The Cholesterol Coach

05/11/2026

Second times a charm ✨️

Yesterday I hit 6 months alcohol-free (again!).

Last year I made it to 7 months before dipping my toe back in.

But it didn't take me long to realise that I much preferred my alcohol-free life.

It by no means solves all of life's problems, but it massively improves my ability to deal with them.

Sure, every now and then an evening might feel 10% less fun without alcohol involved, but waking up the following day hangover and anxiety-free more than makes up for that.

I always believed that taking alcohol out of my life would make it feel smaller somehow, turns out the opposite was true.

So here's to the next 6 months 🥂

02/11/2026

One of the main reasons I created my Heart-Healthy Living Course was to bridge the gap between being given brief advice in a GP appointment and actually knowing how to put it into practice.

You might be told to improve your diet, exercise more, lose weight and reduce alcohol to get your cholesterol down.

You may be given a leaflet.

And all of that advice can be completely appropriate.

But the difficult bit often comes afterwards.

What does “eat better” actually look like at breakfast tomorrow?

How much exercise counts? What if you only have 10 minutes?

What do you do when stress, poor sleep, work, family life or an all-or-nothing mindset gets in the way?

How do you make changes without feeling like you have to overhaul your whole life at once?

That is the gap I wanted the course to fill.

The webinars do not just explain what supports cholesterol and heart health.

They look at how to make those changes practical, realistic and repeatable, and how to navigate the common barriers that so often get in the way.

They sit alongside the workbook and recipe collection as part of the 12-week programme, so you are not simply being told what to do.

You are being shown how to actually do it in real life.

For more information about the course and to secure it at 2026 prices, comment or DM "COURSE"

01/11/2026

I was delighted to contribute to a recent article for Cver Online, sharing what I eat in a typical day to support a healthy heart.

Not because there’s one “perfect” way to eat, but because the small choices we make consistently can add up over time.

I talk through some of the foods I regularly include, how I build balanced meals, and the heart-health principles behind those choices, without making food complicated or restrictive.

If you’re looking for some practical inspiration for eating in a way that supports your cholesterol and wider heart health, you can read the full article here:

Explore what Dr Kirstyn Norman eats in a day to support a healthy heart and improve overall wellness without restrictive diets.

30/10/2026

This week has been a very good reminder that healthy habits doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Across my clients we've had half-term, a broken foot, stress-driven evening w**e and an injury after a fall.

None of them are abandoning their goals, we're adapting to their changing circumstances.

No matter what life throws at you, there is usually a version of your habits you can maintain.

It might not look perfect, but showing up for your health in even a small way helps you keep momentum and gives you a sense of control when other parts of life feel anything but.

27/10/2026

A heart-healthy meal doesn’t need to be complicated or completely different from the food you and your family already enjoy.

When putting a main meal together, ask four simple questions:

🥦 Have I got some plants?
Aim for vegetables and/or fruit to make up around half the plate where it works.

🍗 Have I got a protein source?
This could be fish, poultry, eggs, beans, lentils, tofu or lean meat making up a quarter of the plate.

🌾 Have I got a useful carbohydrate source?
Think wholegrains, potatoes with their skins, brown rice or wholewheat pasta for the remaining quarter.

🥑 What type of fat is included?
Choose mainly unsaturated fats such as olive or rapeseed oil, nuts, seeds or avocado, about a thumbs worth.

It won’t divide neatly into perfect sections every time. Curries, pasta dishes, stews and everything-in-one-pan dinners rarely do.

But these four questions give you a simple way to check that your meal is balanced, satisfying and supportive of your cholesterol and heart health.

Use it as a guide, rather than a strict rule.

My Heart-Healthy Living Recipe Collection includes more than 100 everyday recipes built around these same principles.

Comment 'RECIPE' below and I'll send you the link 😊

01/10/2026

Last week I deliberately cut right back on fibre in the days leading up to my half marathon, in the hope it would reduce the chances of stomach cramps on race day.

That part didn’t exactly go to plan 😂

But it did give me a whole new appreciation for fibre, because I was SO much hungrier than normal without it.

And it’s a really good example of why fibre can be useful for both weight loss and cholesterol.

For weight loss, fibre helps meals feel more satisfying. It adds bulk and volume, and some types absorb water and form a gel in the gut, which can help you stay fuller for longer.

This makes eating fewer calories a lot easier than just trying to make your portions smaller and hoping willpower gets you through.

For cholesterol, certain soluble fibres can help reduce LDL by interfering with the recycling of bile acids in the gut.

Your liver then has to use more cholesterol to make new bile acids, which helps pull more LDL out of the bloodstream.

So fibre is doing a lot more than just keeping you regular.

So this carousel is all about what you can actually implement this week from what I learnt.

Pick one simple change and build from there.

And if you want the WHY behind it all, I go much deeper into fibre, fullness, weight management and cholesterol in this week’s episode of HELP! I Have High Cholesterol.

Comment or DM "FIBRE POD" for the link.

25/09/2026

I haven't posted on my grid for two and a half weeks, and the ridiculous thing is that the longer I leave it, the more stressed I feel about it 😅

But my brain is SO overflowing at the moment that I haven't been able to bring myself to sit down and create a piece of content.

So here we are. A post about not being able to post 🤦🏻‍♀️

If you've been following my stories, you'll know life has been a little chaotic recently.

Freddie has been in and out of the vets, we've sold our house but lost the house we were buying at the very last minute and have had to find another, I've got a half marathon on Sunday, a photoshoot in London on Tuesday, a whole website to rebuild by mid-October, and in two weeks we're moving out of our house and in with our parents while we wait for our new home to complete.

It is A LOT, so it's incredibly frustrating to add something as trivial as not posting here to the list 😅

And the irony is that I know EXACTLY what I'd tell a client in this situation...

"You have a lot on your plate. Something has to give. You cannot expect yourself to operate at full capacity when life is demanding so much of you elsewhere."

Yet here I am, adding not posting on social media to an already overflowing list of things to worry about.

And I think it's a reminder of just how much unnecessary stress we can create through the expectations we place on ourselves.

Sometimes looking after yourself means lowering those expectations, rather than trying to find a way to squeeze everything in.

So rather than putting pressure on myself to create my usual type of content, this post is my attempt to quieten that nagging voice and take one unnecessary source of stress off my plate.

And perhaps a little reminder to anyone else who's currently juggling a million things, that it's okay to give yourself permission to drop a few balls.

Even if I'm still learning to do that for myself 🧡

08/09/2026

I didn't overhaul my life in 2019.

I just made one change for a different reason.

I stopped exercising to get smaller, and started exercising to get stronger.

That one shift started a butterfly effect that would go on to transform my life, my health, my body and even my career.

And it now shapes everything I do to help my clients make changes that actually last.

🧡

04/09/2026

If I'm physically hungry, I don't reach for chocolate or crisps on their own.

Because I know a small portion won't fill me up, and I'll probably keep going back for more!

Snacks like this pack quite a lot of calories and saturated fat into a relatively small amount of food, so trying to satisfy a rumbling stomach with them can mean eating more than you intended.

Instead, I'll have something more filling, with plenty of volume and some protein or fibre. Think a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, or veggie sticks with houmous or cottage cheese.

And if i just reallllly fancy chocolate, I'll have a small amount alongside.

I call it "A little of what you want, with more of what you need"

It's also worth looking at your meals. If you're regularly starving an hour after lunch, it probably needs to be bigger or better balanced.

This is the kind of approach that's helped so many of my clients achieve their cholesterol and weight loss goals, without giving up their favourite food.

🧡