Meet Your Coach
Hello and so pleased that you are here, I am Philippa and welcome to ONE BODY ME.
Welcome to ONE BODY ME!
My journey with food….
Hello… and so pleased that you are here, I am Philippa and welcome to ONE BODY ME. I am a certified Food Addiction Coach, Dip. Clinical Weight Loss Coach CMA, Nutrition Coach and proud member of the Complimentary Medical Association: with an immense passion to help individuals improve health and well-being from all angles, mind body and soul.
Like many people in their early careers, I did not start out on this path. After completing a BA in Fashion Management at LCF, I went on to work in luxury goods recruitment where I progressed through to Director. After 14 years of what was an amazing job, with equally amazing people, I was searching for something..
From my mid-teens, I faced huge struggles with food and disordered eating, poor body image and much confusion around food, dealing with anorexia and binge eating and a number of issues in between. I know all too well the heartache and frustration and the never-ending mental exhaustion food can bring. Disordered eating affected me through my teens, mainly in my 20’s and into my 30’s but as I developed knowledge about food and nutrition, I became more aware and understanding, which made me stronger and more empowered which were the foundations to me ‘getting well’.
When various family members close to me became ill with various issues, like type 2 diabetes, and obesity and to a lesser extent but just as troublesome, high cholesterol and high triglycerides for example, I began to research to understand more about these metabolic issues, how I could help from a food perspective and my interest started to expand.
Finding my way
When I think back to my younger self standing in my bedroom scoffing down (binging) bowl after bowl of granola because I hadn’t eaten for ages, I now look back and realise just how far I have come on the journey to having total peace around food, free from disordered eating both psychologically and physiologically, no longer it controlling me and I don’t control it either – I am just being. It has not been an easy journey and I have learnt the hard way, now in the hope that I can help others.
I have spent years becoming a nutritional enthusiast, I took a personal nutrition diploma, followed by an advanced diploma in nutrition and as my passion grew, I have been reading and studying ever since to broaden my knowledge. I then studied to become a Clinical Weight Loss Coach and once I completed that I realised that something was still missing, why do we do what we do with food and why do we have so many issues? I furthered that with Food Addiction and Binge Eating. I think of myself as a human sponge when it comes to broadening my knowledge, in all of these areas.
I had a yearning to understand why SO many diets don’t work, what it was that sees an individual end up not only ‘falling out of the diet’ but why so many gain even more weight when they stop. I became immersed in understanding the metabolic system and how our hormones are responsible for so much and this goes undiscussed in weight loss plans. In addition, many calorie-restrictive diets focus on numbers not on what the food’s chemical structure and makeup does when actually inside the body, being a far more complex topic than calories in and calories out. In addition, focusing on external methods does not take into consideration internal factors, hence my fascination has grown beyond the obvious diet and exercise methods as modalities to lose weight and how we as humans have minds, habits, behaviours and beliefs to name but a few that shape our personal worlds and their outcomes.
I now have the knowledge and understanding of nutrition, and how food affects the body both from a physiological perspective and also the intricacies of the psychological. I help individuals with weight loss, disordered eating, food addiction issues, binge eating, none of which are linear and I understand the depth of these issues and how life-altering and serious it can be for an individual.
At one time I would not even enter a kitchen to make food, both because of my many issues around food and partly because I just didn’t know how/ what/ when…. My kitchen is now a creative joyful space where I enjoy cooking and creating healthy recipes with confidence and enthusiasm without fear knowing that I am nourishing my mind and body.. and my family’s.
I am the proud creator of WHOLE & Clean in 28 days, which is a 4-week plan that involves eating whole foods for a month, the plan is both wheat and gluten-free and sugar-free (no added sugars or syrups). There is the option to be dairy-free, egg-free and soy-free for those that have allergies/ intolerances or feel they wish to eliminate them from their diet for other reasons.
The DIFFERENCE with this programme is that there is a complete DETAILED shopping list for each week for those that find it difficult to shop and to make life SUPER super easy without having to think, hence you don’t have to think about a thing, you just have to enjoy the delicious wholesome recipes. This is for those that wish to eliminate processed foods and sugar and detoxify the body completely naturally without extreme calorie intervention. By eating these foods you will begin to ‘clean’ out the body, as much as we have a fantastic detox system our current food system is causing huge inflammatory issues within people leading to many complications. You will begin to feel so much better once on a whole foods plan, full of life, more energy, better sleep, less joint pain, clearer head to name but a few benefits!! It is a programme for life, in essence it is a way to eat forever, it is not a quick fix diet, it is how we should ALL be eating to improve our health from both a mind and body perspective. (find in the Programme section)
I am currently writing a book about the world we live in today, the current health issues we are facing specifically the metabolic syndrome and how it is driven by our modern world and the crippling effect this is having on our health industry; accompanied by a healthy food and lifestyle plan.
There has always been a yearning in me to help others and to see other people achieve their goals, their desires and feel better and happier in their lives AND most importantly to be free from food addiction and disordered eating. If I can help you do that as your coach then I have reached my own desires and goals!
What is health coaching?
Health coaching is a powerful tool that can help you make positive changes in your overall well-being. A coach helps you to implement changes in your life in some key areas such as Hydration, Nutrition, Movement, Physical Fitness, Sleep, Stress, Time Management, A health coach gets you unstuck; they help you figure out what’s keeping you from reaching your goals. Coaching gets you from where you are right now and to the point you want to be.
A coach is your personal cheerleader, your guide, and your partner in your journey.
Your coach will regularly check in with you, by WhatsApp, calls, emails and or in person/ zoom, usually over a course of 3 months. During this time a health coach will ask questions which get you thinking about how you can overcome challenges.
Health coaching is not about telling you what to do, it is someone who respects your reasons for wanting to change and showing up for you. Sometimes change is difficult to do even though we may want to so very badly, there are often things standing in our way which we need to move past.
When you feel like nothing is working or going right, a coach can give you encouragement and support. For example: let’s say a medical professional has said to you that you need to lose weight, move more and cut out calories, when you leave the office it makes you feel overwhelmed and like you have a thousand things to figure out and a busy life to lead on top of it all, a coach can help you find your strengths and lead you into making unique changes in your unique life so that it becomes easier, more manageable and more positive which enables you to carry on achieving and reaching your goals one step at a time!
Making changes or facing changes because you either want to or must is often very difficult. Over 50% of our daily lives are driven by habits, and our bodies often work against us in forming new habits, partly because our body wants to help us survive and changing takes energy, hence changing what we do can often rear resistance, hence a coach helps in making these significant changes and finds ways to make it a whole lot easier!
In a nutshell: As a client you will know that you have to check in with your coach and that keeps you accountable; the coach can give you encouragement and support when you need it most and when things seem impossible, a coach does not judge or push, they are compassionate and understanding, they inspire and move your forwards, they help you come to your own conclusions which strengthens your own inner wisdom…. and powers you towards your goals.
