top of page

 

Why choose me to help you in your journey to discover amazing, sustainable health?

 

Sure, there are plenty of Health Coaches out there, each declaring themselves the Gandalf of some health niche. Let me regale you with my story.​I've spent my life chasing great health like it's the last slice of pizza at a party. While others might settle for, "Not everything is fixable," I prefer to believe, "Nothing is impossible, I just need to look harder." This mindset has led me down more rabbit holes than Alice, ultimately bringing me to where I am today. I've spent many years studying and road testing numerous approaches and theories, so that you don't have to. 

 

​I am now 55 years young, living a life so drug-free, I might as well be a hippie. I take no prescription meds, or painkillers or supplements, except for a daily dash of iodine. I'm fit and energetic, having breezed through menopause without having to resort to HRT. I’ve had three children, all delivered naturally (two of them right at home, because, why not?). I walk my gorgeous Jack Russell, Mikey in the mountains of Andorra each day for 1-2 hours, practice yoga every morning like a zen master, ride my horse 3-4 times a week, and play tennis with my husband whenever we can squeeze it into our busy schedules. I can do unassisted pull-ups! And press-ups & planks; I use body weight exercises & short sprints to keep my muscles in shape without spending hours in the gym. I sleep like a baby for 7-8 hours each night.​

 

I savour a delicious low-carb, high protein, mostly organic diet that I whip up myself. I enjoy meat, fish, and dairy but I do not call myself a Carnivore, nor a Ketogenic or a Paleo aficionado. I don’t like labels. I’m just a ‘real food’ enthusiast! I rarely eat sugar, but if the mood strikes, I don’t hold back. Nothing is off-limits. I’m in the best shape of my life—muscular, fit, and blissfully free of aches and pains. Visiting the doctor is not something I do. ​However, I wasn't always the picture of health I am today.

 

From my early teens, I struggled to maintain a weight I liked, gaining more than 20 kilos with each of my three pregnancies and other times besides. I yo-yo dieted back and forth and tried every new fad that came along; Rosemary Conley’s Low Fat, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, the Cambridge Diet, The Cabbage Soup Diet were just a few. All of them failed because they are all low in nutrition, high in sugars and require enormous will-power, which I never had. In the '90s, I qualified as an aerobics instructor and taught aerobics, step classes and aqua aerobics for several years, because I was an exercise addict who loved the control it gave me over my body. Despite all that, I always battled low self-esteem with a heavy dose of 'imposter syndrome.'​I used to fret about how I'd manage as I got older, often feeling like obesity and ill-health was lurking just around the corner, waiting to ambush me. I saw family members and friends die of cancer, starvation dieting and other horrible diseases. Added to that, that I had more than my fair share of sporting (mostly horse-related) accidents that required surgeries and rehab. I wrestled with bulimia for as long as I can remember, dealt with food allergies and intolerances, and had unexplained back, gut and joint pains. Let's not forget the ever-present cellulite on my thighs, even when I appeared quite slim in my clothes. A old school friend once said to me, “Oh, you’ve always been slim” like it was effortless. How little she knew of my real struggle.

 

As if that wasn't enough, in my late 30s, I started experiencing awful stabbing chest pains, only to discover later they were caused by gallstones. The pain got so bad I couldn't lie on my back for more than a few minutes without feeling like I was on fire. I spent nearly a decade trying to get to the bottom of this issue, receiving no help from conventional doctors who just wanted to prescribe me drugs that I flat-out refused to take.​I thought my diet was healthy; after all, I grew my own vegetables and cooked everything from scratch! But I also drank more than I should have—not quite an 'alcoholic,' but more of an overenthusiastic social drinker, indulging in at least a beer or glass of wine most days and a lot more on weekends. I mean, we lived in France! Of course, I had to enjoy the country’s best offerings. And no week was complete without treating myself to cakes, biscuits, pastries, desserts, ice cream—all the sweet crap. Despite this, I still believed I was healthy because I also ate tonnes of what I considered 'healthy foods'.​ I went gluten-free for about 5 or 6 years, but the chest pains persisted, and painful bloating in my lower belly became a new, unwelcome guest. I'd find a new natural fix which would work for a while before failing me. I could never figure it out. One day I'd be constipated, the next, I'd have the opposite problem. Oh, and the headaches! In my 40's, they weren’t as bad as in my 20's when I had taken painkillers almost daily, but they were still relentless enough to send me to bed with "it’s not a migraine!" a couple of times a week.​

