Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Clara Amfo: “I Feel Powerful” — Her Health Reset, ADHD Diagnosis and Running Journey

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

Clara Amfo joins Claire Sanderson for an honest, funny and inspiring conversation about the health reset that has changed how she feels in her body and her everyday life. After years of running on and off, Clara explains how training for the London Marathon prompted her to take a more structured approach to her health — prioritising strength training, nutrition, sleep and recovery. She shares how learning to fuel properly, build muscle and train consistently has made her feel stronger and more powerful, both physically and mentally. Clara also opens up about receiving an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood, the relief of understanding her brain, and the ways it has influenced her relationship with food, dopamine, focus and time. She discusses body image and the pressure women face to become smaller, including how people’s attitudes towards her changed when her body changed. Plus, Clara reveals the simple habits that help her manage a busy career spanning television, radio and podcasting — and explains why putting herself first has become non-negotiable. Keywords Clara Amfo, Just As Well, Women’s Health UK, Claire Sanderson, ADHD in women, adult ADHD diagnosis, late ADHD diagnosis, neurodivergence, ADHD symptoms, ADHD and food, dopamine seeking, body image, women and body image, health reset, health overhaul, running, London Marathon, marathon training, strength training, women who lift, building strength, nutrition, fuelling for running, protein, sleep and recovery, wellness habits, women’s health, feeling strong, confidence, self-care, busy women, mental health, health and fitness podcast Want more from Women’s Health? Join the Women’s Health COLLECTIVE for workouts, exclusive events and expert advice to unlock your fittest self - Train smarter. Live better. Visit www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/wh-podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever find that you put something down, walk away and completely forget about it? Can't find it for love, no money. Do you find that you have no concept of time and find you in the most basic tasks tricky, where you try to do something and you suddenly start doing something else and forget what you were doing? This is the day-to-day reality of today's guest on Just as Well, the broadcaster, Clara Ampho. These behaviours and more encouraged to. her to seek out an adult diagnosis of ADHD. Rigorous testing she went through to confirm something in our heart she already knew. Today's episode is a fascinating listen. Not only does

she talk about her ADHD, she talks about how she's overhauled her health recently, how she's taken up running pretty seriously and ran the London Marathon this year. She talks extensively how she prioritises wellness in her daily routine. Her very busy. Her very busy. daily routine because as I'm sure you're all aware, she's on TV, she hosts the one show, she's regularly on radio too, she's a podcaster, she's a busy woman, but she has chosen to put herself first, something not many of us girls manage. So sit back, enjoy and take inspiration from Clara and hopefully you will learn something that you can action today to make your life just that little bit better. Enjoy. Clara, welcome to Jess as well. Thank you for having me.

are you today? You're looking fabulous in that top. Well, thank you very much. I'm feeling, I'm feeling fresh just about. It was a bit of a rush to get here. You are patient and virtuous queen. I was a little late and I hate being late. So hopefully I'm not too sweaty and I'm more glowy. And you got on a line bike, so you got out of your Uber

and onto a line bike. You were that committed to get here. I sure did. I despise being late. So I hope I give you great answers to make up for my tardiness. Well, a bit of exercise gives you a glow. Exactly. So this is a woman-south podcast. There we go. There we go.

So I wanted to take you back to the beginning. The listeners today will know you from your podcast, from TV. I know you from hosting Glastonbury most years. You hosted the Brits. But let me take you back to your childhood. You grew up in Kingston upon 10. I did grow up in Kingston, yeah. A close Ghanaian family.

So what type of girl were you? Oh, gosh. So I was a bit of a tomboy. So there's six of our siblings. I've got four brothers and one sister. So my big sisters from my dad's previous relationship. So she came to live with us when I was about, I think, 13, 14, because she was brought up in Ghana with her mum.

And then, yeah, four brothers. And I, yeah, I was a bit of a tomboy. Very, I just, I was always sort of seeking to be treated the same as my brothers. I wasn't like discriminated against my house. I'm not saying that, but like I think my mum and my dad, particularly my mum, she's a very sort of traditional like Godfair and Ghanaian woman. And I think she wanted a really girly child. I just wasn't that.

