MY STORY: After a decade of dieting, gut issues, breakout skin and (at times debilitating anxiety), paired with non-existent periods after being on the pill (for 10 years) I decided to investigate my hormonal health beyond the generic (lack-of) advice from my GP. 

I soon discovered I had PCOS and an under-active thyroid which suddenly made sense of the stack of symptoms I had been contending with for so much of my late-teens and twenties. In a strange way it felt validating and reassuring that I could pin-point what was going on, I wasn’t making it up or complaining for no reason it was all hormonally driven. The chemical messengers responsible for so many of my physical and cognitive internal functionings were out of whack and my body was crying out for attention and this imbalance was manifesting in my gut, skin, mood and lack of energy- it was like joining the dots because I realised in that moment I needed to nourish and heal my body and I needed to get to the root of it asap, it couldn’t wait. 

The urgency to do this aside from wanting to feel (and look) better was because I so desperately wanted to become a mother and I knew my hormones needed to be balanced for this to happen, I had fertility worries since I could remember and I knew I had to take action now to help my body and give myself the best chances to conceive. 

So I took a deep dive into the world of nutrition, using food as medicine to help heal my body and recover from the symptoms I had put up with for so long. The following months of consistently eating well and prioritising my health slowly began to override my old ‘normal’. I was eating, sleeping, moving and showing-up differently. But the biggest reflection of my improved health was my period returning, I had regulated my cycle naturally from food and lifestyle improvements and I was ovulating for the first time in my life. I couldn’t believe it! I felt like a new thriving version of myself, almost not recognising the girl before and how I used to feel everyday. 

I realised it wasn’t normal to feel tired all the time, to feel bloated from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, and to eat the bare minimum, go to the gym 5 times a week yet still struggle to lose weight… the realisation of my new reality was the most empowering thing I’d ever experienced. My gut symptoms had completely gone, I woke up with energy, I felt motivated for life and my skin was clear. I had nourished myself better and I was pregnant. The best possible manifestation of my health optimisation journey and I felt more gratitude for being healthy than I could put into words. 

It was my healing journey that inspired me and gave me the unstoppable mission to help other women do the same and it’s the biggest privilege to have this opportunity to help my clients with the knowledge, tools and empowerment to take control of their nutrition and help them nourish themselves to better health.

Qualifications: My nutrition (pre and post-natal, weight-management and behaviour change) qualifications are certified by the Association for Nutrition (AfN) and accredited by the  The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH). Nutritional Therapy and Health Coach training at The College of Naturopathic Nutrition (DipCNM).