My story

Hello, I'm Lori and this is a little bit about me. I've lived in rural Herefordshire, near Ross on Wye since 2015. It's a beautiful part of the world which, as a southern townie, took a while to get used to, but now I love the tranquillity. I have grown-up twins and come from a close family. I have four pet Herdwick sheep, two cats, a dog and (at the last count) nine hens. I love gardening, cooking, walking and crochet - quite a home girl really.

I've had a varied professional life, working in business and sport, including 8 years with the Formula 1 team, McLaren. I lived in France for 3 years teaching English and then for over 20 years I ran my own training and coaching business, helping others develop their presentation and communication skills. For 10 of those years, I was a part-time peripatetic singing teacher, which was incredibly rewarding. I've been a semi-pro performer for most of my adult life, singing opera and musical theatre.

My handsome boy Smug (newly shorn!)

So why did I make the change to create The Mindful Eating Clinic?

In the background to my 'successful' life was an unseen, highly destructive pattern of eating: binge-eating, starving and yo-yo dieting together with poor body image. No-one had any idea that I had an eating problem because I managed my weight pretty well through a rollercoasting pattern of eating and always overate in private. But living this way caused me anxiety, low self-esteem and a feeling of helplessness.

I had been immersed in diet culture since my late teens, starting every week, it seemed, a new regime with new rules and promises which would be the magic cure to lose weight and give me a normal relationship with food (at the time I don't think I even knew what that was). I had an emotional trauma when I was just 16 and I believe, looking back that my eating behaviour was largely triggered by this. But in addition, I was brought up to always clear my plate (because there were "starving children in Africa") and I had a mother who was weight conscious and who bought diet versions of many foods. I think these factors further complicated my relationship with food.

Whilst the diets worked for a time, within a short while I was back to over-eating and an all too familiar feeling of disappointment and failure, comforting myself with more food. At my best I was on a good track for a few months, at my worst I was trapped in a pattern of binge eating every night (often in secret), barely able to get up in the morning. A rollercoaster of yo-yo dieting, the starting and failing, weight up and then down, fear of eating, dread of getting on the scales - all the scenarios, I lived them.

Then in 2018 I realised that this had gone on for 40 years - way, way long enough. It was a big moment when I made a decision that I did not have to accept that this was the only way I could live. I dug deep and sought help from a number of sources, including researching heavily into the destructive impact of 'diet mentality' which had been controlling me for such a long time. With a mindful eating approach and establishing a framework of eating which worked for me, I turned the tide in less than three months. I started to lose my excess weight without much effort or strain and took back control of my life. I have never looked back.

Fast forward to now. Having successfully treated this disordered and binge eating, I've used my coaching experience in the business world to create simple solutions to overeating, unhealthy food relationships and weight management. I have retrained in the skills needed to coach others in this new world of mindful eating and nutritional health. It has become an absolute passion of mine, to help people avoid years of disordered eating. I hope I can help you find a happy life with food.

Lori xx