And it's funny because, you know, I love wearing dresses and short skirts and all that type of thing. But like some of my earliest memories as a kid are me having arguments with my mum about clothes she wanted to put me in and me being like, no, I'm going to go and do this with the boys. Like that, I was that kind of kid, like a bit of a daydreamer, a lot of energy, which has now been diagnosed with ADHD. Officially, by the way, I'm not one of those people who self-diagnosed herself on the internet.

But, yeah, I was a... Yeah, I was just a very energetic child, I think. So I've seen your mother on your social channels, and she still has an opinion on what you were even today. She sure does. Grace Anfo will never not let me know what she thinks about my clothes. I do ask her. Like I send her pictures.

When I'm like doing telly or an event or whatever, I'll always send her a picture. I'm up to this today. Like, you know. And when it's quite short, she's, yeah, she's not a fan. But I've been really in my long dresses era lately. So she's been happy actually. She's got less of an opinion.

Yeah, I took her to Wimbledon the other day. And I wore a long sort of fluoro yellow, essentially tennis ball yellow. dress and she loved it. There you go. Because my ankles were covered. Were you always naturally confident then? Because the woman sat before me today seems supremely confident. And you think you would need to be actually to do your job. Is that something that is innate or have you had to work on that?

Oh, I think about this a lot and I have been thinking about this a lot because a big topic that always comes up when I'm interviewed. And I think actually with a lot of women in the public eye or any, actually any woman who is successful in whatever field is like, do you feel imposter syndrome? Where do you find your confidence? Like how do you find it? And I think I genuinely have always felt quite confident.

But that's not to say I've been free from insecurity. Oh, God, no. I've definitely had my insecurities and my moments. So I'm like, oh my God, what am I doing? but then to counteract that, or I guess something that's always been in tandem is a feeling of, no, but you're supposed to be doing this, so just lean in.

I don't know what it is. I've just sort of known I'm supposed to be a communicator and a talker and a sharer in, if I want, of a better phrase. And I just, I've never really questioned. I think what I've had to deal with mostly in my life and in my career, I think it's other people

wanting me to feel less and having to fight back against that. That's been, I think, one of my biggest challenges, actually. And why do you think people want you to feel less? Oh, gosh. I mean, I think there's so many levels to it. I think, you know, as women, we are, I think, prescribed this, I think this way of being from birth. Like, you know, obviously things like, it's always one step forward, two sets back.

I think, you know, we're in an ever-evolving landscape when it comes to how we are perceived and what we want for ourselves. But I think there is still this thing of like, you know, you must be very feminine and quite docile and gentle and do things that are going to appease what men might like or what's going to make everybody else feel comfortable. You know, don't complain too much. Don't take up too much space. Like, you know, be in servitude in some sort of way.

There's all these sort of, I think, prescribed notions of like what the old. woman should be like and I think a woman can be can be many things you know and I think if you colour outside the lines of it I think it can stress people out you know what they say is that well-behaved women seldom make history and I think I think that's very true but have there ever been pointing your career where you have tried to conform and you have maybe changed your appearance or your body shape or your the way you present yourself I can honestly say No, but the pressure has definitely been there for sure. Like we are constantly reacting to what we're surrounded by, you know, whether it's like the TV, we watch the music we listen to, the clothes we're into, like, whatever.

And it has an innate effect on you for sure. And I think, you know, working in like, you know, the creative industry and the entertainment industry, you are constantly surrounded by, and just even just be, again, just being human walking through this world. is like advertising and whatever, you should be bigger, you should be smaller, you should be leaner, do you want to dye your hair? Maybe you should get your teeth fixed, like, oh, you've got a spot this, you've got a spot, you can get rid of it like through this.

