Friday 25 May 2018

Blog No 2: Did The Smile Coach follow her own advice?

Welcome to blog number 2 from The Smile Coach!

What advice? What's she talking about? We'll get to that bit in a min but first......

I need to say a MASSIVE thank you for all of your absolutely amazing comments, I really was blown away by all of your positive words, it has completely empowered me to push this idea forward, I've been researching and increasing my knowledge a lot since my last blog as you've given me the belief that this isn't just a silly idea but that it is the future and this is just the beginning!

I'm coaching some amazing ladies currently and the changes they are making are incredible, although I won't go into that too much on here, you just need to know that they are making fantastic changes for themselves by themselves by sailing through my 10 session plan completely tailored to them, again by them, with a little input from me but when we get together it just seems to happen and rainbows of opportunities open up, and by the next time we meet they're on their way to achieving their goals even more! It really is amazing! I'm learning from them as much as they are from me! If you want to find out more about becoming a "Smiler" get in touch with me on here or via Facebook and we can make a start!

Hopefully The Smile Coach and her Smilers can take over the world, life really is too short for sadness and negativity, even when you're not feeling your best, just a little smile or a chat can really make someone's day! Be happy, be healthy and the rest will fall into place!

So when I left you at the end of my last blog I was about to fly off into the sunset with one of my lovely sister's and 5 friends for some fun 30th birthday celebrations!

And what a blooming fantastic time we had.....so much fun, many cocktails, sun, sea but none of the other S...Sangria but only because we were in the wrong country!

The English girls certainly arrived and gave the kind hard working hotel staff a good taste of the season to come. I think we entertained them as much as they entertained us, they didn't really know what had hit them! But we did earn an amazing souvenir plate/ornament for our efforts, it certainly was a well earned prize!

It was a lovely reminder that sometimes we all need to take some time out from normal everyday life, it doesn't need to be a big trip, camping in a field in the sunshine has just as many advantages, but we do need to do it. Practising Mindfulness is important whether you are aware of what that means or not, we all need to, just take a few minutes to breathe and relax, listen to what your body is telling you.

I made sure that I had a few moments all to myself, just to think, to look at the beautiful Aegean Sea, to be thankful that I'd worked hard enough to get myself to the point of sitting with my feet in the pool with that beautiful view and silence all around.....until everyone else appeared on our balconies anyway!

I did miss Team Wareham immensely back home, all going about their daily routine, but I knew they were all safe and happy so I was safe too.

It made me realise that we all need time out every now and then, just to be able to go back with new energy and maybe a slightly more enhanced outlook than before, we're all growing and sometimes a little rest does wonders!


A quiet moment all to myself.

Getting back to the title of this blog...did I take my own advice? 

In Blog 1 I explained that I was planning on wearing a bikini on this trip, something that I had never done before, not even as a kid, that was mainly because as a kid we always had a family beach chalet and we mainly wore whatever my totally bonkers Nanny Bus Bus had scavenged from the beach and hung up in the chalet! There was always a pair of shoes in every size hanging on the hooks waiting to be borrowed by some unsuspecting guest! 

Anyway I'm moving away from the subject but that lady that I loved so much needed a mention somewhere in my blogs, she was the best sun lounger tent maker ever!

So did I do it? The answer is....yes I bloody did!!! And it felt great! The world didn't stop, I may not have been the smallest in or around the pool but I certainly had a confidence that I've never had before! 

Once we arrived at the hotel and after the first cocktail, we were shown to our rooms...and swim up pools...so I had to, we all couldn't get changed quick enough and I really had a now or never moment, whats stops us most of the time is ourselves and I defiantly thought NO, I'm not giving into my worries, I'm going to do it once and for all! And I did! 


Me, on another day in the Sea, I did it more than once! 

For years I thought I couldn't, who told me that I couldn't? Me, Me, Me and the way the world made me feel at times! We limit ourselves, I'm not doing it anymore, I'm bored of that, I'm going to fly high...and try not to get shot down! Ha Ha!!

Now that I am The Smile Coach it is my mission to add a smile to everyone's life that wants it, including mine and I definitely want it! Whats not to love about Happiness and Balance? Have fun, work hard, enjoy!

Whats coming up next in my life?

I'm still increasing my knowledge to turn a passion into a business, familywise there may be a camping trip on the horizon, weather depending, I am a fair weather camper! 

And of course I want to see what you all think of this blog.... Answers on a postcard please, or just a Blogger or Facebook comment will do, again thank you for reading and here's to moving further forward ready for blog number 3!

Keeping Smiling!!!

Emma

(I fully apologise for the amount of exclamation marks in this blog but I don't know any other way to convey the importance of being happy and grateful for the little things to the big things in life!)







Saturday 5 May 2018

Who is The Smile Coach?

Who is the Smile Coach?

There is a very long answer to that question and I hope to answer it in this, my very first post as The Smile Coach.

My idea of being The Smile Coach has been growing in my head for the last few years, its something I've slowly worked on, in between the ups and downs of life.

