NATURALLY EMPOWERED HEALTH

Up to the age of 41, my experience with food has been a torrid relationship. As a teen I was bullied at school and named ‘Thunder Thighs’ by girls who I grew up with and thought were my friends. Nothing could have been further from the truth as I was often taunted, shouted at, spat at as well as being psychologically bullied.

At 14, when the bullying was in full flow, I took drastic action where for a year I only ate bread and drank water, it worked! I lost weight that I didn’t need to lose as I plummeted to 7 stone. I am 5ft 7 now and wasn’t much shorter than so I was painfully thin and anorexic. Over 30 years ago this wasn’t picked up on my GP so I had to deal with it myself. But I fitted with the in-crowd, I was thin, had long hair, not bad looking and was easy to manipulate as I was constantly tired.

I was brought out of this ‘slumber’ by a sudden shock, at 15 ½ my mum was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease, and here started my life-long studying of gut health and the immune system. Back then it was trips to the library as this was before the internet and there wasn’t that much known about Lupus and autoimmune diseases in 1990.

My life stabilised at this point I got my head into the books and went onto A-levels and college years to study Business and Information Technology. I started going to the gym and I guess you could say I got a little obsessed, I was doing 3-4 hours per day and watched my food. like a hawk, I wanted to be in optimum health so there was no chance of me developing my mum’s condition which could be passed down from mother to daughter.

August 1999 – I’ll never forget it My Dad had taken early retirement after 25 years of working at British Gas a few years prior, he had a part-time job so he wasn’t getting too much under my Mum’s feet! Early August of 1999 he went to the doctors complaining of stomach pain, from here he was requested to go to A&E, within hours our whole world had changed, My Dad was told he had cancer and that is was spreading, we were all floored, but were hopeful in the fact he was told he had a number years to live and the cancer could be managed. 21st August 1999 my Dad, my rock, passed away I was destroyed. I couldn’t cope and very quickly turned to food and alcohol, binging on both to numb the pain of losing the one man I could forever trust. That hole couldn’t be filled, I felt terrible at retreating from the family.

A year or so later I moved down to Liverpool to be with my new partner, I can see now that I was running away from my family and the grief I was feeling, I just couldn’t cope being around them at that time. I had never lost such an important person in my life and I didn’t know how to get around it, to be honest, I am not sure if I ever did, I cope with his loss but still feel like a hole is there.

My new partner worked long hours so I was left in the evening, alone, in a strange city with no close friends at the time, dealing with a huge loss and far away from home, binge drinking stopped but my binge eating got worse and worse, food was my new friend. It comforted me, gave me escape and made me feel everything would be OK – temporally. I was no longer going to the gym so my weight went up and up, I put on over 5 stone very quickly and HATED what I saw in the mirror. To me I was a failure, my family would be disgusted by how I looked, well that’s what I thought anyway, I had let myself and them down.

I tried both Weight Watchers and Slimming World and didn’t like either. I felt that it was a competition of who can lose the most weight. If you lost, great but if your weight stayed the same or increased, you were named and shamed, here I was being bullied again and no one was helping with the root cause of why I was binge eating.

I decided to take action into my own hands, I started to see a nutritionist who got me to understand what foods would be best for me at certain times of the day to keep me fuller longer and energised, so I wasn’t reaching as often for my comfort foods – something I still include in my client coaching today. I also took up running, the best thing ever for me as it got me to process my thoughts and if I was ever in a bad mood, sprinting

Life was good, I was seeing my family regularly, I was still with my partner - I had moved to Liverpool for and we were engaged. I had moved up in my career ladder, working at large events and festivals and dealing with the access of customers, staff, performers, press, VIP’s etc. I loved it, even if it was hellish long hours!

My 40th was looming and things were not going so well between me and my husband (after 12 years we got married and thought this was our forever). Later that year. we went on a make-or-break holiday to see if our relationship was salvageable, and we came back talking of splitting for

good. I moved out of our home and into my friend’s flat where I had to fit my life into one room. I couldn’t concentrate, I had a constant whirring mind that plummeted into depression, I lost my director’s job and quickly spiralled down and down where my relationship with food took on a different guise as I believed I didn’t deserve to eat. Days could go by and all I wanted to do was sleep, food was not my friend as it was there to nourish and I didn’t want to be nourished, I wanted to pass away quietly.

Two of my very closest friends saw what was happening to me a suggested that I went to see a councillor, I don’t know about you but it is not often you may listen to friends, but after about the fifth time of suggesting I’m glad I did as I honestly don’t think I would be here today telling my story. Bit by bit, step by step I could see myself coming back, my eating got better and so did my depression. A few months later in a session my councillor gave me a decision, t go back to a highpowered director’s role, full of stress

I am glad to say I followed my passion, food had always been a challenge to me and I wanted to be finally at peace with it and be able to support other people on that journey too. I trained to be an Anti Diet Empowerment coach where I marry this with over 30 years of gut health knowledge.

It took me a few years to understand that my body image also needed work as my first attempt at my business didn’t go so well, I did have clients but I didn’t feel that I was in the right head-space to be able to coach them to never need diet again.

So my story took one more dramatic turn, which I am sure won’t be the last. In May 2020 my wonderful Mum passed away after a battle with mixed dementia. She was my inspiration to rebrand and relaunch my company as Naturally Empowered Health where I coach men, women and teens to create new food habits when it comes to using food to relieve stress, comfort, or distract us from what is the root cause. I build in my gut health knowledge so when a client has successfully reached food freedom, their gut health is restored and optimum health is theirs to own. No more diets or discomfort, just peace with food and life.

