idealisations versus reality; attachment theory and how to identify where you sit on this scale and how that might play out in our relationships; whether constructs like advertising, porn and Disney movies create a sense of unrealistic expectations; how often we’re really having sex and likewise how often we’re all being unfaithful; polygamy, swinging and why we’re so judgemental and so much more. Laura Mucha has spent ten years studying the above before writing the brilliant book Love Factually, and today she’s sharing an honest insight into a topic that affects us all. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why We Sleep with Matthew Walker

Why do we sleep, how much does it matter, how much sleep do we really need, to what extent do lifestyle factors like coffee, alcohol and technology affect our ability to sleep? Today we’re talking to Matthew Walker, the award winning author of bestseller ‘Why We Sleep’ about sleep, getting to grips with our sleep cycles, the connection between sleep and our mental and physical health, how to sleep better and why we need to make it a priority. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Period Power

Why are my periods irregular, why are they heavy, why do I get cramps, should I be on the pill and how will that impact my health, why do I feel low around the time of my period, why do I break out or get bloated? These are just a few of the common question we have about our periods, a topic that we can shy away from and that can often have quite a lot of stigma and embarrassment surrounding it, yet there is so much we can learn about our bodies, our health and our mental wellbeing from understanding our cycle, the fluctuations of our hormones and how we feel across the month. The episode, with women’s health expert Maisie Hill, breaks down the most common questions, outlines what’s happening at each point of the month and allows us to get to know ourselves so much better. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Creating a more mindful life

We all want to be healthier and happier but how can we actually make it happen? Today we’re looking at simple, practical day-to-day practices to help create that internal transformation, focusing on yoga and meditation. From their ancient roots and philosophies to the idea of non-attachment, the power of the breath and the ability to see ourselves as enough just as we are, as well our favourite books, concepts, affirmations and intentions. This episode, with Steffy White, will help you find new ways of being present, create a sense of inner peace and calm and ensure that our happiness come from internal not external sources, most importantly it also shows that you don’t need to stand on your head to be a yogi! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nutrition 101: Calories, Carbs, Fat, Salt & Sugar

Should we count calories? Are all calories created equal? Will an avocado and a chocolate bar have the same impact if they have the same number of calories? What about fat, and carbs, sugar and salt? Should we be guided by traffic light systems on packaging? Nutrition is incredibly confusing and in this episode we’re breaking down the myths and confusion that surround calories, fat, carbohydrates, sugar, salt, the glycaemic index, cholesterol and trends like ketogenic and low carb diets with nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Livia Firth on Sustainable Fashion

What is the human cost of fashion, how do our choices impact on others, is feminism at odds with fast fashion and how do you define sustainable fashion? Livia Firth, the founder of the green carpet challenge is talking us through her journey with bringing glamorous, sustainable fashion to the Oscars, visiting garment factories in Bangladesh, what to look for when we shop and so much more as she lifts the lid on the industry, showing us the responsibility that we have as citizens of the world and the way in which we wear the stories of those that make our clothes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Body Acceptance & Making Peace with our Plates

Accepting our bodies as they are, cultivating a positive relationship with food and stepping out of diet culture. We talk to nutritionist and intuitive eating expert Pandora Paloma about how to make this happen, how to reclaim our thought patterns around food and how to stop defining ourselves by the way we look. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Loss, Grief, Gratitude and Presence

Loss and grief are two of the rawest, most profound emotions that strip you back to the very core of what it is to be human, and today we look at how you turn that darkness into a world of heightened gratitude, bringing more meaning to everything that has come before. After losing their Mum, Matt and his sister, Jess, talk the depths of loneliness, supporting those around you, accepting the painful reality of where you are and the desperate need for a change in the way we address such a shared experience, as well as the absolutely indispensable power of presence, gratitude and resilience throughout. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Turning Adversity into Opportunity

In this powerful final episode of season two, Ella and Matt talk to Nicole, founder of Self Care Co, about her powerful journey of self-discovery from crippling anxiety, panic attacks and moments of such darkness that there seemed to be no way forward, to a hobby that created a sense of stability and then became a thriving new business. We’re blown away by the power of internal transformation seen here as we learn the value of celebrating kindness and unconditional love for those around us, and how one kind act from a stranger saved Nicole’s life and instigated her Be Kind movement. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Our Brains Control Our Happiness