Oh, hang on, there's a wrinkle forming in the middle of your forehead, like, fill it away. Like there's so many just, we are aggressively targeted with so many different ways to be in. And there's been times when I've done a film premiere or like an award ceremony, and I'm obviously going through like footage and pictures of like people I've interviewed

and I'm like oh my God I look humongous compared to like this tiny little pop star or whatever and you have to like you know I have to really be like Clara this is your body that is their body

how you choose to inhabit is your choice how they choose to inhabit their body is their choice and both and like both things were okay we're all out here existing. But that's definitely been a journey for me. Like the past sort of like year and up,

yeah, I'd take a couple of two years. I've had to, I got much more serious, much more locked in, like with my health. And my body has changed as a result of it. And that's been, again,

that's been a bit of a weird one. Because I've had a lot of people commenting on my body in a way that I haven't been used to. Like lately, it's like, oh, you've really like, you've really snatched it up where I was like, well,

I was training for a marathon. I decided to say, Like stop eating shit. Well, not, I still like a sweet treat. But, like, you know, I got my ADHD diagnosis, and a lot of that's about chasing dopamine. And, like, you know, I was, I used to, like, go through crazy binge eating, like, phases

because, you know, I'd be, like, unregulated and, like, seeking, like, chemical. Like, you know, I understand this now. But it's been, it's been a real journey for me, like, these sort of past, like, 18 months. But that's been, it's been very, yeah, it's been really, eye opening and quite, yeah, a little bit disappointing.

But I think I get it to see how people react to you when your body changes. I love that how I choose to inhabit my body and how you choose to inhabit your body. I haven't heard that before. And I'm going to, I'm going to try and lock into that when I have days where insecurity is creeping. And they do for all of us. Hormones are a lot to contribute to that as well. You can have a point in your mind where you feel. fabulous and then

my cycle it makes me feel like a flipping demon I will have like I will have like a month or two yeah two weeks out of the month where I'm just sort of like

oh my god I fucking hate everyone does everyone hate me what's wrong I'm so tired I can't stop eating oh my god I need to do this

and I just and I have a meltdown and then like one week I'm like okay let's go run a 10K and then it just starts all over again but that must be really hard

in your job because my job is not dissimilar to yours in that I do things like this, host podcasts, I'm sometimes in photo shoots, nowhere near as frequently as you. I mean, you and I were in a photo shoot together recently, actually, and I was so thankful that it happened to be on a day where I did feel less bloated

and pretty good about myself, whereas if it had been three days later, there's no way I would have worn that cropped off. You know, I would, you know. But your job is, every day you are out there and in front of the camera and having to interview the likes of Beyonce and look fabulous on red carpets and be on camera like this or in stills.

How do you manage to overcome those days when hormones are telling you that you're a honey monster? Well, great concealer, a good lashed. Some gloss. And do you know what? It's usually, I do a bit of like color therapy. If I'm not feeling confident, I'll wear a bright colour and I'll make sure my tailoring's really good. I'll wear something that's more fitted.

Like I'll do like a good trouser, a bright colour or just a nice bit of jewellery or something that's just going to make me feel just better. Just on that really rudimentary thought of like, you know, if you look good, you feel good type type thing. I will do that to sort of force myself into more confidence. Especially if people around you make you feel safe, I think that can also bring out confidence too, for sure. We get it. Life is busy and that can make looking after ourselves as well as we'd like that little bit harder.

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the team at PhD Nutrition are offering 15% off any product. Just add the code PhD JAW15 at checkout. Everyday wellness made simple. That's PhD nutrition. You mentioned that you've had a bit of a health overhaul. Would you call it an overhaul? I'd say so, yeah. Yes.

Yeah. And you ran the marathon this year. I sure did. And I can't, yes, did. Yeah, I ran the London Marathon this year and I also ran the Hackney Half Marathon as well. Right. Which was really fun.

And yeah, I'm genuinely so proud of myself for doing London Marathon because I've been running on an offer about 10, 11 years. And I always said I could never do the marathon. Like, no way. I could just about manage a half. I thought, cool. A half is fine. Doing that twice over.

It's hard to conceive actually, actually, isn't it? Yes. Yes. Yeah, I've been there. Yeah. But it feels good though, doesn't it? When you do it, it's incredible. Oh, no, I hated it.

Regular listness will know that I hated every minute when I ran the marathon a few years ago. But you got your medal. I did. Yeah, it was the third time I've done it. I did it twice in my 20s, but I'm now nearly 50. Wow. It's a big, you know, big time difference.

Three times is amazing, though. Yeah, that's enough. Yeah. But tell me about how you prepared for the marathon because 26.2 miles is a long way. It really is. I think so for me, this has been such a big turning point in my health and wellness journey was locking in with my nutrition, my sleep, my recovery and strength training.

