How to Swap Stress and Burnout for Mental Clarity and Physical Wellness

I've now completed the 12 week Zest for Life programme with Natalie Shaul.

Asking for help is a difficult and brave thing to do. I'm not alone and neither are you! I eventually realised that a series of bad relationships and spending time with the wrong people had left a significant footprint on my thoughts about myself, my beliefs and my behaviours. I had used alcohol to numb myself and I just ended up going round in circles. I hadn't noticed that it had taken many years to get where I was... aches at night, a bad immune system which meant I always had sore throats and colds, unable to go shopping to places where I thought I would see people I knew, spurts of anger, unable to communicate efficiently, memory loss and doing silly things like putting my socks in the bin, leaving tea bags in brews (poor mum 😂) and it took it to get that bad before I realised I needed help! (oh the stigma!)

I'd gone from being a young, motivated, eager, happy person to a self-conscious, upset, burnt out and fed up individual. I'd lost myself because I had let others leave negative imprints on my mind and I had started to believe I was all those negative things. I no longer had the power to brush off and ignore negative comments. Instead I gave them my power to beat myself up. I stopped seeing my friends (apart from a select few) and started avoiding people. Things needed to change!

I found Natalie through a mutual friend who had done a live with Natalie on Facebook. I then joined her free Professional Women Wellness Group. After spending some time on the group Natalie approached me and offered me a free discovery session which I eventually took up. Initially I felt very vulnerable speaking to a stranger about my thoughts, but to my amazement Natalie could see through what I was saying and see a probable root cause that I hadn't seen myself (e.g. Me: I need to lose weight Natalie: You need to learn to love yourself) and over the 12 weeks work on turning it all around. I learned about gut health, the lymphatic system, the subconscious mind and some great knowledge to give me a good start to having a happier life. I have noticed many changes in myself now. My aches at night have gone, my skin is clearer, my nails are no longer brittle but strong and smooth, my negative thoughts are far less occurring and I've been able to see some friends that I haven't seen for a long time.

There's been plenty tears, lots of learning and tools to help me move forward. I have a long journey yet but Natalie has been the turning point I so desperately needed and I am very grateful for that ♥

My body was so stressed out with work. I had gut issues, headaches, brain fog and had no energy. Being given the tools by Natalie to help heal my body has helped me greatly. I had tried so many things in the past but I never really knew if my actions were even helping me. I am still on a journey to fully heal body but I clearly recognise the improvements made so far. My headaches have gone and I know what foods to avoid and my stomach health has improved.

Not only my physical health but my confidence had been shot to pieces over the years so I was desperate to find 'me' again. Natalie made me aware of how negative I was about myself when I spoke and she motivated me to believe in my abilities again and identify and challenge those negative thoughts in my head. I would definitely recommend Natalie to life coach you because I have a vision, I am driven and I make the right choices with the foods that I eat and more importantly I am happy. Thank you Natalie.

I finally feel at ease with myself.

I am 37, mother of two children under 8 and I work for myself as a photographer after having my worst year ever last year in 2018.

In one year, I lost my job, my nan, joined two fat clubs never losing more than 7lb, almost lost my marriage, I could not wait for 2018 to end.

Being a mum I wasn’t looking after myself very well, and I didn’t like myself very much, I struggled to look in the mirror without wanting to cry. I worried I was boring, that I was fat, that I was not good enough, not at being a wife, a mother, a daughter or even a granddaughter. I was really hard on myself. The only place I felt worthy was in my job and then the company went bust which left me lost.

I thought 2019 would be the year, and it turns out its pretty awesome so far but it didn’t start that way.

I don’t know how or where from but Natalie appeared in my Facebook feed and her group was fantastic, it inspired me to want to eat well, it satisfied my need to understand the food I was eating and become knowledgeable in nutrition and the effect foods have on people. Every time she did a live, I thought she was actually talking about me and I finally booked a discovery call with her in February and I hired her on the spot.

It could not have come at a better time. I didn’t know how to control my emotions, I always felt tired and bloated, I had some tricky relationships I just didn’t know how to improve, I would be sick as a dog from one glass of wine and have a hangover like I’d drank a bottle of vodka. I constantly had migraines. My body was crying out.

Natalie knew exactly what to say, what I needed to work on to improve any situation and she took no crap, no excuses and is so much fun to work with. We may not be in the same town but it felt like we were, she was there for me any time of day, any day of the week always with brilliant advice and techniques for any situation that arose, she taught me too.

I feel like a new woman, no bloating every day, a clear head, no fatigue (unless it’s the kids fault) I sleep better, I have hardly any migraines, I have more confidence, I can look in the mirror and love what I see now, I can drink a glass of wine without being sick, my resting heart rate has come down, I am smiling much more and I have healthy relationships and a more open communication when I need to instead of bottling it all up. My diet has totally changed and I eat so much better now, and I’m sticking to it because this is just life and I’m going to grab it by the hands no matter what comes my way.