Hello, there! So lovely to meet you! I’m Suyin Nichols and I am a certified coach who specializes in the art of Story Crafting to help people return to transformative self-care after a significant weight gain.

Why is this work so important to me? Because I know all too well what it is like to feel the high of weight loss success and the low of gaining it back. I had been on the diet roller coaster for twenty-five years, beginning at age twelve when my ice skating coach told me I was “too fat” and put me on a liquid diet. This began my descent into Diet Mentality Hell where I developed a disordered relationship with food and a completely disconnected relationship with my body. My body was a thing to be controlled, manipulated, and hated. And hate it, I did.

After years of enduring countless diets and chronic self-loathing, my life was forever changed in 2005 when I was introduced to Weight Loss Coaching. I knew I had finally found the answer I was looking for and within 8 months of applying the non-diet-y coaching tools to my life, I successfully created my natural weight. I built a loving connection with my body and treated it well with healthy habits like eating quality fuel, exercising consistently, and getting plenty of rest. I was happy. I was healthy. I had it in the bag.

Until I didn’t.

I developed an injury in my foot and then my mother’s health took a turn for the worse at the same time. Not only was I ordered by my doctor to stay off my foot, my focus of care switched from myself to my mom, as I took on the role of her caregiver and her healthcare advocate.

So, it’s no surprise that the pounds started creeping back. A pound here, three pounds there. I had regained just under half of what I initially lost in 2005. In a way, this was still a success to me because it showed me that the tools do work – if you actually work them. I was still using half the tools, so I only regained half the weight.

The self-care tools I stopped using were the ones focused around fitness. Why? Because I bought into the story of “I’m injured.” I also bought into the story titled, “My mom’s health comes before mine.” By believing these stories, I started treating my body differently and I ended up creating a different outcome for myself. One that I began to feel shame over.

And then some new stories started to take root:

I can’t be a coach if I gained weight.
I can’t ask my clients to apply tools that I’m not using myself.
I’m a fraud. (Ouch, this one really hurt. A lot.)

So, I stopped coaching. For a few months.

And then I picked up drinking. For three weeks.

And then I heard the wake up call.

Coaching is my calling, my art, my unique gift. It was painful not to coach (hence, the drinking to numb the pain). I saw that I was buying into limiting stories and creating an outcome I wasn’t happy with.

I asked myself an important coaching question: “What is the weight gain here to teach me?” In other words, “What is the gift in this situation?”

The answer was loud and clear.

I needed to have this experience, so that I could better help those who are drawn to my work. I have more insight now than I ever did and I can teach others all the lessons I am learning as I form an even stronger connection with myself and my body. I have a much deeper understanding of the role that stories play in our lives and my senses are keener in detecting limiting beliefs when my clients speak or when I read their words. I am a much better coach because of the weight gain.

That was my “Gift of Gaining it Back.”

It has now become my mission to help others find the gift hiding within their weight gain. There is a unique gift, message, or lesson for everyone and it always leads them back to themselves. To accomplish this, I use my two superpowers – my knowledge of how the human body works (developed during my former career in the medical field) and my intuitive coaching style, which helps me see beyond my client’s words to quickly uncover the limiting beliefs blocking their success. I love coaching women (and men!) from all over the globe with truth, compassion, and a sense of humor, all the while encouraging them to have FUN along the way.

Love, Love, LOVE!