Like those are the four things I became obsessed with. Because my best friend Yasmin, she had run it the year before and she really inspired me to do it. And she, and I remember she said to me, because Clara, you've literally got to treat this like it's work. Like it's one of your jobs. You have to have the same level of dedication. obsessiveness that you have about everything else you do in your life, you have to treat it like that. And it really, it really clicked with me. So I made sure, like, I was in bed, no later than 11pm every night.

I was going protein crazy, but also carb crazy. Like, I really learnt how to fuel my body properly. Because I think I was under-fueling for a little bit when I started my training. And I remember thinking, like, okay, I don't, I'm sort of, I'm doing these distances, I was not feeling like super strong because I just, I wasn't eating, I wasn't eating smartly. So I was, I got better at understanding like, okay, when to have your carbs at what time before run. Save your big breakfast or after your run. Have just have a light bagel.

Do that. You don't have to have your, like, all things like that. I just didn't know. And also strength training changed the game because all the times I'd run races before, I was just, I was sort of running on vibes. I was just, it was a social thing. like to do with my friends. We were in run clubs. We'd run.

We'd do races, whatever. But I never used to strength train. And it has really contributed to me becoming a better runner. And I only wish I started strength training like just yet two or three years earlier. Because also I ran the marathon injury free. I mean, I did lose a toenail, which apparently is the right of passage. I did lose a toenail. Is it back?

She's growing back slowly but surely. Slowly but surely. I went and got a pedicule the other day and they were able to put like a slither of polish on her. But yeah, I didn't have any injuries after the marathon and I booked a sports massage that same night. I remember I went back to my hotel, had a really lovely shower. The masseuse came to my room, like, kneaded out my legs.

And then I ate red velvet cake in bed. Lovely. It was sensational. Strength training is so important for runners, yet wildly neglected. And you see people running on the street who look very little and lean, they don't look like any muscle mass at all, and you just know they're setting themselves up of injury, if not today, very soon. Because you need powerful glutes and you need powerful quads. You know, you are propelling your

body weight, well, multiple times your body weight, actually, each time your foot hits the ground. What does your strength training workouts look like? Well, it's exactly what you say. It's all about, you know, propelling your body forward, your feet are hitting that ground. So for me, I prioritise lower body strength training a lot. So I go to classes. That was another part of my sort of health revamp. I joined my local gym because I used to work out like with PTs, but all my PTs, we all end up, they're some of my best friends and we end up having a chat and I'd be like, you know what, we're not going to get any work done because I'm just too busy yapping. Yeah. And I'm distracting you from trying to do your job properly kind of thing. So I was like, do you know what, let me join a

because at least I've got a regime and a class. So I go to lifting classes like three to four times a week. Sometimes they're concentrated on one body part and sometimes they're full body. But I really, really love them and I always feel really energized and literally strong afterwards. And I've noticed a significant difference in just what I was able to lift from the start,

you know, for basic curls and like, you know, RDLs and things like that. At the start, I'd be like, oh, I'll just do 5KG. Now I can do like 20s and like and it feels it feels really good. Like I feel strong and I've noticed how it just even makes little things like how it makes my clothes fit and just like my posture all of that. And I just don't think that was happening before when I was training for like when I was training before I was slim but it wasn't defined. It wasn't strong.

But now I feel like, yeah, I feel like powerful. Love that for you. Yeah. That's the girl should be lifting weights. Yeah. Oh, please. It is the panseer of health, especially as we hilt through the perimenopause and menopause years.

I know you're not quite there yet, but, you know, in the not too distant future, you're setting yourself in a much stronger base. There's this amazing woman that I started following about a couple of months ago called Train with Joan. Yeah. And she just does, you know, like pull-ups, like does list crazy weights.

Like, she's so agile and so strong. This woman is 80 years old. She's called Joan MacDonald and trained with Joan, as you said, and incredible. Phenomenal. And I think that's inspiring. Like, you know, like my mum is around that age. And, you know, she, I make sure she goes on a walk every day. I always miss them.

Like, have you gone for your walk? Yeah. Like, go for your walk. But I want her to start lifting weights because, you know, it's that difference between, like, something really serious happening if she was to fall over or not. And I see someone like, Joan, I'm like, yeah, this is why you get it in now. So like in the future, you're going to be alright. It's all preventative, isn't it? So the way you're describing your training for the marathon is carb cycling.

