Health coach helping men tackle their stress

Olly Leicester said the western world is plagued by the problems of bad food, lack of exercise, poor sleep and stress.

He has channelled his own experience of depression and anxiety, and his travels around the world, to set up his business.

The coach helps a variety of clients but said he was keen to reach middle-aged men who struggled to fit exercise into their lives.

“If you’re stressed, you’re more likely to eat junk food and less likely to exercise and it will affect your sleep and your internal patterns,” he added.

The 41-year-old Southbourne resident worked for an online travel company for 14 years and lived in Melbourne for seven years.

“After that, I was a bit unfulfilled. I had my battles with depression and anxiety and that kind of thing and I felt I was missing something,” he said.

“I quit my job and went travelling for a year in 2017. I went to Nepal and India and got into as many new experiences as possible.

“When I got back at the end of December 2017, I was immediately struck by how unhealthy our western way of life is, consuming lots of junk and not exercising, not sleeping and a lot of the time we’re really stressed. We’re not very good at managing our stress.”

Beginning with a free 45-minute consultation, he helps clients develop new habits. He checks in with them in a series of four or 12 weekly consultations, which can be done by Skype or on the phone.

“It’s helping people to make changes in their own health,” he said.

“It’s about bringing more awareness to people’s consciousness and supporting them through a process of change – and realising that a lot of people find change difficult because it’s uncomfortable and it takes time and effort.”

He said the aim was for healthier habits to become the “new normal”, rather than for people to change their lives dramatically overnight.

He added: “Blokes are less receptive to asking for help than a woman might be.”