 

Finally, after another of my 'annual' flu episodes, a high fever and chest infection, complete with thrush, that had me bedridden for a week, it dawned on me that this was the second time I’d had the awful lurgy in just a few short months. The penny finally dropped. I decided to try the anti-Candida protocol I’d been studiously avoiding since a natural practitioner diagnosed me with a leaky gut (like a leaky plumbing pipe but WAYYYY more problematic!) and 'body-wide Candida Albicans' in my late 20's. Sadly, I loved sugar more than the idea of the deprivation and massive will-power which I mistakenly thought were required to get rid of the Big C. ​I was a child growing up in the 1970s when antibiotics were handed out like M & M's, and I'd had more than my fair share by the time I was 10. Add to that a diet so high in sugars and starches it's a wonder I wasn’t also a Type 2 Diabetic (kept that at bay with my enthusiastic exercising!) as well as having a badly compromised gut. I carried this theme into adulthood, succumbing to yet another course of prescription meds for every sickness that came my way.​

 

I was allergic to perfumed soaps and shampoos and was always battling the never-ending horror of thrush. I knew that to banish this persistent pest, a sugar-free diet was a must. Candida, that sneaky fungal infection, if left unchecked, will gleefully spread throughout your body, colonising every nook and cranny, including your brain and joints. It wreaks havoc and causes all sorts of 'mysterious' conditions like brain fog, exhaustion, muscle weakness, eczema, psoriatic arthritis, and a host of other immune disorders, as well as eventually, dementia, as your body struggles to keep it in check. Fuel yourself with the Standard Western Diet, and Candida will throw a wild party.​ Even if you've never heard of it, the evidence confirms that bacterial and fungal overgrowth and related conditions are common; the exception is to have normal, healthy bowel flora. Tens of millions of people suffer from these nasties, without even realising. 

 

As I type this, I haven't had a Candida episode in over 10 years. The headaches are history and I ditched all painkillers once I realised they were also gut-destroying culprits. I followed a fairly strict anti-Candida protocol on and off for several years, which helped, but it wasn't until the last three years that I finally nailed it by changing my diet completely.​ I healed my gut and got rid of the chest pains, all while keeping my gallbladder intact (despite three doctors recommending it be evicted due to stone overload). The bloating? Gone! Sure, I'd get a recurrence if I indulged in more than one or two beers or too many gassy veggies, but it just isn’t worth it. I learned that I had an Upper Fermenting Gut or Auto Brewery Syndrome but also discovered how to fix it. These days, my gut would win gold if there were an Olympic sport for digestive health!​

 

I am strong and vital, having done all this for myself through diet and lifestyle changes. I wasn’t seeking a 'weight-loss' plan, but fat reduction came about naturally by eating the right foods at the right times and eating them in abundance! No starvation diets here, thank you. I got my blood sugar under control and became insulin sensitive rather than resistant. My rockstar metabolism is firing on all cylinders! I have boundless energy and a positive, enthusiastic outlook on life, all while staying calm and rational—an enviable state my younger self could only dream of. I no longer have an eating disorder because everything I choose to eat is exactly that: a choice. I’m no longer a slave to uncontrollable sugar cravings and all the misery giving into them brings. My hormones are balanced, and I am loving my confidence and my vibrant life. I'm eagerly looking forward to my next half-century.​

 

After studying Food & Nutrition A-Level at school, then qualifying as a chef in the mid-80's, I trained with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London, UK, and qualified as a board certified Health Coach. This was the final puzzle piece, allowing me to work with clients and teach them the tools to heal themselves. 

 

Click the Westminster Insurance logo to view my professional indemnity policy: 

​​

​

​

​

​

ANP logo.png
bottom of page