I don't know whether you've heard that phrase before. I've not heard that phrase. So when you cycle your carbs around your energy output, it's what I did actually when I trained for it. So you front load your carbs before a run, but then you have to replenish afterwards with protein and fats, etc. But did you go down the supplement route as well? Yes.

So I love me a supplement, A, because I'm just a busy girl on the guy. and I think is I try and cook you know I try and home cook my meals at least like well yeah every day if I can but you know I like a cheeky takeaway but I try and home cook my meals but in the morning if I might rush for breakfast or whatever like you see like the greens easily done lovely but also for me recovery was such a big deal and sleep and getting my sleeping properly was paramount so you say the magnesium tablets have four of those half an hour before I go to bed never set better yeah and like really, really genuinely, like, does help. And do you do protein shakes? I do love a protein shake. Yeah, me too. I like anything, listen, anything chocolate flavoured, I'm all about it. I love a protein shake.

And my son, who's 14, now loves a protein shake, which is quite an expensive because he's treating them like milkshake. Yeah. But that's why I like them. It's a sweet treat. Again, it's that dopamine. It's a really good, like, halfway point. I hate the phrase rules when it comes to eating.

what practices do you put in place generally for your nutrition now? I'm assuming you're not training for another distance race at the moment. Or are you? I am, actually. So there's a race I want to do in Iceland in August, which I'm looking at. There's another half marathon in East London, the Shortwich Half, which I'm probably going to do. I have a weird feeling, allegedly, who used to say, that I might be doing the New York Marathon in November, possibly? We'll see.

That'd be a cool one to do. I love New York. My brother lives in New York. My perfect niece is in New York and I miss her so much. I've got loads of friends and family there and I just, I love that city. So I want to run around it and also the medal's really cool. So you're constantly in a state of training for races by the sounds of it then. Yeah, I can't get out of it. So your day-to-day nutrition, apart from the carb cycling that you know you do,

are there any sort of rules, I hate the word rules, but are there any practices you put in place generally, especially now you've gone through your health overhaul? Yes. So I've made lots of little changes. So, for example, I don't have, like, white sugar in the house anymore. It's sugar lumps. I'm a stevia girl now.

I am ladling stevia into my morning coffee every day because I'm just like, give me, give me it. And it gives me the same, great same taste. I recently got, and I was very proud of myself, I was like, oh, wow, this is, like, so growing up. I recently got a oil spray bottle. So, like, because, you know, when like I love a salad but I'm the type of person like I love some salad with my oil essentially

and I'd be like I dash it all over so I got a spray bottle and it and it so it's just it's much less but and you realize you just realize how much you're putting on your salad so it's just a normal spray bottle or is it an actual oil it's an it's an oil spray bottle so I do maybe like 10 or 12 pumps and it's like you're using so much less um oil which is great yeah yeah which is which is which is lovely. Don't really drink alcohol that much anymore. I like one well-made margarita maybe like once a month

if that, but I don't really drink alcohol that much anymore. And a lot of protein. I love me in oily fish, salmon, mackerel I love sea bass, love white fish. Made the switch from chicken thigh to chicken breast. Oh, it's not as good, but I'm very good at seasoning my

meats. You will never have, listen, you will never have unseasoned meat on my watch, trust me. So yeah, doing all of that and loving my greens. I love a chicken thigh though. I do love a chicken thigh. Not, listen, not anti, but for my day, I've made the switch and I have felt the difference, I can't lie. We're big fans of strength training here at Just as well.

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So you mentioned that you have an ADHD diagnosis and it's a fairly recent thing, April of this year. Yeah, around April of this year I was diagnosed with ADHD and it's shout to my doctor, they know who they are. I mean, the result of, I could have got it sooner, but I took so long doing the forms and everything and like the assessments because how my brain works, that, yeah, it took a while,

but it's a very intense and rigorous process. You know, full disclosure, I'm in a position where I was able to get it done privately because the NHS wasting this are ridiculous. Like it's, which is, you know, it's not the NHS's fault. As we know, like they need to be protected. all costs. They're under a lot of pressure for everything, you know. So I went and got it done

privately and yeah, it's an intense assessment. So you go in, you meet, you meet the clinical psychologist. I was within for at least, I think, an hour or two, possibly longer, getting into all the weeds of my brain and my past and they observe you, like how, you know, ask you questions about how you deal certain situations, X, Y, Z. Then they interview members of your family, people who know you well. So two of my, no, three of my brothers did interviews on me, actually. One on Zoom. Two did written ones.

