Who Am i?
Well, here we are, my blog, a place where I hope to share simple changes that will make a big impact on health and wellbeing, but who am I and how did I get here?
Let’s start with the basics, my name is Anna, I’m closer to 40 than 30, a mum to 3 boys and a wife to 1 amazing man. I’m an English girl who moved halfway around the world on my own to have an adventure and 13 years later, I have never looked back. I am also a newly (well, I will be by the time you read this) qualified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP) and setting out in this vocation feels a bit like when I stepped onto that plane to move to the other side of the world; terrifying, exciting, brave, I’m looking ahead with no idea what is coming but so excited to find out.
While I type this, I am busy preparing for my final practical exam for my diploma in functional nutrition with NTA Australia and it has been a wild 10 months since I started. I wanted to share a little of my story with you, what bought me to this place and why I’m launching Wonderfully Nourished.
As is so common, I have ended up here because of my own health journey and the further I’ve come in my learning, the more I’ve realised that the clues were always there. Looking back, things started to change health wise at puberty. I suddenly, could no longer eat whatever I wanted and I struggled to control my weight, It was hard to get out of bed in the mornings and I regularly suffered with indigestion. All perfectly normal right?
I joined a diet program for the first time in my late teens and there began a pattern of yoyo dieting, weight loss and weight gain.
This was a tactic I used in my mid 20’s, having moved to NZ, embracing the Wellington coffee culture with so many milky coffees and morning teas (this is really not a thing in the UK), the weight had crept on. I remember signing up with a personal trainer and telling him: ‘I’ll do whatever you tell me to do but don’t tell me to change what I’m eating’. So, off I’d go to the gym 5-6 times a week, for at least an hour at a time, it did work, I lost weight, and I was strong and toned but it took a really long time to reach my goals and I still wasn’t very healthy on the inside.
In 2009 I met and married the man of my dreams (awww) and within 6-7 months we were pregnant. Now, I had dreamed of this day my entire life, as a small girl, you’d always find me with the nearest baby, I’d love to play at being a mum with my dolls, I was desperate to be old enough to babysit and as soon as I was, I volunteered at every opportunity. I felt like my purpose in life was to bring babies into this world and then raise them to be incredible human beings. Finally, my moment had come and I was pregnant, well my body did not feel the same way and it was a struggle through every day of that pregnancy and it felt like my body was fighting me every step of the way; awful morning sickness until 20 weeks, exhaustion like I had never experienced, pelvic pain and a delightful hormonal rash called P.U.P.P.S. Finally though, my waters broke and my baby was on it’s way - NOPE! Labour didn’t establish, I had to be induced, I didn’t dilate beyond 5cms and 24 hours later I was having an emergency c-section. Our beautiful son Joseph was born but I was in shell shock, my husband got sent home and there I was post surgery, catheter still in, caring for a baby. My milk supply never really established, Joseph developed silent reflux and stopped gaining weight and I would sit there thinking: ’but this is my calling, I’m meant to be a mum, why is it this hard?’
Well, from there my health just deteriorated, a thick fog of fatigue set in, bloating and digestive issues increased, I suffered two devastating miscarriages before managing to have two more sons.
Through it all, I just kept soldiering on, it all seemed so normal. When I’d talk to my GP about my fatigue they’d tell me it was normal, PMS - normal, clotty periods - normal, IBS symptoms - nothing they could do. My weight and body confidence were a constant issue and no matter what I tried, I would always plateau.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2020, my youngest is 4 years old and my body is struggling more and more. We’d go out as a family to the beach or park and I’d find the nearest spot to sit down and watch as my husband engaged with our kids. I was just so exhausted all the time. At the end of each day I looked a good 7-8 months pregnant. It was after a third occasion, where my bloating lead to sever vomiting episodes that I knew I had to do something and the medical system wasn’t offering me any solutions.
I’d had several friends recommend that I go and see a functional nutritionist, I was a bit skeptical but desperate and willing to give anything a go. In that first session, I was able to share my whole health story, everything, all the seemingly unrelated issues that all added up to a big picture of where my health was at. I walked out of that appointment with hope and confidence that where I was at on that day wasn’t going to be where I was going to stay.
As I have focused on my health, instead of just my weight, I have seen incredible shifts, the constant bloating has gone, a massive increase in my energy levels (although I still have work to do on this), I have dropped a whopping 35kgs and I’ve seen improvements in a whole range of other symptoms. Over summer I found myself playing beach cricket with my cricket mad son, engaging with my kids in a way that I haven’t felt capable of doing for years.
One of the most important things I have learned is that good health is not a destination, it is a life long journey.
Through this process and as I implemented every recommendation, I was learning so much and my body was changing and responding. Was it easy? NO! A quick fix? Definitely not, but it was comprehensively turning my life around and I knew deep down in my bones that everyone should experience and hear this knowledge and so even though I was in the middle of my own healing journey I found myself applying to become a FNTP through NTA Australia.
The last 10 months have been so incredible and as I stand, waiting to board this new flight, away from a place I’ve always known and to a new adventure (metaphorically of course, I can’t actually fly anywhere thank you COVID), I am so excited to see how Wonderfully Nourished can serve you and support you in your health!
My name is Anna and I can’t wait to meet you.
