Just seven lemons were all it took to kickstart a life-changing journey for Jo Inglis.

The fruits inspired both the name and the ethos of her new health coaching career, and now she wants others to see how making a simple, small change – such as drinking a glass of hot water with lemon each morning, instead of coffee – can have a transformative impact.

A redundancy, followed by the loss of her father made Jo re-evaluate her life. And she realised she wasn't particularly happy with what she saw.

"That was my 'oh my God' moment," she remembers. "I'm nearly 50, my dad – who I thought was invincible – had passed away. It was a real wake-up call.

"I remember being down on Southbourne beach, and I thought 'what the hell am I going to do? There were some paddleboarders out in the bay. All of a sudden there were a lot of dolphins with them. I suddenly felt I could do anything. I decided to get fit."

Jo began by giving up sugar and joining a gym – even going on to complete a half marathon.

"I began to feel this was how I was meant to feel," she explains, "I was really healthy. Around my 50th birthday I was really great – menopause, what's that? It hadn't hit me."

But when Jo's husband set up a business and began working in America, meaning constant trips to the States for the two of them, and with house remodelling work going on, things started to change.

"I think, without realising, it was a very stressful time," she says. "There was a lot going on. I was getting injured a lot, I didn't feel that great. There's a lot of image associated with fitness and I realised that the gym thing wasn't that healthy.

"I decided to do a health coaching course while I was going back and forwards to the States. It's massive over there. I started seeing a few clients, but felt that people didn't really understand what I was trying to offer."

Jo, who had previously trained as a nurse and worked in the pharmaceutical industry, instead took a back to nursing course and began working with the NHS, seeing asthmatic patients at a clinic.

"I did that for a year, last year. When I was seeing patients, we used to talk about lifestyle and diet and exercise.

"I thought, 'I'm going to pursue my health coaching career'. I did a big overhaul of myself and decided to set up Seven Lemons.

"My real interest has always been women my age who are thinking 'is this it?' It really isn't.

"At mid-life there's so much going on. I meet so many people that feel that just don't know what's going on. You've maybe got identity crisis because kids are leaving home, you've got elderly parents that need you, you might be looking at retirement. With the right help and support you can get through your mid-life."

Jo meets clients for free half-hour consultation to discuss where they want to be with their health and what's important to them, and will then help them take steps towards achieving their goals.

"It might be anything – a text from me at 8pm saying 'go and have your bath', or a little message at 7am – 'have you written in your journal?' It's little things like that.

"It's spirituality – I'm not religious, but it's just connecting with nature, recognising what's important to you and what you want out of life. For some people, it's just managing hormones.

"I talk about primary food and secondary food – primary is relationships, your spirituality, movement, your work. Secondary plate is food. Often, people go straight to the food side, but maybe they've got things going on in their relationships. It's all about sorting out what's really going on.

"It doesn't take long for you to start feeling amazing. You get confidence because you think it's working."

Jo now wants to set up some group coaching and "hot hubs", where women in mid-life can get together regularly to discuss various topics including HRT, yoga tips, diet advice.

"It can be challenging, it can be hard work", she says, "but take little steps, then it follows on and you become who you really deserve to be."

Seven Lemons jo@sevenlemons.co.uk sevenlemons.co.uk