You might be asking why I am a health and well-being coach and facilitator? What fuels my passion to support others in this space? Well, my journey began with a lifelong struggle with being overweight, starting in my early teenage years. Despite trying every diet imaginable, initial successes were short-lived and I found myself trapped in a cycle of weight fluctuations. My motivation to lose weight began because I wanted to fit it with my peers. I was labelled as the ‘fat one’ in the classroom, my self esteem was really low, and I was desperate to be liked. This need to be liked drove behaviours that impacted negatively on the choices I made, along with my emotional well being, as I navigated early adulthood. My emotional wellbeing was further impacted by the sudden death of my father who died from a massive coronary in front of me when I was 17. He was a wonderful Dad, but his health was comprised by excessive weight and smoking. Trauma counselling wasn’t all that common in those days and panic attacks became a regular part of my life; frightened I was going to drop dead suddenly at the slightest hint of not feeling well. Despite this, I continued my unhealthy relationship with food, including periods of binge eating. I remember a day sitting in the locker room of a bank I worked in, consuming a whole packet of cream biscuits, ignoring how sick it was making me feel. I started many days with a resolution to eat healthily, only to have my resolve unravel by lunchtime. As the years passed, I realised maintaining a healthy weight wasn’t solely about appearance. Witnessing others grapple with weight-related health problems highlighted the broader impact. Then came a light bulb moment, it was all about my health. As I neared my 50 th birthday I decided that I wasn’t going to age burdened by chronic disease, and my journey to better health began. When I concentrated on my health, and not only the scales, my weight began to come down and over the next few years I maintained a reasonably healthy weight, although, my cholesterol levels started rising and the level of alcohol I was consuming wasn’t good for my health. Although I had long been aware that a healthy lifestyle was important, four years ago I started to research, and then undertook study, to find out what that really meant. I discovered that a lifestyle that focused on good nutrition, regular exercise, good sleep and positive relationships could stop you developing and sometimes reverse some chronic diseases. I have now found a way of eating that keeps me healthy and has stopped my cholesterol from continuing to rise, although it is still just over the national guidelines. I’m told it is most probably familial as most of my family have the same issue. I still enjoy the odd glass of wine but no longer drink to excess. At 71, I am healthier and fitter than I have ever been, and I am passionate about supporting others to meet their own health and wellbeing goals. One thing I have learned is that getting older doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have to suffer from a chronic disease. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report that 80% of Australian’s over 65 suffer from one chronic disease and 28% suffer from three or more. When you think about it, why would you work hard all of your life only to spend your retirement years (if you want to retire) swallowing a handful of pills every day that may stop the condition you have from killing you, or worse still, be in a hospital bed recovering from heart surgery? And that’s why I do what I do!