My Story
Why I Understand Your Story
I remember the first time I thought I was fat and should start dieting. I was 11 years old changing for P.E in Drimoleague, West Cork, where I am from. As the youngest of 5 children, my parents and siblings were all on and off diets. There was a such a fear of getting fat in our house. Looking back, it was inevitable I was going to diet and develop a fear of food and getting fat. We had every diet book possible in our house. Soon I’d read them all and calculated my weight watcher’s points, tried the cabbage soup diet, the 3-day diet, the Anne Collins diet, you name it.
I interpreted the information as: there were “bad” foods and “good” foods. My aim was to eat “good” foods. I felt really guilty when I ate “bad” foods. Which used lead me to think I’d failed which would make me eat even more “bad” foods! After each diet failed, I’d have the next one lined up to start soon. In between I ate anything and everything, thinking I was soon going to cancel it out during the next diet. The diets never lasted more than a day or two. The more guilt and disappointment I felt, the more I ate.
After 10 years of this cycle, at the same height, I was 3 stone heavier. Surely, I’d get the magic bullet solution by completing my degree in Nutrition and Dietetics yes? No. As much as I learned relative to dietetics, understandably it had nothing to do with my mind-set with food or the thoughts in my head that were sabotaging me.
By my late 20s, I’d started a Masters in Nutritional Medicine and had years of experience as a dietitian. I worked in an exclusive company in Belgravia, London, working with high end clients and celebrities. At the end of the day, I would binge eat 4-5 chocolate bars in the office kitchen. I felt lots of shame and guilt. I really wanted to stop but literally couldn’t.
Then I had a free session with a life coach who told me “You think you’ll be happy when you get X, but it’s the opposite. Get happy and then you’ll get X”. I came out of the session questioning how I approach things especially my weight. I had spent years obsessing about diets and losing weight so that one day I could be happy. I had nothing to lose in working on my happiness to see if I’d lose weight. To cut a long story short, with the help of lots of information gained from courses, books, seminars and a diploma, that is exactly what I did.
Without dieting and without binging, my nutrition gradually improved, improvements to my digestion, my hair, skin, nails and immune system became apparent as well as losing the excess weight. Best of all I wasn’t being a total weirdo around food when I was home at weekends, or out with friends. My weight seemed to stay stable regardless of work pressures or travel. (I knew this by my clothes, as I had given up the scales, which had played a huge part of my negative weight cycle)
I started sharing my mind-set changes with my clients and soon noticed we are all wired the same! The approach and thoughts that I had that made me fat were the same ones my clients had (and no doubt you have if you are reading this). Equally when they changed how they saw food and themselves, like I did to get and stay slim, they did too! Suddenly I wasn’t just helping highly motivated people lose weight, I could help chronic dieters and people who had been overweight all their life.
I started my first business in Harley Street, London in 2015 and my second business in Cork City in 2018.
The main reason I do what I do is because there is SO much more to life than your weight.So many people (women especially) spend all day every day, hating their body, regretting what they ate yesterday and planning the next diet. I often joke I could have invented the next iPhone during all the years I wasted! But on a serious note, this is time we will never get back.
Time and energy that could be used on being a better parent, partner, friend, sibling, or coming up with amazing innovations at work. What a better world that would be for everyone. “I wish I had come across you sooner” is what most clients say when they finish the programme. So, don’t delay, drop me an email with your phone number and a good time to call. I’d love to chat you through the programme and help you reach your happy weight once and for all.
“I have just completed the Happy Weight programme with Aoife, and I am delighted with the results. Rather than this being a diet programme and approaching weight loss with a restrictive attitude towards food, this programme celebrates the idea of enjoying all foods and gives you the advice you need to achieve the weight loss you desire. Unlike other plans – the weight loss is long term and becomes a way of life.”
Have specific questions? I would love to hear from you
Aoife Deane is a Registered Dietitian with CORU and INDI specialising in overeating and weight related issues
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