About Lou

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My approach

I love helping people succeed – in losing weight, gaining control and energy, and feeling better than they’ve felt in ages. 

With individual clients, our starting point depends on what changes you want to make and what makes most sense to you. We might typically start with nutrition because what we eat impacts every aspect of our health. But you might prefer to start by tackling stress, sleep, exercise or something else. Whatever your initial focus, we’ll explore different ways of approaching it and agree a plan. All these things plait together and improving one symptom usually improves others, too.

I work within the UK Health Coaches Association Scope of Practice.

 

 Let’s not complicate things 

 

These days there is so much noise and confusion about what we should or shouldn’t be doing/eating/drinking. But having delved into the research, I feel that if we all focused on what science agrees on rather than what is disputed, more of us would be healthier and happier. What do we all agree on? Eat much less sugar, avoid ultra-processed and convenience food, eat more veg and whole foods (real food!), prioritise sleep, manage stress, move more, get outside and see friends.

Doesn’t that sound great?

So I tend to go back to basics to help clients get their bodies working how they were designed to work. Our bodies aren’t designed to operate well in today’s frantic 24/7 world so it’s no wonder they eventually break down.  Most of today’s ‘lifestyle’ diseases plus some cancers and brain/mental health issues are a result of our bodies not being able to cope with the food and situations they have to deal with. I try to help clients remove some of life’s stressors, so their bodies can heal and work smoothly again.  That’s what bodies want to do… it’s just that they need some help.

So. No complicated diets with measuring/weighing out special foods. We might look at when you eat as well as what you eat. No compulsory running or punishing exercise regimes (unless you want to)! But we might look at moving more, getting real daylight and being sociable. We might explore prioritising sleep and mindfulness to reduce stress. (Poor sleep and stress can lead to weight gain and metabolic disease, even with a healthy diet.)   But we’ll always start with what makes sense to you because it’s your life and your health we’re dealing with and you’re the one making some changes.  You’re in charge.

 

Book a free 30-min call to find out more

My story

 

I loved my 16 years  as a management training and leadership development consultant specialising in behavioural diagnostics and personal development. Clients were from the finance, pharma, construction, food and drink and aviation sectors. But a longstanding interest in the relationship between health and performance led me to a Masters degree in Obesity & Weight Management (2017) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Human Nutrition (2019).

My Masters research project was the first academic study into workplace cake culture. It was peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management.

I’ve been a sports massage therapist since 2009, so it’s exciting to bring the different strands of life together into my work as a health coach.

Outside work I’m an ambassador for the Public Health Collaboration (PHC), a charity working with medical professionals to bring a low carb real food lifestyle approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.  Some of my work has been published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.

New: cold immersion and open water swimming coaching

I’m a keen open water swimmer (including through the winter) and am delighted its benefits for metabolic health, pain management, mental wellbeing and resilience are starting to be explained through research.  I am now qualified as an open water swimming coach so that I can work with people interested in exploring cold water immersion safely to see if it can help them. Watch this space for news in Autumn 2023!

 

 Relevant qualifications

 

  • MSc in Obesity & Weight Management – with Distinction  (University of Chester, 2017)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Human Nutrition (University of Chester, 2019)
  • IAFPD Certificate in Coaching (Centre for Coaching, 2019). Approved by the British Psychological Society and International Society for Coaching Psychology
  • IAFPD Primary Certificate in Health & Wellbeing Coaching (Centre for Coaching, 2019).  Approved by the British Psychological Society and International Society for Coaching Psychology
  • BSc (Hons) Human Biology (Oxford Polytechnic, 1984)
  • Psychology of Weight Loss, 2-day clinical skills course with Dr Helen McCarthy AFBPsS, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Approved by the British Psychological Society (2020)
  • Nutrition Network Professional Training in LCHF/Ketogenic Nutrition & Treatment (Dec 2020)
  • Food & Mood: Improving mental health through diet and nutrition (FutureLearn/Deakin University Food & Mood Centre)
  • Food as Medicine: Food and Inflammation (FutureLearn/Monash University). Online CPD approved by Association for Nutrition, The Association for UK Dieticians (BDA) and the Royal College of GPs
  • Treating metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and obesity with therapeutical carbohydrate restriction: certificate of continuing medical education from the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine
  • Type 1 Diabetes Essential Keto Course (Type1Keto.com, November 2022)
  • Sports Massage Therapist (Southern School of Sports Massage, 2009). Level 4 Gold Member of the Association for Soft Tissue Therapists (SMA)
  • www.louwalkersportsmassage.co.ukSTA Level 2 Open Water Swimming Coach (2023)
  • RLSS Open Water Lifeguard (2023)
  • Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England, 2018)
  • Associate member of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine)

 

“Just wanted to say thanks again and send you a little progress update.

“Weight wise I am exactly the same and I’m very comfortably able to maintain this however given all the other benefits I am experiencing, weight loss through fat loss is no longer my primary focus.

“I am experiencing noticeable fat loss, even having regular comments from others who have noticed the difference.  My energy levels feel amazing, I am able to train harder, heavier and for longer and pretty sure it’s helping reduce my recovery time. This has helped me increase my max lifts significantly, having set 2 new PBs, and has definitely given me the confidence to go and enter more comps next year. 

“But for now I’m going to keep enjoying eating the foods I was previously afraid to go near for fat loss and keep on getting stronger.

“Many thanks :)”

Andy

“Couldn’t have come at a better time for me, feeling flat and fat after indulging far too much over Christmas and the months before. 

“Over the 12-week period I lost 1 stone 3lb and a whopping 10cm from my waist circumference.  More than that I feel happier and healthier than I have for a long time.”

Sarah, 2020

“My general health has improved, my weight has reduced by  7.8kg and my insulin dosage has reduced massively.“

Low Carb Real Food course participant, Summer 2020

“It’s been the easiest way to lose weight that I have ever tried.“

Low Carb Real Food course participant, Summer 2020