I offer one-to-one coaching where we focus on getting to the root cause, understanding and dealing with triggers, giving you the tools to intuitively understand when it is best for you to eat and what to eat at that time to gain fullness and natural energy so you’re snacking is no longer an issue. We work together on your body image and body respect so you feel empowered and strong. Coaching where diets can be ditched forever.

I offer wellness masterclasses to corporate clients where we focus on reducing stress and employee sickness, improving energy, focus and productivity through changing the

My love for cooking has expanded into cooking at luxury retreats for all guests to enjoy organic meals that are cooked from scratch and are either uplifting through the day or grounding for the evening and all with gut health in mind and on October 22nd 2022 I will be co-hosting my first retreat based on Menopause gut health which is taking place in Market Drayton.

I released my book True Taste in January 2021 which is full of recipes that my clients love and a section on beginning your own journey on intuitive eating, this is available on my website www. and Amazon.

So what does the future hold? I wish to expand my corporate support for businesses who wish to raise their employee awareness to understand how food can affect our focus, stress levels, emotions, moods and hormones and with a few changes employees can each improve energy and productivity so stress is lowered and staff retention is increased.

I am also calling on higher education establishments to offer workshops where we discuss the impact of food and body image so that students are better equipped to recognise triggers and how to work past them and feel secure and happy in their own skin.

It is my aim to support adults and teens to be able to move away from experiencing similar anxieties and stress with food as I do, so with me they can truly experience a life where food is no longer in control of them but they are in charge of food, and their lives.

Connect with Margaret;

D www.nehhub.com

E margaret@nehhub.com

F Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/ emotionaleatingsupportuk

L www.linkedin.com/in/ emotionaleatingcoach/

Many of us struggle with stress eating as proven in the numbers. Between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK alone are affected by a pattern of disordered eating that often starts off with stress eating. Stress eating can also be referred to as emotional eating and is used by many people to help them deal with stressful situations, events, or changes that may be happening. People of all ages can experience stress eating and it can be caused by physical triggers, psychological triggers, or sometimes even a combination of both.

Do you overeat?

If you’re looking to book a FREE 30-minute consultation call with me to delve further into stress-eating and direct coping strategies, I would love to hear from you.

Stress eating is used as a coping mechanism for shortterm relief of psychological or physical symptoms but can often result in further stress. For example, a person that is going through a difficult life change such as a relationship break-up may stress-eat to make themselves feel better temporarily. However, when this becomes a habit, the person may then over-indulge which can lead to weight gain and therefore feelings of guilt, low mood, and low energy. The vicious cycle of over-eating then may continue to repeat itself.

It’s a possibility that you may be stress-eating without even realizing it, for instance it’s often a habit we continue at work. The first clear sign of stress-eating is if you are over-indulging subconsciously. By this, we mean going for food without thinking consciously of what you are doing. Another key symptom that may indicate you are overeating as a by-product of stress is if you feel out of control where food is involved. This may be particularly prevalent for you if you feel you have a real lack of willpower daily over your food choices, and you find yourself eating frequently at your desk.

Stress Eating

What causes stress eating?

• Change - As human beings, we naturally love the comfort of certainly but unfortunately, many things in life are uncertain with situations in our lives changing all the time.

Some people can deal with change much better than others but those who tend to avoid inevitable change are likely to be the ones who encounter stress-eating, as a result.

• Bereavement - The loss of a loved one is a horrible time for any person and it can affect us in different ways. The natural emotions of bereavement include sadness, anger, and guilt. These are all strong emotions that can emotionally trigger people to over-eat.

• Stress & Anxiety - If you are experiencing anxiety, you are much more likely to stresseat as is is a way to relieve those thoughts and feelings.

• Relationships - Just like life, the dynamics of relationships can change. Romantic, personal, and family relationships can be stressful.

Moreover, you may be reciprocating similar overeating habits to those closest to you.

The effects

Many harmful effects come from stress eating. Before we go into the solutions for stress-eating and how you can help yourself, it’s a good idea to explore a few effects of what this type of eating can do to our bodies. Stress eating may promote excess body fat from the simple fact that you may be consuming more calories than you are burning. Moreover, stress-eating may also increase the risk of disease and poorer long-term health. This is because overeating and binge eating can lead to obesity and that can result in being more at risk of heart disease and strokes.

The solutions

If you are experiencing stress-eating, it’s not all bad. There are direct solutions and techniques to use that allow you to become much more conscious of your eating choices and habits.

Solution 1 - Check-In With Feelings

One of the best ways to significantly reduce or eliminate stress-eating habits is to become more conscious of your eating choices. You can do this by simply asking the question ‘’am I stressed’’ before you go to the fridge or cupboard. By getting in the habit of asking yourself this simple question, you will then be in much better control of your next eating decision.

Solution 2 - Mindfulness Eating Coaching

Here at Naturally Empowered Health, Margaret offers mindfulness eating coaching that starts with a 30-minute discovery call. This is a call to find out if 1-to-1 coaching is right for you, as well as find out more about your emotional triggers so that we can become more mindful about eating habits.

Solution 3 - Implement Healthy Stress Coping Strategies

There is a whole host of other stress coping strategies out there and it’s all about finding the right ones that are right for you. Eating is one of the easiest stress-coping mechanisms but it’s one of the most detrimental to our bodies. Instead of stress-eating, you may want to try yoga, running, having a relaxing bath, or talking to a friend.

Arrange A FREE Consultation Call https://www. naturallyempoweredhealth.com/discovery-call

Here at Naturally Empowered Health, we are passionate about healing your challenges with food. If you are ready to learn proven coping strategies to truly be at peace and have full control of food, please get in touch today and book a consultation call by calling 07413 012 474.