The third of our five skills looks at the 'specialness' of food, and why we find it hard to waste or discard food.

In the second in our mini-series of five skills, we look at the ability to let go of the need to make meals delicious, and consider why, if food is always delicious, it is so much harder to regulate eating.

The first in our series of five skills people need before they start on weight control. This episode describes the key role hunger plays in knowing when to eat, and some of the challenges you might face in recognising and using hunger as a basis for this.

The upcoming episodes of the podcast will deal with people's struggle with food and eating. In particular, we will describe five 'core competencies' that people who wish to control their weight and their eating patterns will need to master. This week we provide a summary of these five skills, with some excerpts from Susie Orbach's helpful book, 'On Eating'.

Thanks to Caitlin Antoon for assistance with the Orbach excerpts.

Book: Orbach, S. (2002) On Eating. Penguin Books Limited, London.

With the arrival of Covid-19, many of us have had to, or elected to, switch from face-to-face appointments, to meetings and consults via phone or video call. Doctors refer to this as 'telehealth' or 'telemedicine'. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to using a different format for health consults. This episode briefly looks at these pros and cons, and then offers some simple guidelines to follow in order to get the most out of what may be a new format for many of us.

This episode deals with aspects of sleep, and briefly lists some of the adjustments you can make to sleep habits that may help to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. Apologies for the poor audio on this episode, by the way. We hope to have the sound level improved by next week!

Practical strategies: They are the key to change, even if you have tried them before. But doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result - isn't that crazy?

This episode tells the story of two twin brothers; their story is useful in teasing out the difference between health, and weight, and so may help you in deciding where to focus your energy after surgery.

What is Oikophobia, anyway, and what does it have to do with controlling your weight? This first episode sets the scene, providing a summary of what's to come.