When talking to people, one of the question I am being asked often is: And what do You do?
One of my close friends, when he is introducing me, he always says my name first and then jokingly he quickly adds: ‘Oh and if you wonder what she does, she is something like a Doctor.’ Well, I certainly am NOT a Doctor, I mentor/COACH people, but it always put a smile on people faces and lightens up the conversation.
The simple answer is, I am an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach – ‘a supportive mentor and wellness authority who works with clients to help them feel their best through food and lifestyle changes. Instead of prescribing one diet or way of exercising, Health Coaches tailor individualized wellness programs to meet their clients’ needs.’ Institute for Integrative Nutrition
Well, okay this might not be as simple answer as it sounded in my head at first. Health Coaching is a fairly new term and profession. We all heard about different Coaches. As a Health Coach, I support and guide clients to setting up and achieving their individual goals, be it feeling better, healthier or happier, more energized, weightless, balance cravings, sleep better, stress less, be more confident, have more self-love or feel less anxious, depressed. Some client comes to me because they need a support with their autoimmune condition, heal their gut, work on their inflammation or would like support during their detox.
I also work with new mums and their babies, helping them to balance their nutrition during pregnancy and after birth as well as giving valuable advises how to how to manage natural common ailments their baby experience. For example what to do when a baby has colic, cradle cap, baby eczema or the weaning process when their bundle of joy is keen to discover a whole new world of food. And then after the whole new world of nutrition, healthy meals made easy type for the whole family.
I coach people, I ask questions, sometimes a lot of questions, I listen and let the client talk and find his/her own, to them unique answer to my questions. People of different ages come to me with different problems, symptoms of what is their body telling/showing to them. My sessions are tailor to individual clients needs as everyone has different goals, desires. During our sessions, we look deeper into Primary Foods (Relationship, Career, Movement and Spirituality) and Secondary Foods (Nutrition – food they eat or don’t).
We talk about food, relationship with food, how or what to eat to feel better. Some of my clients come to me as they feel bloated, tired after food, we dive a bit deeper why is that. With parents, I worked with pregnant, we look into morning sickness (which sometimes can last a lot longer than then just 12 weeks)
”Come As You Are. Leave As You Want To Be. And ENJOY Anything In Between.” Unknown
People ask me how did I become and what made me become a Health Coach? How long have I been doing what I do?
To answer this question, it’s probably best that I share with you a defining moment, and a resulting “compelling story”, that brought me to where I am today – coaching people like you on exactly what to do to better nourish yourself, unleashing your self love, suppressed emotions, (food) addictions, cravings, alleviate stress and anxiety, be better parents, be better spouses, raise healthier kids, and ultimately, have a happier and healthier life. That defining moment in my life happened just before Christmas 2010.
That December was the one where one door closed and other opened up for me. I and my long-term boyfriend knew for a while we are going to call it a day, I just needed time to prepare his son, that I and his dad will no longer be together and I will move out but still be there for him.
Things didn’t go according to our agreement but it was a great kick arse lesson and blessing in one. I was on a mission to start my own life over from square one. I needed to find myself. (can you relate?:) )
I was lost, homeless, couldn’t eat, and couldn’t say a sentence without sobbing. I lost 10 kilos within 2 weeks! I was a walking, crying wreck, shadow of my former self. Yet, I realized how blessed I am with friends, I started to count all my blessings no matter how small they were.
I had a few wake up calls previously, but this one was the biggest wake-up call, the catalyze that make me start going to investigate to heal myself, to heal my mind, my body, my emotions, my spirit, find and heal my inner child.
I was interested in nutrition, healing foods, herbs and spirituality since early childhood. I went on and turned my interest, my life experiences into a passion/mission and went to study Health Coaching with integrated nutrition, done Dr Axe course which was oriented on Leaky Gut and its issues, started to study Homeopathy and Angel card reading.
On my journey, I learnt that what you eat can either nourish and heal you or make you sick. The food we feed our body, mind and soul is not always food we put in our mouth but as well our own thoughts, emotions, beliefs, words we tell ourselves. I learnt how to listen to my body and read signs it’s giving me like when it burst out with eczema or hormonal imbalance and thyroid issue. You know the feeling when you eat something and you get bloated and tires after you finish and all you want to do is crawl in bed.
For over twelve years I’ve worked as a nanny for children from newborn until the teenage years. In this work, I’ve had a series of wake up calls as well that have called me to do this work. I was closely watching patterns we inherited from our parents, society and friends. Patterns which we are passing on to children since the day they are born.
For example, I was working as a nanny for a little girl with down syndrome. When I was with her, giving her one-on-one attention, she was very sweet, curious and independent, she picked things up very quickly. She knew what she wanted and her boundaries. If someone dealt with her with a fear that she might hurt herself or anything, she would act out because this approach wasn’t going to work for her. While I was encouraged by parents to used some techniques and tools if she would try to run away or do something which could be harmful, I never had to use it as we had trust between each other and understanding.
Another example was a little boy I nannied. I picked him up after school and we would go and buy some doughnut around 3:30. By 4 pm, he was no longer himself. I’ve seen so many kids, sweet, very bright, eat certain foods and suddenly become moody and tired, acting up or throwing tantrums out of nowhere.
I started to notice the same pattern in older children, adults. Bring on their own specific body O’clock and I knew I am either going to run or make them eat something which will nourish them and keep their sugar levels and mood swing at bay.
I also worked with a little boy who lost his mother at age three. I went through the whole bereavement process with him. His family members, while they felt bad for him, they just wanted him to be satisfied at all times. So they gave him whatever he wanted to quiet him down, thinking this would make him happy. But this indulgence backfired every time and affected his overall understanding and behaviour in school, social and personal life. Children are the best negotiators!
Why am I telling you this story?
These experiences and many, many more like it, inspired me to learn how I can help people with overcoming inner blocks, fears, suppressed emotions, addictions, weight/stress and other health issues. I work with people to help them balance their lives through aligning their Primary foods – relationships, career, physical activity, spirituality and Secondary Food – nutrition, the actual food they feed their bodies with. Together we look at the different aspects of their life, the symptoms their body is giving them to learn more about health, we look at what they eat and how the body reacts to the food and how healthy is their gut. We look as well into how to prepare easily more nutritious meals based on individual needs – no more dieting!
I help parents raise healthier, happier children in a more natural, holistic way. I know parents are exhausted. Most of them are doing the best they know how to do, the best they can. But unfortunately, many are overcompensating and accidentally ‘hurting’ their kids with too many sugary foods, highly processed foods or presents. I’ve come to learn that this often is rooted in their own upbringing, their own childhoods. I started coaching parents how they can parent in their own way (not just the way they were raised.) helping them recognize the truth of parenting, learn that it’s okay not to be perfect parents, that it’s alright to say no to their kids and learn how to love themselves, even if they feel they can’t.
I have made a commitment to dedicate the rest of my professional life to help clients to master their body talks and help them break their addictions, procrastination, get unstuck. I help people to access confidence, self-love, healing, abundance, health, access their full potential and break free to live the life they always dreamed of.
Since then, I’ve worked with many private clients, spoken in front of countless groups: I am working toward my dream of travelling the world, starting my own family and living my best dream life ever.
I have created the Ignite Your Potential™ a series of 10 important emotional and nutritional steps every person needs to apply to live healthier and happier life where they can get control of their own health, accept themselves the way they are, who they are, love themselves and allow others to love them – tune into self-love. Life, where there is no more dieting, tiredness, addictions to numb their feelings or thoughts but sleep is refreshing and they can generally feel better. For those who are parents, this program will help raise healthy and happy children and families.
