.png)
My journey to become a health and wellbeing coach started officially back in 2013, but, if I’m honest, I think most things that have happened in my life have led me to this point, so let me give you a bit of background.
When I was at college, at the tender age of 16, I tried a well-known diet shake in my bid to lose a few pounds. After about three days I couldn’t stomach it for breakfast anymore and promptly gave up with that idea! So now let’s fast forward a few years. I’m twenty-four and planning for my wedding. I try a weight loss group this time, but it’s not long before I’m completely lost and fed up with weighing food, counting points and paying to queue for an hour just to stand on the scales in front of someone. But I lost some weight for my wedding and was happy, but soon gave up again.
Then, through the rest of my 20’s and most of my 30’s I tried lots of different diets in my vain attempt to lose a few pounds quickly and easily – some of which worked but only for a while – the weight soon goes back on again. I’m officially a yo-yo dieter!
Now we need to leap to 2011. By now my body had decided enough was enough and I found I could no longer lose weight by following one of these plans and exercising, so I went to my Doctor begging for help. I was at an all-time low – eating to make myself feel better, then feeling fed up because I had put more weight on. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing wrong, so I didn’t have a clue how to put it right. My Doctor was amazing and really supported me to understand how to eat properly (something that previous diets had never done) and do the right type of exercise as well. I’m so lucky to have had his help as I know not all GPs are so understanding.
Soon, the weight started to drop off and I was feeling great; people were asking me how I did it and I started to share the knowledge I had gained through educating myself more about food and exercise. I loved it and loved helping others too. The weight has stayed off ever since and I’ve never looked back.
In late 2013 I underwent planned surgery which unfortunately led to further unplanned surgery. It was these events that made me take stock of my life and what I really wanted to do. I’d already had about twenty years of experience coaching people in various jobs, and had enjoyed helping others by sharing what I’d learnt about food, but wanted to attain some certification to give credibility to what I knew and to demonstrate my expertise in the field.
So I studied as a Nutritional Therapist and Life Coach, which has enabled me to build on my skills and knowledge and use them to help people like me. People who need to find a way to break out of the cycle of losing weight and then putting more back on, through a poor understanding of food, and the beliefs they’ve developed over time about themselves.
I love working with my clients – it’s such an uplifting experience to see them achieve their goals and I’m so happy that they have all lost weight and made the lifestyle changes needed. They tell me they don’t feel as though they are depriving themselves of anything and are enjoying their new-found knowledge. I hear their families have benefitted too, so that can’t be a bad thing!