Ella and Matt take a deep dive into the world of the brain with Dr Mithu Storoni looking at how our brains record events as we perceive them, not as they actually happen, how our emotional and rational sides of the brain control the way we see the world and how we can therefore train ourselves to shift from a negative to a positive bias. Stress can both help and harm us and Mithu helps us understand the ways in which we can use this to achieve peak performance and improve our mental and physical health, as well as how small tweaks in our lifestyles can make us feel completely different, why challenge and reward cycles can be game changing, and how our perceptions of colour, sounds, taste and time alter under stress.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marathon Training 101

With Matt’s marathon training in full swing, this week Matt and Ella talk to Nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson and Digital Editor of Women’s Health Amy Lane about the do’s and don’ts of marathon training. From carb loading to foam rolling, what to eat and when to eat it, hydration, coping with chaffing, understanding fatigue, the importance of recovery and strength training and how intense impact can impact on your body, this episodes covers it all.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fearne Cotton on Making Mistakes & Accepting Yourself

In this candid episode Ella chats to author, presenter and fellow podcaster, Fearne Cotton, about success and happiness; embracing our vulnerability, learning from our mistakes and finding balance in every aspect of life. From dealing with criticism to imposter syndrome, the impact of social media, the power of those around us and making peace with every version of ourselves, this episode discusses how happiness isn’t a destination, instead it’s an eternal work in progress. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Break a Habit & Make Lasting Changes

In this episode Ella and Matt chat to the wonderful Shahroo Izadi, a behavioural psychotherapist, about how to create positive, sustainable and long lasting changes. Her background in addiction has informed a refreshing approach to change through reframing your internal dialogue and nurturing a kind relationship with yourself in order to achieve your goals. Whether your goal is less screen time, better nutrition, weight loss or simply moving more, this episode is well equipped to arm you with some of the tools required to get you on track and to stay there once you’re on it.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Skincare Edition

Acne, blackheads, white heads, cleansing, double-cleansing, exfoliating, hormones, period related breakouts, how our lifestyles choices affect our skin and so much more. This week Ella talks to author and Harley Street dermatologist Dr. Anjali Mahto about the do's and don'ts of skin health. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Baby Mills! What to Expect When You are Expecting

In this very special episode Matt and Ella talk with Marina Fogle, author and co-founder of the bump class, about the exciting and daunting prospects of early parenthood and beyond.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lessons in Happiness from Around the World

If anyone is looking for a little more joy and optimism in their life this episode is for you, as Matt and Ella talk to Helen Russell, journalist and author, who has been researching happiness since 2013. We look at a selection of concepts from around the world, each one relating to happiness, optimism and more positive takes on melancholy, from ageing to self-acceptance, joy in imperfection and resilience. The episode left us feeling inspired and excited, and we hope it’ll do the same for you, as we learnt how we can embrace concepts from other cultures around the world to enhance our own state of wellbeing.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dealing with Stress

70-90% of all GP consultations are related to stress. Dr Rangan Chatterjee talks to us about what’s going on with the stress epidemic, from what stress really is, to how it impacts on both our mind and our body; how it’s linked to a vast variety of conditions from fatigue to anxiety, gut problems, diabetes and lack of libido; why we need to get a handle on it and how to make positive changes, particularly when it comes to technology, social media, loneliness, friendship and affirmations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Get a Balanced Vegan Diet

With Veganuary in full swing, the number of people trialling a plant based diet is higher than ever. This episode answers all your questions about a vegan diet, beginning with the most infamous of all - how to get enough protein. Matt, Ella and nutritional therapist Alice discuss everything from iron, B12, soy, calcium, fats, vitamins and minerals, to supplementing, watch-out’s, how to eat a healthy plant-based diet and everything in between. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diet Myths Unpicked

In this episode with acclaimed nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert we talk through the do’s and don'ts of January diets; evidence-backed insights into all the latest crazes from intermittent fasting to carb-cutting; why we should stay clear of quick fixes and the problem with our tendency to rely on a number on the scales when it comes to our health. With a focus on the importance of proper nutrition and how the way we eat impacts on our bodies, this episode looks at how you can reach your health goals in the most sustainable way. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why We Care

Kicking off season 2 of Deliciously Ella The Podcast with our new year’s resolutions, finding ways to be more present in 2019, running a marathon, why we care about what we do, why plant-based living matters for our future, and our plans for the year ahead See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learnings From a Roller Coaster Year

In this episode Ella and Matt discuss grief, learnings from life’s challenges, their tools for inspiration, finding a work life balance, working as a married couple and what keeps them happy, motivated and grounded. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cultivating Happiness and Living With a Glass Half Full, with the Happy Pear

Looking at happiness and purpose through community, self-care, living with passion and building a glass half full attitude. How to stop living with a When I Achieve X or When I Have Y outlook and start being happy where you are. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices