This week's episode is a little different, it's a special guest appearance I made on Charlotte Williams' Mindful Monday Marketing and it's such a good one that it deserved its own episode.

In this episode we cover - 

How Cara got to where she is today - From a sports science degree to PT, Pilates, nutrition and now relationship with food coaching. It's been a seven year journey to find the work that truly lights her up. Spoiler - it started with noticing that the clients who did the deep work always got the best results.

Why she moved fully online -  Becoming a mum shifted everything. Moving online meant more flexibility, more sustainability and the freedom to go all in on the coaching work she loves most, one-to-one relationship with food coaching.

What makes her approach different - No "eat this, not that." No pain point marketing. No making people feel rubbish about themselves. Cara's whole philosophy in her coaching and her marketing is about compassion, feeling seen and showing people the way forward rather than making them feel like something is broken.

The marketing conversation that might change how you show up - Charlotte asks Cara about how she markets her business, and what comes out of it is genuinely thought-provoking, why leading with fear and scarcity doesn't serve anyone, and what it looks like to build a "safe space" corner of the internet instead.

Her advice for business owners right now - Stop digging into pain points. Show people what's possible. If everyone did that, the world and the internet would be a better place.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

You can find Charlotte on Instagram here

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  [email protected]

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

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This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is about something I see with nearly every client who walks through my door, stress eating. But it's not actually about the food.

I've been collecting client reviews this week (yes, I know I should do them as I go along), and reconnecting with ex-clients has reminded me why I love this work so much. So I wanted to share Sarah's story with you (not her real name, because confidentiality is everything).

If you've ever had a stressful day, dealt with a nightmare boss, wrestled with feral kids, watched your inbox explode and then found yourself in the kitchen eating an entire bag of something without even processing it... yeah. 

You're Sarah. 

And you're exactly who I work with.

In this episode, I talk about - 

• Why stress eating isn't a food problem - it's an emotional regulation problem - The food is a symptom, not the cause. Your nervous system is running at its highest level, you're stressed, maybe a bit isolated or lonely and food is the only thing that seems to soothe you. It works in the moment, then the guilt hits.

• What Sarah was actually dealing with - Burnt out from her job, stressful boss, typical kid chaos and using food to cope with everything. She'd eat without stopping, even though she knew she "should" stop, then beat herself up about willpower.

• The shift that changed everything - Instead of heading to the kitchen, imagine sitting down and actually asking yourself: what's going on with me? Naming the feelings - helpless, frustrated, powerless, overwhelmed and using different tools. Deep breaths. A walk. A cup of tea (without the biscuits). Not white-knuckling it or throwing biscuits in the bin - actual emotional regulation tools.

• The breakthrough moment - Sarah messaged me one Wednesday after a stressful meeting with "that tosser of a boss" and said: "I didn't go to the kitchen to eat. I didn't do it." That's not Instagram-worthy transformation pictures - that's real-life progress. That's an actual shift.

• Where Sarah is now - Still has stressful meetings. Boss is still a tosser. But now she names the feelings, has coping strategies at work, understands the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger. Her body feels like hers again because she's living in alignment, regulating her emotions, feeling successful around food. And she's still thriving months after we finished working together.

• What this could look like for you - Imagine having one of those overwhelmed days but instead of heading to the snack drawer or fridge, you pause. You name the feeling. You do something helpful for that feeling. No guilt. No shame. No "I'll start Monday." Just calm and in control.

This isn't about meal plans or calorie counting. We go deep in coaching - tackling the root cause. Why you reach for food when you're not hungry. What emotions you're avoiding. How to cope with emotions without food (and wine, because let's be honest, it's half term isn't it?).

If you're nodding along thinking "yeah, that's me, I'm Sarah" - you're exactly who I work with. 

You don't need more willpower. You need to understand what's going on deeper under the surface.

Let's just chat, I offer a free, no-obligation consultation call which you can book here.

No pressure, not a sales pitch, just a nice conversation about what's going on, where you want to be and if coaching is right for you right now.

That version of you seven months down the line? 

She's waiting for you and I can get you there.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  [email protected]

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

Subscribe to my newsletter- ⁠here⁠

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Why I Can Coach You Through Menopause (Even Though I Haven't Been Through It Myself)

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara tackles a question my 11-year-old stepdaughter Ruby asked me: "How can you tell people what to do if you've never done it yourself?"

Fair question, Ruby. And if she's wondering, I bet you are too.

