Through working closely with hundreds of clients, I've come to realise that having knowledge alone isn't sufficient for achieving lasting health improvements. While understanding what's right for us is important, our emotions and thoughts often drive our food and lifestyle decisions. When we encounter challenges, we may find ourselves resorting to automatic coping mechanisms, such as turning to food or overly controlling food, which can steer us away from who we want to be. By bringing awareness to our automatic negative patterns, we can navigate tough moments more effectively and make choices that truly align with what's important to us and our well-being aspirations.
Your Body
Employing evidence from scientific research in nutrition and lifestyle patterns, encompassing physical activity, sleep, stress, and environmental toxins, my aim is to assist you in achieving your meaningful goals. By assessing your baseline health parameters, I offer science-based recommendations to facilitate positive changes. Are you encountering challenges in any of the following areas?
Are you regularly battling overwhelming cravings for highly palatable foods high in sugar or fat, either giving in or expending significant mental energy to resist?
Have you previously lost weight only to regain it, and your attempts to lose weight now seem ineffective? Are you seeking a different approach to understand your body and improve your well-being?
Do you often feel fatigued, especially in the afternoon and evening, relying on caffeine or other methods to stay energised?
Are you experiencing fatigue, mood swings, and bloating in the week leading up to your period, affecting your habits and relationships?
Are you struggling with bloating and uncomfortable bowel habits, such as constipation or loose stools?
Are your menstrual cycles irregular (less than 21 days or more than 35 days apart), absent for an extended period, or suspected to be anovulatory?
Have you been diagnosed with PCOS and are dealing with symptoms like weight gain, skin issues, excess hair, irregular periods, low mood, low body confidence, and poor sleep?
Do you experience heavy bleeding (changing sanitary products every 2 hours or less) or intense menstrual pain requiring regular use of painkillers?
Are you facing challenges such as a lost period, irregular cycles, PCOS, disordered eating, or unbalanced eating habits, raising concerns about your ability to conceive?
*Seeing a doctor whenever you have new troublesome symptoms should be your first step.
Your Mind
I compliment my clinical nutrition expertise with behaviour change psychology. Picture yourself connecting deeply with what truly matters to you, making decisions guided by your passions rather than obligations. Imagine freeing yourself from negative food and body thoughts, redirecting your focus towards enriching relationships and rediscovering old passions or acquiring new skills. Empowering yourself to steer your health and life path has never felt more fulfilling.
Are you contending with any of the following challenges?
Struggling to maintain a consistent and balanced diet, finding yourself snacking on random foods that leave you feeling disoriented and unhealthy?
Engaging in cycles of restricting certain foods or amounts, but succumbing to 'mistakes' that trigger guilt and shame, leading to unbalanced eating or overeating.
Experiencing episodes of consuming a large amount of food in a short time, often in secret due to intense feelings of shame and a sense of being out of control during these episodes.
Rigidly adhering to a predetermined calorie plan either consistently or during periods of restriction or dieting.
Feeling nervous about the unknown aspects of food preparation, such as fat, sugar, or calorie content, when dining out or visiting others.
Establishing strict rules around daily food intake to feel okay and safe, with potential compensatory behaviours like restricting or excessive exercise after ‘overeating’.
Struggling to trust yourself around tempting foods, making it challenging to have them in the house or navigate buffet-style events.
Either feeling guilty for not exercising regularly, organising everything around your exercise or avoiding exercise altogether, not considering it a natural part of your life.
Experiencing a significant impact on self-esteem based on adherence to specific food rules, feeling accomplished when followed and unworthy or not good enough when deviated.
Feeling discomfort with your body size or shape, impacting intimate relationships, social interactions, or professional engagement.
*If your Body Mass Index is lower than 18.5kg/m2, you are losing weight rapidly or use purging to get rid of food, you need to see your doctor so that you can be referred to a multidisciplinary eating disorder service and monitored for acute health risks.
Monika is sharp, attentive, and uniquely supportive. I worked with her for six solid months and have seen real breakthroughs in my body image perception and relationship with food. I feel capable of trusting myself and less driven by shame or anxiety. There IS freedom and joy when it comes to eating and nourishing our bodies, and Monika is an excellent guide to getting there. I truly could not recommend her more.
Working with Monika has been the best decision I made this year! I have PCOS and an underactive thyroid and had been struggling to lose weight for nearly a decade. I had two early miscarriages in late 2021 and early 2022 and had not been able to fall pregnant since. Since working with Monika, I now have a deeper understanding of how to support my body, my cycles are getting more regular and I'm losing weight more consistently. I am so much confident in my body too and I know what to focus on going forwards! The support and accountability Monika provides is incredible and I highly recommend her services.
Working with Monika is one of the best investments I could made in myself. I contacted her because I was experiencing stomach pains and was feeling low and desperate. After years of yo-yo dieting and binge eating Monika has helped me to understand how to nourish my body and eat healthily. I feel so much happier and in control now and have the knowledge I need to maintain a healthy way of eating. Thank you so much Monika!
I decided to go ahead with Monikas PCOS programme after lots of consideration and I'm glad I did! Monika has been great to work with and has approached everything with the sensitivity I haven't been able to get from GPs, whose only solution for me was to "lose weight". With the onslaught of info found online, it's hard to stay motivated to do anything, especially when it all seems like it's unachievable unless I flip my whole life around, but right from the beginning, Monika set achievable goals and took things step by step, so I didn't feel overwhelmed. Towards the end of the programme, I noticed that my period had come 10 days early than usual which it hasn't done for many years, and I even managed to lose 2 kgs and stay there! Monika really helped me take a closer look at my eating habits and how my stress was also affecting things, but I know that even though I may momentarily have a couple bad weeks, I know exactly what I need to do to get back on track and since I've already done it once, I know I can do it again!
