About me

My story…

“If I could just lose a few pounds I would be happy”

“I’m so fed up with not fitting into my jeans”

“There is no way I am going to be seen in public in a bikini”

Weight loss, diets and negative self image have been a constant feature in my life for as long as I can remember.

Watching your big sisters embark on the the ‘cabbage diet’ as a teenager is an experience that will stay with you forever. It lasted for two (seemly never-ending) days and resulted in an inability to eat, smell or be near cabbages for at least a decade after. At the time I had a sky high metabolism (as most teenagers do) and I just didn’t get it.

Who would go to such lengths to lose weight?

Well, it would seem quite a lot of people.

The cabbage diet may be the most memorable (for all the wrong reasons) but it certainly wasn’t the first or the last diet I witnessed growing up. 

It was only when I moved to Dubai in my late twenties that I suddenly ‘got it’. All day brunches with free flowing alcohol and food combined with very little exercise meant that in less than 3 months I had put on a stone. When I returned home for Christmas, my Dad greeted me with “Wow, you’re looking a bit chunky” .  You’ve got to love parents for telling it like it is!

A diet was the only way to go (after Christmas, obviously).

I needed to lose weight. Fast. In fact, the quicker, the better. Promises of losing a stone in a matter of weeks pulled me in every time. After all, spending every weekend at the beach in Dubai meant spending every weekend in a bikini.

I tried juice detoxes, drastically cutting calories and cutting carbs. I joined a gym for the first time in my life. It was an expensive mistake. I would either spend my day feeling horribly guilty that I hadn’t gone or would go but wander aimlessly for an hour, sticking to the treadmill because that was the only thing I really knew how to use.

None of it worked, I lacked energy and motivation and to be honest it left me feeling like a bit of a failure.

Finding out I had polycystic ovaries in my second year was the catalyst I needed. Suddenly I needed to improve my diet for my health, not just so I looked reasonable in a bikini.

I began to focus on eating well – lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and a balanced diet. I didn’t cut anything out just tried to limit alcohol and instead focused on how much ‘good stuff’ I could eat each day.

I joined a bootcamp (a friendly, non scary bootcamp) and regained my love of exercise. Being outside in the fresh air and doing different exercises at each session was a million times more enjoyable (and effective) than watching the minutes count down on the treadmill.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t quick.

I had numerous slip ups along the way, including one spectacular occasion where after a few drinks, I was unable to resist the thought of an ice-cream sundae…one with all the toppings (after all if you are going to fall off the wagon, just as well do it properly). Needless to say ice-cream and alcohol don’t mix…

However, this time I didn’t give up. I didn’t waste time feeling horribly guilty and punishing myself. I just got straight back on it.

It slowly dawned on me that an occasional treat isn’t a problem as long as it doesn’t turn into a week long binge. Balance is important. I regained energy, my skin cleared up and I could fit into my clothes again.

It was this journey that made me realise the power of exercise and good food. I retrained as a personal trainer and nutrition advisor and I LOVE what I do. 

I’ve worked with women of all ages, lifestyles and body sizes. The one thing they’ve had in common has been the desire to lose weight.

Nearly all have been on several diets and tried all sorts of crazy regimes in an attempt to drop the pounds. Yet these just haven’t worked…or if they have, they only worked in the short term and as soon as they went back to eating ‘normally’, the weight went straight back on.

Does this sound familiar?

The cycle of yo-yo dieting is depressing, demotivating and not much fun. Life is too short. I know. I’ve been there.