I'm hosting a No-Nonsense Menopause Workshop on February 28th at TP Fitness in Wem (2-4pm, £30), and this episode breaks down exactly why I'm qualified to guide you through perimenopause and menopause - even though I'm still in my late 30s and haven't experienced it myself.

If you're tired of the noise, the supplements that promise everything, the influencers selling you magic pill, and wondering what actually WORKS for menopause symptoms, this episode cuts through that noise.

In this episode, I talk about - 

• Why evidence-based coaching beats personal experience - I'm a scientist (sports science degree and all). Everything I teach comes from peer-reviewed research, not anecdotal "this worked for me so it'll work for you" advice. No magic gummies here - just facts, figures, and what's statistically proven to help women like you.
  

• The unsexy stuff no one else tells you - Because it doesn't sell supplements or courses. I tell you what actually works, even when it's boring. This is about real solutions, not clickbait.
  

• My track record coaching women through this - I've coached countless women through perimenopause and menopause. I've helped them sleep better, exercise consistently despite fatigue, communicate their emotional needs to partners, overcome brain fog and feel more energetic. I know how to apply the science to real life.
  

• Why I get your life - I'm 38 with a young child, a partner with a demanding job, and I do the majority of cooking, planning, shopping, life admin, washing, hoovering - all while running a business and maintaining a social life. I understand you don't want to cook three meals a night or wake at 4:30am to exercise. I know what your life looks like.
  

• What the workshop actually gives you - A hierarchy of the most important things you need to be doing, where you score yourself 0-10 in each area (sleep, training, nutrition, emotional regulation, supplements), and you leave with a personalised action plan for where to focus your efforts.
  

• The supplements thing - I'll tell you the maximum FIVE supplements you should be taking and help you throw the rest away. This actually saves you money and makes you immune to the golden pill advertising you see on social media.
  

This isn't about selling you something you don't need. It's about giving you evidence-based strategies that actually work for your real life.

If this has resonated with you please come to the No-Nonsense Menopause Workshop on Saturday, February 28th, 2-4pm at TP Fitness, Wem - £30. Perfect whether you're deep in menopause, experiencing perimenopause symptoms, or want to set yourself up for success before it arrives.

Book here - https://www.coachingwithcara.co.uk/themenopauseworkshop 

And if you want one-to-one support implementing what you learn, that's exactly what I do in my coaching - I take your scores and help you apply the science to your actual life.

Book a *FREE* consultation call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara

Please share this episode with anyone who's perimenopausal, menopausal, or thinking about menopause - and subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday!

Until next time, thanks team!

#coachingwithcara

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara addresses something a PT said to me over coffee - "Don't you find clients drop off after a bit?"

“No, not my clients”.

If you're tired of the four-week motivation crash, the endless cycle of starting strong and fading out or wondering why nothing seems to stick, this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

I'm breaking down why relationship with food coaching is fundamentally different from traditional fitness coaching and why my clients actually get MORE invested over time, not less.

In this episode, I talk about -

• The four-week drop-off myth - why traditional PT clients often lose momentum after the initial buzz, but relationship with food coaching works completely differently. It's not about willpower or motivation - it's about deep learning.

• Why my clients love the work - they're learning about themselves, why they do what they do, why they think the way they think. Self-awareness is a form of self-care and once I open their eyes, they can't unsee it. It becomes almost addictive.

• The tools that change everything - food noise, emotional eating, diet culture conditioning, how friends and family talk about food. My clients don't just learn these concepts - they understand them, apply them to their lives and even start coaching others with the same strategies.

• When it becomes natural - it stops being something you're "on track" or "off track" with. It just becomes something you do. And when it becomes natural, it becomes part of your identity. That's where the real transformation happens.

• Real client results - from applying emotional regulation to parenting, to completely transforming how they approach ANY goal (not just weight loss), to leaving food on their plate without guilt, to being free of food noise entirely.

This is the deep self-awareness work that creates lasting change. Once you understand yourself and why you've been running these patterns, you simply don't do it anymore. You build new patterns, new behaviours, and that becomes the new you.

If this has resonated with you -

I currently have space for someone exactly like you. Book a free consultation call where I'll talk you through how I'll help you leave food on your plate without feeling guilty, and achieve your health and fitness goals without restricting or counting calories.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara 

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara if this episode has hit home.

And please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday - don't make yourself search for me!

Until next time, thanks team!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara tackles something I hear constantly - "I'm a boredom eater." 

But here's the truth bomb - you're not actually bored.

If you're standing in the kitchen grazing after dinner, picking at snacks throughout the day or eating while cooking, calling yourself a boredom eater, this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

I'm breaking down why boredom isn't the real issue and what's actually driving your emotional eating.

In this episode, I talk about -

• The boredom eating illusion - why I haven't met a genuinely bored woman in 20 years. You've got a to do list longer than you are, the mental load of a small country, and constant productivity pressure. Boredom simply isn't the problem.
  

• What's really going on - emotional eating is a coping strategy for numbing, distracting or avoiding. Food is freely available, non-judgmental, doesn't talk back, and you don't need an appointment. But what are you actually avoiding?
  

• The real culprits - are you overwhelmed? Procrastinating? Living misaligned with your values? Avoiding difficult conversations? It's along these lines, not boredom.
  

• Getting to the root cause - once you identify what you're actually numbing, distracting or avoiding, you can tackle that specific thing. The tonic to boredom is doing something, but you already have plenty to do, so we need to find the real tonic for your real issue.
  

• How the pattern breaks - when you address the root cause instead of the surface behaviour, the emotional eating just disappears. You stop thinking about it. You focus on what's actually going on for you and the old coping strategy fades away naturally.

This is the deep self-awareness work that creates lasting change. Once you know yourself and understand why you've been running these patterns for years, you simply don't do it anymore. You build new patterns, new behaviors and that becomes the new you.

If this has resonated with you - 

Join my Mindful Eating Workshop this Saturday, 31st January at TP Fitness in Wem. There's a game-changing emotional eating section that goes into this in much more detail. You can secure your seat here - https://www.coachingwithcara.co.uk/themindfuleatingworkshop 

Or watch the virtual Mindful Eating Workshop back (two hours of transformative workshop). Buy it here and the links will be sent over to you.

Or book a free no obligation consultation for 1-1 coaching where we explore these patterns together through powerful coaching questions that help you find your own answers.

Book your call here.

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara if this episode has hit home.

And please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday - don't make yourself search for me!

Until next time, thanks team!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is all about a pattern I'm seeing everywhere right now, people putting massive effort into things that simply won't get them the results they want.

If you're drinking more water, buying vibration plates or doing sporadic YouTube workouts with light weights hoping it'll transform your body, this episode is for you.

I'm breaking down exactly why surface level solutions keep you stuck and how to direct your precious energy toward the root causes that actually creates lasting change.

In this episode, I talk about -

• The vibration plate problem - why there's zero scientific evidence they help with weight loss, muscle building, or fitness and why following what everyone else is doing keeps you stuck.

• Surface level vs root cause - how drinking more water or random light workouts tackle symptoms, not the deep stuff like what's draining your energy, people pleasing pattern, and misaligned values.

• Why you don't need more motivation - you just need to focus your effort in the right place, then it becomes sustainable, consistent and enjoyable without needing discipline or determination.

This is the deep work I do in coaching. Itt's about changing the root so your behaviors, actions and thoughts naturally shift in the right direction.

If this has resonated with you and you're tired of misdirecting your precious energy, I'm booking consultations now for people who want to start in February. 

Book your free no obligation consultation here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara or email me at [email protected] if this episode has resonated with you.

And if you love the show (I mean, who wouldn't?), please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday and share it on your socials to help other people find it too.

Until next time, thanks team!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is all about a pattern that's keeping so many of my clients stuck - the all-or-nothing mindset.

If you find yourself either "on track" with perfect eating and daily workouts or completely "off the wagon" with takeaways and zero movement, this episode is for you.

I'm breaking down exactly why you keep cycling between extremes and how to finally find consistency in the middle - the grey area where real, lasting change actually happens.

In this episode, I talk about - 

• The all-or-nothing cycle - why you're either counting every calorie or binging at Christmas with no middle ground.

• How this shows up everywhere - from house cleaning to starting podcasts, not just food and exercise.

• Why the "nothing" bit keeps you stuck - doing nothing actually feels safer than being in your comfort zone.

• Living in the grey - what the 50 shades of grey between black and white actually looks like for you.

• Building consistency through evidence - how doing something regularly (even imperfectly) rewires your brain.

• The perfectionism connection - how perfectionist traits and people-pleasing tendencies fuel this mindset.

• Reframing your identity - why you're not "someone with an all-or-nothing mindset" but someone who's learning to live in the grey.

