From teaching languages to helping women understand their eating

For nearly 40 years, I taught languages and headed departments in schools across three countries. I loved helping people learn, understand and discover what they were capable of. But by the age of 61, long working days had left me depleted, with little energy for the rest of my life.

I recognised that something needed to change. It was time to put away my whiteboard markers, pack up my books and give some attention to my own health and future.

A personal interest became a new direction

Health had been a lifelong interest, partly because of my own experiences. For much of my adult life, I had searched for answers to persistent gut and allergy symptoms, pain and bloating. From my late thirties, I also struggled with weight that kept returning despite my efforts to eat well and exercise.

I tried different diets. Some worked for a while, but sustaining the changes was another matter. These experiences prompted questions that would eventually become central to my work: What helps us follow through on our intentions? Why do familiar habits have such a strong pull? And how can looking after ourselves become a way of life?

Early in 2019, I began a meditation practice with the Ziva Meditation method. Making that space for myself helped me recognise how much I needed a different pace and direction. It contributed to my decision to leave teaching, even before I knew what would come next.

Then I came across a webinar about health coaching. It brought together two things I cared deeply about: health and helping people learn. I enrolled in Chris Kresser’s ADAPT Health Coach Training Program and went on to become an ADAPT Certified Functional Health Coach.

Why emotional eating?

In 2024, I discovered the work of Yigal Ravé. His approach to understanding and changing emotional eating resonated strongly with me. I went on to take his courses and qualify as an Emotional Eating Coach, bringing a new focus and direction to my coaching practice. My work has since developed a particular focus on emotional and automatic eating—the moments when food becomes a source of comfort, reward, distraction or relief, and our intentions seem to disappear.

I am interested in what drives those moments: our emotional needs, learned habits, beliefs and the environments we live in. Understanding these mechanisms opens up opportunities to respond differently.

I work with women who are often highly capable in other areas of their lives, yet feel frustrated by their eating. They may have spent years trying to solve the problem through diets or greater discipline. I help them understand what keeps drawing them back to familiar behaviours and practise the skills needed to change them.

Still a teacher at heart

My years in education and teacher mentoring remain an important part of what I bring to coaching. I enjoy making ideas clear, asking questions that lead to understanding, and helping someone turn knowledge into something they can use.

My approach combines education, practical skills and personal support. We explore your experiences with curiosity and honesty, identify what you want to change and work on steps you can put into practice in everyday life.

I want you to understand why you are making a choice and how it serves you. My aim is to help you build the confidence and independence to choose what benefits your body and mind, with skills that remain useful long after our work together ends.

Let’s talk

If you would like to explore working with me, I invite you to book a Clarity Call. We can talk about what you are finding difficult, what you would like to change and whether my approach feels right for you.