When I returned to the UK to teach in 1999, I was a UK size 8 bottom/12 top. By September 2013 I was going to have to buy size 18 bottom/22 top ! Even though I had been telling myself for years that I would get around to shifting those pounds ‘tomorrow’, I was too stressed and too busy as a teacher and then as a senior leader in a secondary school to cope with feeling hungry and grumpy. But one day I looked in the mirror and didn't recognise how frumpy I had become where I dressed to try and hide my size. I had always been a yo-yo dieter - Cabbage Soup, F-Plan, Rotation diets - and this time I tried Slimming World a couple of times and then the 8 weeks to a Sugar Free Diet, each time losing a bit and gaining it back.

In 2015, I started studying Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and discovered this incredible tool that empowered me to realise I am in charge of my thinking; it was like being given a remote control for your brain! Out of curiosity and as part of the training I applied the techniques to my own life. I started undoing the programming of beliefs and habits that had led me to put on so much weight and I haven’t looked back since.

 I addressed those triggers and habits and that thinking that led to me putting the weight back on each time. The big shift came when I ‘Swished’ eating cake. Without any dieting at all, just applying this NLP technique to change my thinking when I saw cake, I lost 15 pounds in six months. 

I used coaching to make other small changes, like not stopping to buy coffee on my way to and from work, addressing my high stress levels and the mental block of a wardrobe of clothes I liked that would no longer fit if I lost more weight. Very significantly, I addressed the mental talk and decisions I make to please others.

I have completely changed my relationship with food and my lifestyle. I no longer have a shelf of diet books in my kitchen, just my trusty Dr Moseley as I love his recipes, the diet from a nutritionist and great cookbooks, and I am now in my 'optimal' weight range.

From my own experience, from research and from helping other women, I have learned that losing weight is a complex and difficult task, not least because we are not meant to lose weight. In addition, we are like onions, we unravel one issue, feel great for a while and then discover another layer that needs tackling if we are to keep on track still. 

I have packaged that knowledge into The Mindset Diet TM coaching programme and book so that I can share my learning with other busy women to lose weight and keep it off.

I also used NLP to recover from working in a toxic environment and use it now to build my business mindset. I am on a mission to show other professional women like you how you too can access your inner awesome to develop an empowered mindset. As part of that mission, I volunteer in groups that help women and girls access equality and believe they can. 

How we do food is how we do everything, When you start shifting your mindset from scarcity go-on-a-diet thinking to abundant empowered-eater thinking, how you interact with the world and your self-perception will change. As a health and wellbeing coach, I will help you look at your lifestyle holistically to examine what small things you could change, one small step at a time. 

If like me you would love to look in the mirror and feel happy knowing your inner and outer selves match, call me to find out how I can help. Whatever is holding you back, I can help you rethink how you think!