This is the mindset work I do in coaching. It's not about willpower, determination or motivation - it's about shifting the root cause so your actions and behaviors naturally change.

If this has resonated with you and you'd like help breaking free from the all-or-nothing trap, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara or email me at [email protected].

And if you love the show (I mean, who wouldn't?), please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday, and share it on your socials to help other people find it too.

Until next time, thanks team!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is all about something I saw on social media that stopped me in my tracks - a Welsh food blogger who said she wants to "see her vag again" in 2026.

Here's her profile link

If you love your body, love food and don't want to be miserable but still want to feel stronger, lighter and more like yourself, this episode is for you.

I'm breaking down exactly what I would do as a coach to help you transform your relationship with food and your body without sad salads, punishment workouts or giving up joy.

• The black-and-white thinking trap -  why you think your only options are "love food and stay as you are" or "sad salads and punishment workouts".

• How to identify your true values and why connection might matter more than the cake.

• The power of changing your language around food and why words like "naughty" and "treat" are sabotaging you.

• Finding movement you actually enjoy (no sweating with strangers required!).

• Understanding emotional eating and learning to regulate emotions without food or drink.

• Why the food might not be the thing at all - it's about what food facilitates.

This is the work I do in coaching. I don't count calories. I don't create meal plans. I don't do before-and-after photos. I give you the tools and strategies to make informed decisions in the moment so you feel confident, safe and empowered and that feeling is what creates real, lasting change.

If you'd like to be on "nodding terms" with your body and feel stronger, lighter and more like yourself without giving up joy, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara and I'll give you your bespoke plan.

Until next time, thanks team.

#coachingwithcara

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is all about fresh starts and the power of simplicity. As we step into 2026, I'm sharing three powerful coaching questions that will help you create real, sustainable change in your life.

These aren't complicated strategies or overwhelming resolutions,  they're back-to-basics questions that cut straight to the heart of what matters.

In this episode, I talk about –

• The three foundational questions: What will you start, stop, and continue doing?

• How to use the "Five Whys" technique to uncover your real motivation

• Why getting specific and honest with yourself is super important.

• The importance of celebrating what you're already doing well.

• Why you shouldn't let timescales put you off making changes.

This episode is your kickstart to 2026. Grab your journal and really dig into these questions with honesty, curiosity and without shame, that's when the magic happens.

If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe so new episodes drop straight into your library and share the episode on your socials, it really helps the show grow.

You can connect with me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara.

Thank you for listening and until next time, thanks team.

This is Your Story Too

This week on Chatting with Cara, I'm telling you a story. A story about someone called Cara.

This story isn't about anyone in particular. It's about everyone.

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, if you lived through the diet culture of the noughties, if you've ever felt like you've failed every diet you've tried, this episode is for you.

In this episode, I cover - 

• How growing up around constant dieting shapes your relationship with food and your body.

• The impact of 90s and 2000s diet culture, from size 0 to circles of shame, What Not to Wear to Super Size vs Super Skinny.

• The endless cycle of clean eating, Slimming World, gym obsession and calorie counting that never actually works long term.

• Why pregnancy and motherhood can intensify body image struggles and disordered eating patterns.

• How hiring a coach with a restrictive plan can make things worse, not better.

• Why you haven't failed. Your upbringing and environment failed you.

• What I actually do as a coach to break this cycle once and for all by tackling the root cause, not just the symptoms.

The work I would do with you - 

• Educate you on how your childhood and environment have shaped your relationship with food and body image today.

• Change your language around food so you stop using words like treats, earn and burn.

• Unlink exercise from food so movement becomes enjoyable.

• Unpick every food rule you've picked up from decades of dieting.

• Turn rigid rules into flexible, healthy guidelines.

• Most importantly, tackle your emotional eating by getting to the root of the problem, not just the behaviour.

This cycle is so easy to stay in. It's tempting to join another gym, hire another coach with before and after photos or try the latest trend. 

But none of that gets to the deep root cause. 

Coaching with me does. And when you learn it, you can't unlearn it. It's sustainable. It's ethical. 

It's forever.

If you're ready to stop writing another chapter of this story and break the cycle for good in 2026, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara and I'll get you booked in for a free consultation call. We'll chat about what's going on for you, where you want to go and I'll give you the roadmap to get there.

If this episode resonates, share it with someone who needs to hear it. You're not the only one. Trust me.

Until next time, thanks team.

#coachingwithcara