In this blog, I share with you my experience of what was a big turning point in my life. This turning point started my journey to where I am today.

 

So here it goes.

You see, I was at a point in life that perhaps you can relate to…

I had a busy job and full-time duties as a mum of 3. I was pushing through, lacking in motivation, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and beginning to wonder: “Shit, is this it?!”

I constantly got sick, I struggled with IBS, psoriasis, anxiety and a classic case of perfectionism as I tried to fix things.

Controlling what I ate became an obsession.

I was checking off the lists of dietary changes to stop the IBS, seeking out the supplements to cure psoriasis, taking the remedies to resolve the bloating and running the roads away from myself.

Everywhere I looked I was told food was the answer to all of my problems.

But because I was so convinced I was doing it right I didn’t notice what was really happening.

  • How I watched every morsel I ate and judged every morsel everyone else ate too. How I really wanted to have the cake but it had to be… pleasure free.
  • How I didn’t trust food, I didn’t trust myself.
  • How I avoided hunger because I believed intermittent fasting was the answer.
  • How I walked myself and my family to 10 restaurants to find the perfect healthy one only to end up secretly wishing we went to the first with the yummy burger.

I didn’t notice that in all the doing, I wasn’t feeling any better, in fact I was creating a bigger problem.

It’s not that the food advice I had gotten was wrong. It was that the person working with me did not see or hear me. I wish the people offering me health advice had seen what was really happening: the weight loss, the stress, the severe restriction, the pain.

My body was tired, it needed love and compassion, a rest and I was asking it to do more. I help my clients today to reframe these insidious thoughts that self-care is selfish.

There was a turning point though in all this that brings me to where I am today.

I was on holiday in Spain, covered head to toe in red blotchy scaly psoriasis. I was roasting, hiding behind my long clothes to cover my skin. I looked around me, at people who were just living.

It was there that it hit me and I realised: I was living to eat, not eating to live.

And so the seed was planted to give up the fight with food. The reality was dawning – I didn’t want to be the person who could eat the perfect diet if it meant I gave up on living.

That was the day I knew I would never be able to tell people what to eat to earn my living.

That was the day I changed inside forever, because I was no longer afraid to see what was keeping me stuck.

I want to work so you can be confident as you are, and allow yourself to stretch and grow. I want you to start becoming more of yourself so that you take actions because you want to care for yourself not because you need to.

It breaks my heart to see you pour money and time into quick fix solutions that you know are keeping you stuck.

That’s why I have made it my mission to be the best non-diet coach Ireland has seen.

My job is not to preach to you to eat peas and chia seeds. No. You need someone who is going to help you figure out how to change the habits, behaviours, actions that you take so you get a better result.

Now I help people slow down so in the end they speed up.

My clients are getting promotions, being role models for their children, family and friends, are wearing swimsuits again, are not worrying about what others think and above all making space for the things that really matter.

My greatest joy is teaching you how to say goodbye to endless dieting, to really understand yourself and get you started on your journey of practising intuitive eating.

Anti-diet does not mean anti-health, so my approach helps you to discover the behaviours that are health supportive and easy to implement consistently.

I am still managing to co-exist with 3 kids, a dog and a husband, the toughest ride of all. I jump into the wave of emotion every day as much as I jump into the baltic Irish Sea. My qualifications are as quirky and random as myself. As my Dad said of me on my wedding day, I like to take the scenic route wherever I go.

If you are looking for support, if you are not living your dream, if you don’t want to make this journey to feeling healthy any harder on yourself, know I am here for you.

I hope that through this blog, sharing my experience, I will be able to make some kind of positive impact on you, whether it is big or small.

If you want to know more about my journey, I would love to connect with you. Interested in learning more about intuitive eating? Head on over to my podcast The Confident & Eating Podcast – where I delve deeper into how you can start practicing intuitive eating in your life season one.

Denise x