I've watched, I've listened and I've learnt and now I hope to cultivate something that will be my bright future but there's a long way to go to get to that point, we're all on a journey after all!

In reality, I'm Emma, I'm 38, I'm a wife, I'm a mum to 2 beautiful children, I'm rich in friends and family, I work hard, I am a runner, I play netball, I started a running group which I love leading every week (Bin Runners Rock!) and I don't often sit down for long! But who does, right?

I have always been on the larger side of slim, there is photographic evidence of me being a size 14 at the age of 14, and it's only now at the age of 38 that I'm back there!

Since 2009 I've lost over 6 stone, my trigger for this journey was that I was becoming unhealthy, my gallbladder became blocked in 2008, I spent a week with constant pins and needles all over my body and look very unwell, I had a few gallbladder attacks, including Christmas eve 2008, which was so bad that Christmas morning with my then 2 year old daughter Aimee felt like an oscar winning performance in enjoying watching her open her presents, yet i was in so much pain and wiped out from the night before and I never even saw Santa come down the chimney!

I didn't want to be that big, I was wearing size 22 clothes and was beginning to need a 24, I really didn't want to go there.....so I began to make changes, those small changes slowly began to be become bigger changes and eventually it began to pay off.

In April 2009, I changed jobs, so started in a new office, one of those changes was that I told myself that the cakes in the corner weren't for me because I was new, so that I wouldn't eat them.

Small mindset changes have become a method that I have used all the way along to help me change my behaviours and take control of who I am and who I want to be.

So why has it taken me so long?

Mainly because I do not have the kind of body that easily drops weight, in 2008 I was diagnosed with an Underactive Thyroid and at a point where I took myself to the docs because I thought I was going mad, along came the diagnosis of having a Vitamin B12 Deficiency, which explained the extreme brain fogs that I suffered and still do, but now I know that it means time to top up rather than let it slide. I still think there's another hormone imbalance to blame but I'm no doctor and wouldn't know what to ask for.

As well as food changes I began to make fitness changes, I found a love for spinning, which was fun but bulked me up when i need to lose then tone, I have tried many different classes, from legs,bums and tums, to Zumba to my ultimate all time favourite FightKlub, Troy Dureh's empire is amazing and I even became a world record holder when myself and my Lifey (a very special friend) took part in the worlds biggest Boxing Exercise class in 2015!

I've done fitness weekends, circuit classes, ( I now try not to as I don't like people shouting at me!), swimming, walking, weights, Piyo, Yoga, you name it, I've been there and tried it!

 Running and Netball are the two that have remained with me and I think its because everytime you take part in one of them you have a totally different experience to the last time.


This was me April 2009,3 times the size as my friend!


Luckily in 2018, There is a little less of me!

So where am I going with this Smile Coach Thing??? 

There is a lot more to my path and I hope to cover all of that in other posts, but throughout the years people that I talk to have always asked me Where do i get my willpower from? and they wish that they had my determination.

I have 9 years coaching experience in other areas and that the discussions that I have with my coachees seem to lead to breaking many barriers and them moving onto better things so now I'd like to link that experience into motivating people to get fitter and healthier. 

When I've mentioned my ideas to people, the first thing they say is "Oh, like a Personal Trainer" but no it isn't that, it's helping clients get to the point where they feel confident enough to hire a Personal Trainer, changing mindset and smashing barriers down together helping to make things not seem so scary thorough goal setting and habit changing. The best label I can give it is Life Coach, to give understanding to what I'd like to do.

Basically I'd love to give that determination and willpower to others to enable them to do whatever they want to do!

What's stopping me?

I'm slowly getting there, I'm building plans, I'm working with some clients (who are seeing some amazing results!) in order to gain confidence in coaching the methods that I know do work, I'm researching networking and gaining more qualifications for coaching.

I'm growing my confidence in putting my ideas out there, I'm proof my ideas work, but the world of Self Employment is a scary thought and I don't want to get it wrong. 

I don't know how to build websites, what to eventually charge, how to keep the clients coming' although I'm finding that I'm acting upon things once I've said it out loud, I'm a massive over thinker, so my head whirls with so much information that by starting this blog you can join me on this part of my journey, maybe help me out with info, give me your suggestions, inspire me!

I'm also working on myself, nobody's perfect but you can always learn and improve!

What's next for The Smile Coach?

Well hopefully if you are reading this it means that I have had the courage to post this Blog for the first time!

I then plan to continue building The Smile Coach platform, moulding it into the vision that is in front of me!

This week I will be celebrating few firsts too! I am going away with 7 friends to a beautiful Greek Island to celebrate my sister's 30th birthday, (I've never done this before!) And for me the biggest achievement is that on this trip in my suitcase will be a........Bikini!!!!! I've never owned one before and I'm just going to go for it, you only live once and I've spent many years hiding away, not anymore! 

The Smile Coach and her wobbly bits will be wearing a smile with pride, after all if I don't follow my advice who will??? 

Thanking you for reading my first post, hopefully one of many, but maybe the next one will be after my Greek trip! I hope I've brought a smile to your face and that you will follow my chosen career path in making the world Smile!