And like, you have to give them your school reports. Like, see what your teacher said about you as a kid. Like, it's rigorous. Rigorous, rigorous, rigorous. And, yeah, I, because in my gut, I was like, I'm pretty sure I have it. And it's funny, because when I got my diagnosis, all my mates are like, well, we could have told you. I was like, yeah, but you're not a flipping doctor. So I needed the doctor to tell me to tell me.

But yeah, it came as a massive relief, actually. And it just, and it's a tricky one to talk about. Not because I haven't got any shame attached to it at all, but I'm very aware of us being in the era of self-diagnosis via the internet. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing per se because, you know, there is great information out there, but there's also a lot of misinformation out there. And if in your gut you feel that there may be something different about you

or wrong with you for whatever health issue, of course, one of the first things you're going to do is have a little look online to see, like, oh, hang on a minute, is this, does this align with what I'm going through? For your baby steps of, like, you know, research, I totally get it. But of course, go and seek, if you can, if you have the means, a professional is always the way to go. And, yeah, I've been seeing a lot of ADHD, content and I was thinking hang on a minute that's me yeah that's me that's me that's me

what was you oh my goodness me um the object permanence uh what does that mean so for example if I don't have something in front of me that I that I need to do I can forget I'll forget about it so like you know just say for example um there's a phrase in the sort of community put it away, don't just put it down. So, for example, I could come home and have done like a food shop and I'll be so tired, I'll come in the house, I'll put it down on the ground,

and I'll literally go and cook my dinner, I'll do all these other things, and then I'll come downstairs in the morning, oh my God, why is my grocery, why is there yogurt and salmon and all this stuff? But I bought, it still in the paper bag because Clara, you should have just walked over, put it in the fridge.

But your brain's sort of like, I've put that down, so I've dealt with that now. Do you think things like that, being overwhelmed at doing a task that could maybe take like six minutes to do and it's been on my serious for like five months because of thought of it, I'm just like, I can't. It's just, things like that, like my eating,

like the constant chasing of like dopamine, like I could obsessively eat things at like stupid hours in the night just to sort of satiate myself and to, not because I was even particularly hungry, but because I my brain needed like to feel like calm and rewarded for like a crazy day of essentially sort of like pretending I'm feeling like normal or like masking as they call it like this that's so many things and yeah just getting that diagnosis has been has been a massive relief like I haven't taken the medication yet and it's been made an option to me and I'm still debating whether or not I should take it because I'm Because every week I've got it, I'm like, okay, this will be the week. I'm going to give it, go, or maybe not. And I've got loads of friends who are on the medications

and it works well for them. And some of them, they've had slightly tricky journeys with it. So that I'm still figuring that out. But you've done so remarkably well in spite of this then. So what coping mechanisms did you put in place probably from childhood in order to succeed? This is what's interesting because my doctor said to me at the time, he was like, he goes, as much as, you know, your, like, this condition has, like, stressed you out.

It's also been your superpower in a lot of ways. Because my hyperfocus, when I want to do something and I'm locked in and I'm getting into flow state, like, you can't tell me anything. I'm like, right, this is what I'm doing. And I can retain information in a very particular way. People are like, how did you remember that person's name from, like, seven years ago? Or, or why do you know this lyric from that? Or how do you learn scripts like that or whatever?

I just, I, I, it's just something my brain can do. But then on the flip side, it's like, it's utter chaos. Like it's just mystery. The contradiction is baffling, actually, isn't it? That you can have this, in your words, chaotic brain. And I have family members who have ADHD, so I've witnessed this firsthand. But then you can flip into this hyperfocus, store information and then regurgitate it. It's, it's, it's, mind.

