About Sharon
Hi, I’m Sharon, and I’m a well-being coach who is passionate about helping people living with obesity, binge-eating, and food addiction, which I do in 2 ways - the first is by helping people directly to look at what it could be that's driving their urges to eat when they know that their bodies don't need the extra energy that they're supplying; and the second is by working with the types of professionals that you might have come across when you've asked for help with your eating - GPs, nurses, personal trainers, family workers etc. My work with these professionals centres around helping them to understand what it is really like to live as a larger person and the challenges that come with being plus size; to recognise that we're not stupid, disinterested in our health, or lazy; to understand why an "eat less, move more" plan isn't enough to help us make long-term changes; and to start to look at and understand some of the underlying factors that can drive people to overeat.
Born and raised in the north of England, I have experienced first-hand the struggles of being morbidly obese, and the challenges of finding suitable help to tackle the problem. I feel like I battled for a great chunk of my life to gain control of my relationship with food, at one point weighing almost 27st (170kg), but now weighing considerably less. After many years of yo-yo dieting, often losing 5st, 6st, 7st or more, only to regain it all plus more on top, I tried every treatment I could find - slimming clubs, personal trainers, dieticians, group therapy, CBT, CAT, psychotherapy, I even partnered with an eating disorders specialist in the USA in an attempt to try to find a long-term solution; and whilst some of the treatments were more effective than others, none of them provided me with lasting results. Eventually I realised that the problem with the treatments on offer was that they all had a tendency to oversimplify the problem, and only focus on one or two aspects of what is a much more complex issue. By utilising my own background in psychology and counselling, combined with my experiences, participation is peer support networks, and an ongoing interest in obesity and weight management research, I was finally able to gain a better understanding of the factors associated with morbid obesity. This allowed me to not only help myself, but also to go on to help others, and I'm still just as passionate today about helping people to find ways to start addressing their relationship with food. As well as my work specialising in tackling obesity, I still participate in charity and peer support work, and take an active interest in the obesity and weight management related research taking place within universities in the UK, and other research establishments further afield.
Of course, I'm more than just a well-being coach. When I'm not with my clients or interacting with my support groups, I spend my time with my 2 teenage daughters. Both of my girls have autism and ADHD but it affects them both very differently, and as I'm sure any SEN mums know, there is never a dull moment! Thankfully though both of my girls share my love of travel, so when we do get the opportunity, we love to explore new places both in the UK and further afield.
My goal as a weight management coach is to enable you to understand and take better control of your relationship with food. I want to meet you at whatever point you're at on your journey and give you the confidence to try a more holistic approach that looks at the bigger picture, and support you to develop the skills and understanding that will empower you to succeed at managing your weight more effectively. Together we will look at a variety of factors that may be contributing to why you get those uncontrollable urges to eat - starting with getting into a good routine with food and stabilising your eating habits, and tracking urges to look for clues and patterns as to what underlying factors might be at play, and then depending upon what we uncover, delving into areas such as eating as a stress response with possible links to emotional eating, past trauma and maladaptive eating responses; situational triggers; food triggers and glucose intolerance etc; and ways in which we can resolve these issues or learn to manage them more effectively. At the end of our journey I want you to feel like you are truly friends with your body and able to give it the things it needs, rather than feel like you're constantly fighting against it in a battle between food and weight, and feel like a new person!
If you're curious to know what working with me would be like, I'm always happy to take the time for us to talk and establish whether this is the right path for you, before we begin any real work together,. If you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to get in touch, just drop me a line and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
