I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I put pen to paper but I know it’s been a while, but I know I am amongst friends juggling this little thing called life ☺️.

So, what’s took me so long to get back in touch? I’ve mentioned in previous communications my passion to serve the women of this community and wider afield in supporting health, hormones and general wellbeing and have been doing so over the last 11 years. Only the privileged will know that when you work in a field of coaching and nutrition, you get to know someone on a deeper level and become invested in every single person you work with. You get to know their story with all its rich history in a quest to understand why they are at my door with a heap of symptoms that are debilitating, frustrating and creating distress. My role is to support you as an individual and your body as a whole to understand the imbalances that need to be rectified to restore health physically, mentally and spiritually – only then can we thrive!

I call myself a Nutritional Therapist, I still do but over the last decade, my work has deepened and expanded much further than nutrition alone. I am a BANT certified Nutritional Therapist, Functional Medicine practitioner and more recently embarked on an intense 2-year learning journey in a field I had very little prior knowledge … the world of psychology! As an expert in women’s health, food and hormones the need to support women to regain healthy eating habits and break free from the constraints of dieting and the emotional eating baggage engrained for years then how could I not? Changing eating habits and breaking free of eating distress for greater self-esteem, body image and quality of life is what we all deserve.

Social media, diet culture and the pressures of society to look and fit into a certain body image (now that is a whole other newsletter right there!), leaves so much scaring mentally with emotional exhaustion – no wonder by the time we hit mid-life our bodies are providing us with a host of unwanted symptoms and screaming at us that it’s time to shift the focus to restoring health through a nutritional lense and heal relationship with food.

So going back to the point of this newsletter and why it’s taken we so long to get in touch. In a nutshell I went back to ‘school’ and geeked out for 2 years to become part of the solution and can say with pride that I am a fully qualified eating disorder specialist in all its phycological food and mindset glory! I can now add National Centre for Eating Disorder (NCFED) Master Practitioner to my name.

Disordered eating exists on a spectrum and therefore many people struggle quietly for years not feeling ‘sick enough’ to deserve help or know that help is out there.

Disordered eating is sneaky and shows up in ways that you may perceive as normal. Here’s what I see frequently in clients:

• Food take up more mental space than you would like
• You feel anxious or guilty about eating
• You skip meals to ‘make up’ for eating
• Your eating habits interfere with your social life or mood
• You feel out of control around food sometimes — or overly controlled!
• You think about calories, weight, or food most of the day
• You’re frequently checking your body in mirrors
• You compare your body to others constantly
• You exercise to burn off food
• You cycle from undereating to overeating

Exhausting right!

1 in 5 women have had an eating disorder or some form of disordered eating by the age of 40 with midlife, particularly perimenopause, bringing an increased vulnerability due to body changes. When disordered eating leads to underconsumption of calories, extreme exercise, or a very limited intake of certain foods, your body is placed under extreme stress because of a huge energy deficit creating lethargy, dizziness, problems with digestion, low mood, anxiety, irritability to name a few. All of these symptoms mirror symptoms of the fluctuations of hormones in perimenopause can bring so it becomes confusing as to what is happening in your body creating this mirage of unwanted debilitating symptoms.

My job is to rebalance, renourish and listen to your story to help you regain healthy eating habits, break free from the constraints of dieting and emotional eating whilst balancing your hormones to gain a happy relationship with food and your body.

Here is what Claire had to say:

“I am very grateful to Debbie. She has had a really positive impact on my health and how I feel day to day. Before starting, I often felt unsure about what my body needed and struggled with eating disorders. My problems were heightened during my two maternity leaves, with feelings of loneliness, boredom, and lack of self-worth being triggers to overeat. Debbie helped me understand my body better and feel more confident in my choices, in a non-judgemental way. The support felt very personal and realistic, making it easier to create changes that actually fit my life and my tastes, not just your standard “eat well” advice that we all already know.

Debbie has helped me move towards my health goals while also building a healthier relationship with food and with myself. During our sessions, Debbie guided me through my food choices, reasons and triggers. Ultimately, I have achieved, not the “idealized and completely unrealistic being”, but a health status that is real, compassionate, and true to myself. 

I loved all our sessions together and I know that Debbie will continue to help other people just like she helped me.”

If this resonates with you, then please feel free to get in touch by booking a call through the below link, I would love to help you as always ❤️

28 Day Hormone Reboot: Start date 19th May – 26th May

I have been asked when my next remote reset programme is due to start, and we were inundated by those who have previous completed our reset programmes to bring back our Hormone Reboot! I have just finalised the dates with Becca from These Women Do @thesewomendo and we have just 15 places available. We know from our previous Hormone Reboot that this will be a sell out!

Some recent lovely comments from our recent programmes:

“Thank you both so much for taking the time to support us over the 14 days and onwards! I have loved working with you both again! I have lost 6 pounds which I am thrilled with and have less bloat and water retention, my skin (psoriasis) has really cleared up and I have slept really well. I have also got back into the habit of planning and prepping meals – which always serves me well. And have really enjoyed giving my body good food! There are some habits that I am going to continue- herbal teas in work etc and feel like I am in a really good place to keep eating well, keeping sugar low and just doing things that are GOOD for me!”

“I would definitely do this every few months as a recharge and reboot and will keep some of the recipes in my weekly planning too.”

“Thank you so much Debbie and Becca! The programme has made such a huge difference to me. The support offered was amazing, and the Facebook group setting meant there was also support from other lovely like-minded people which helped so much too. As well as feeling lighter and healthier, I’ve had a complete mindset makeover when it comes to food. Thank you SO much to you both xxx“

We will begin advertising next week so if you want to by on the list, drop your details below and I will send further information when we have finalised the course … looking forward to this one!

Free Pain Management Programme @ Thrive Wellbeing Hub

I also wanted to share something rather special run by my lovely colleague Laura, experienced Physio led Pilates Instructor. Laura is piloting a 6- week FREE Pain Management Programme to support those who are managing chronic pain and have exhausted all other avenues.

I will be supporting Laura with the nutritional aspect of this programme and hope to see you there . If you are interested, then please see the attached leaflet and contact Laura directly at empowerphysioandpilates@gmail.com