It is. It really is. And I think I have almost learned to try not to unpick it and understand it too much. I understand this is what's going on in my brain now. I understand there is medications help me on days I'm struggling. But I also don't want to take away

what is the essence of me. You know, so I think that's where I'm at with it at the moment. Yeah. You mentioned binge eating and dopamine seeking eating food, which I'm assuming I was going to be processed carbs and sweets and stuff like that. Love a sweet treat.

You mentioned binge eating and dopamine seeking foods, which I'm assuming are processed carbs, sugar, fats, etc. Me and sugar like that. Yeah. But you've also gone through this health overhaul. So has this understanding of your brain made you, enabled you to control those... Absolutely. Absolutely. I so know now when my brain is like tired or seeking something that I don't actually need. It's been really, yeah, it's been such a gift actually, this diagnosis because I really am able to talk myself down and be like, okay, Clara, what's going on? Are you actually hungry? Are you just thirsty?

Did you get your protein in this morning? Because also, if I, I can't skip meals and if I haven't had breakfast or if I haven't had a significant lunch or whatever, I will not be able to function. I will be distracted. I will be, I'll just, I'll be all over the shot. And I need, like, a high protein breakfast with a bit of carbs to make sure that I'm, like, locked in for, like, locked in for the next few hours. Like, I definitely need that because there's been times again

when I have been trying to do a million things at once and that's nothing my concept of time, I'll be like, oh yeah, I've got 17 minutes. Oh yeah, I can shower and do seven emails and take this phone call and do this. Yeah, sure. But I'm convinced. My brain is like, no, but of course you can.

It's like, no, you can't kind of thing. Do you find yourself, again, because I've witnessed this first hand, you have to be at the door at a certain time. but you suddenly start mopping the floor. Oh my God. I'm not even joking. The amount of times I'm like, okay, right, I've got to go now.

But, oh, wait, that curtain around needs to be fixed. I'll tell you what, I'm just going to get the step ladder out. I'm just going to start fixing it. And then it's like, I've got to leave the house. No, but I'll fix it in seven minutes. It's fine. Oh, do you know what? Actually, I should call the oven repair man.

Let me call him now. I'll call him whilst I'm doing that. And I'll be out of the door in seven minutes. And that is genuinely my brain every day. So has that been able to help you control those urges better? Absolutely. And there are some days that are harder than others, but I'm really working hard to just try and do it holistically.

Like I said, I'm not against taking the medications and I probably am going to start in the near future. But at the moment, I'm trying my hardest to sort of re-chrain my brain or just be aware. Now I know what's going on. Ironically, this has become a hyper-focus. It's being aware of the condition. to try and control it.

And that's been, yeah, it's been interesting. We've had several guests, female guests on this podcast who have been diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood. We've had Lucy Bronze, the footballer. We've had Kate Roham, who's a PT. And they all said that they felt a sense of release and a sense of understanding. But why do you think there seems to be more and more people

being diagnosed with it? Women's health has always been stigmatized. in, for whatever it is, whether it's your reproductive health, you know, your body composition, how your brain works, like, whatever. There has always been some sort of negative stigma attached to how we want to take care of ourselves

and what's going on inside and outside of ourselves. And I think when it comes to our mental health, when it comes to our mental health, as well as our neurological health, you know, the two things are a very, are very interlinked, you know? And I think there is now more compassion and are willing to understand

that the chemistry in your brain has got, quite literally has got serious consequences for how you live your life, which I know sounds very basic and straightforward, but it's true. And I think we are, as a society, allowing space for, neurodivergence and seeing how it really shows up in everybody and I and I just and it's a valid

conversation because you know when you think I I don't know a single person who wasn't in in school with a child that was like you know labelled like the naughty child or the problem child yeah written off yeah or like being disruptive or whatever and you know and or not or being not very bright like I've got friends for example I've got a lot of friends who are dyslexic who were treated like they were not very bright. And it's like, no, they were fantastically intelligent. It's just their brain process words and letters in a different way. Doesn't mean they're not smart.

It's just how their brain processes information they may see on the page. And I think there's similarities with, you know, with neurodivergent. With neurodivergence. And I think we're just at a space where we're starting to understand that you, that it doesn't mean that you're, you know, this weird outlier from society. or whatever, your brain just worse differently. Yeah. And that's it.

