A former UCLan graduate and registered Clinical Psychologist is helping people to change the way they think about food and healthy living.

Dr Victoria Baxter graduated from the Preston university in 2007 and has over 10 years of professional experience in her field.

Advertisements

As a self-confessed ‘chronic dieter’, Victoria spent a lot of time thinking about food, preparing separate meals from her family and feeling angry at the injustice of not being allowed to eat certain things.

Read more: Meet the Bamber Bridge brothers keeping the county fit

After the birth of her daughter in 2017, Victoria’s way of thinking about food began to change and she decided to make positive adjustments to the way she eats.

Using her professional experience, she established her very own healthy living programme, Love Food, Live Well, which encourages people to create a healthy mindset around the way they view food, giving them the freedom to let go of rules and identify what is important to them.

Victoria said: “I decided to adopt a new attitude towards food, one which is based upon educating myself about healthy eating and giving myself permission and freedom to eat what I want.

“It wasn’t long before I realised that this approach is just what I support my clients with every day in my day job!

Read more: UCLan to start a ‘second clearing’ process after Government’s A Level results U-turn

“Giving people freedom to let-go of old rules and instead behave in ways that is important to them, learning to relate differently to your mind and emotions when faced with challenging situations is at the core of the work I do in the area of mental health, and I realised is what I needed to apply to myself to change my relationship with food.

“Twelve months on and I am loving my new approach to eating and have increased my activity levels to great effect.

“My family tell me I’m more relaxed around food and I feel more confident and generally happier in myself as a result.”

Find support groups in your area below

Victoria’s new way of thinking had such substantial results that she decided to share her journey with others through her six-week programme, in the hope that it would have just as positive an impact for others.

Victoria said: “My passion is to help people break out of the diet trap and find a new way forward with food and health that feels instinctively ‘right’ for them.

Read more: Tesco stores in Preston to host extra food collection for local charities

“We do this over six group-based sessions by providing tools to help you figure out what really matters to you about your health and change the way you respond to challenging food situations to make these changes, including hands-on guidance through the process by myself.

“There is also the opportunity to ask questions to our qualified Healthy Family Specialist nutritionist.”

You can read more about Victoria’s journey and the Love Food, Live Well programme here.

Read more: Latest news and updates from Blog Preston

Advertisements

Are you a serial dieter? Tell us more about your own journey in the comments below.