The stigma is being removed, isn't they? It was not so long ago where women wouldn't admit to be going through the menopause or even knew what the perimenopause was. And you talk about the menopause as, it's going through the change. You know, it would all be, you know, this stereotype of your auntie opening fridges in Iceland. Sticking a head in it or whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

But then it became more normal and accepted to talk about it. And I think similar things is happening to neurodivergency. Absolutely. And women like yourself are proudly talking about it, therefore empowering women who don't have the profile that you do to also be open to themselves and those around them. Here at Just as Well, we always come back to a few themes. A love of strength training, the value of understanding our hormones,

and just how important protein is. Not only for athletes, but for our everyday well-being. Busy lives don't always make that easy. which is why PhD nutrition champions supplements for the real world. Science-backed and designed to support a healthy, balanced diet whatever a busy day brings. To find out more, visit phd.com forward slash JAW and use the code PhD J-AW-15 for 50% off this summer. PhD, wellness for the way we live today. So what's coming up for you then?

Or what is coming up for me? So the one show is coming back at the end of summer. because we're on summer break at the moment. I've been back on radio. So I returned to radio for the first time in a couple of years. I hear you on radio too. Yeah, yeah, I know. So, yeah, my lovely friend and mentor, Trevor Nelson,

he's taken a bit of time off to focus on his health. So I've been covering his show, which has been great. I've been doing my new podcast with my good friend, Munro Bergdorf. It's called Into It. So it's our sort of deep dive into pop culture, which has been really, really, really fun. And, yeah, you'll be seeing me popping up around. and yeah, telly, chatting, writing.

I'm about, you know me. Well, thank you for coming in to see me today. Before I let you go, we do have some quick fire questions. Go for it. I am going to come to your house for dinner in East London. Sounds like you're a demon in the kitchen. So what are you going to cook me? Oh, gosh. I mean, a demon in the kitchen can be taken both ways. I'm going to cook you some sweet potato.

I love sweet potato. I eat it pretty much every day. with a really lovely honey with Greek feta cheese. Yeah, honey and Greek feta cheese mixed up with some black pepper in the salad and some tahit, you know, tahitia seasoning. Corn salad, which I love. You know, lamb's lettuce is my favourite. And a really thick, juicy tuna steak.

Wow. That might be the best answer I've had actually. Oh really? Yes. Okay, great. I get roast a lot. I do like a roast. Nah.

That sounds delicious. You go into a desert island for one year. Mm-hmm. All on your own. Twelve months. What are you going to take? Oh, gosh. One thing.

My iPod. Yeah. Yeah. An old school iPod because I don't want to take my phone because I know I'll drain the battery and I'll get distracted because again the ADHD.

If I've just got like an old-school iPod, G iPod, then all I can do is listen to music. Coffee or wine for the rest of your life? Oh, coffee, coffee, coffee all day. I'm not really a wine drinker. No, not me. I love coffee. Coffee all day.

What's the last thing that made you belly laugh? Oh, you know, there's been that trend recently of people coming into a room in front of a fake microphone and saying, sitting down for my Netflix documentary to talk about surviving X, Y, and Z. And those have been making me laugh, whether it's been like, you know, my medium ugly ex-boyfriend, or going to like the Ghanaian embassy to pick up my passport, or that friend that secretly hates you,

or my judgmental mother-in-law, the list goes on. But they've all made me laugh out loud. Because I fell for the first few. I thought, oh, that person's getting a Netflix documentary, and then I realise. It's a trend. I'm seeing a few too many days now. What's one thing someone can do today

to make themselves be a little bit better? Oh, I think the one thing somebody can do today to make themselves feel better is look in the mirror and be like, oy, you're all right, babe. Love that. You're all right. O'i, you're all right, babe. So it's better when you say it. Oh, you're all right, babe.

In my Welsh accent, it doesn't sound quite. It's cool. People know, I love the world. I love Welsh people so much. Shemai, shemai. I should have said that at the start, shouldn't I? You said Shemai Carriad. There we go, Shemai Carriad. I can't carry it. Oh, and you can do the Welsh accent. There we go.

Well, on that note, thank you so much, Chloe, for coming in to see me today. Dioc. What? How do you know all this? Shout to Alex Jones. Yeah, Dioc and Varyone.