(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, April 17, 2015 ) DARWIN, Australia -- Amy Brabin doesn't know how her struggles with bulimia began. As a young teenager, she vaguely recalls comparing her body to that of her friends and people she knew, and feeling inadequate. She can remember learning about 'what is an eating disorder' in her health classes. She has faint memories of connecting a skinny body with reputation and popularity, and can recollect conversations with her friends about losing weight and eating less. But the exact moment when it happened, she cannot recall.
For the twenty years that followed, Amy grew with the eating disorder and struggled through many different phases. "I would find myself feeling healthy and happy - eating well and exercising regularly - at one stage, and then without warning, I would feel desperately unhappy and uncomfortable, and even expel things like fruits - too much sugar -, vegetables - too much carbohydrates and starch - and even liquid from my body, whenever I could. She felt ashamed of herself in the process, and very alone," says Amy.
Three years ago, while still struggling with how to fight bulimia, Amy was diagnosed with multiple brain tumours. "I decided I had to do something about my eating disorder. I thought about all the times I'd thrown up and placed that intense pressure on my brain," says Amy. "Nobody should ever have to go through brain surgery; it made me feel terrible. But what was even worse was thinking that it was me who had caused the damage."
Even though the surgery was a turning point for Amy, she began to feel herself relapse every time she fell out of a routine. "If I didn't exercise enough, if I felt my clothes getting tighter or if I didn't eat well, I would think to myself that I could just do it for a day and everything would be fine, or thinking 'doing it just this one time won't hurt'."
Amy sought help from Darwin life coach Catie Kirke on how to fight bulimia. Catie's program, ART Your Life helps people create powerful and permanent change in their lives by combining personal life coaching, fitness, nutrition and mindset strategies including how to build self-esteem.
"Doing the 7-week ART Your Life course made me understand my need for acceptance and acknowledge that fact. The program taught me that not everyone is the same, and some people didn't feel how I was feeling. It made me realise that not everybody is going to like me, and the people who don't like me based on what I look like shouldn't be in my life anyway."
Amy recalls herself "blurting everything out" during her first coaching session with Catie, and how it felt like "a huge weight had been lifted" off her shoulders. Amy says, "It was very emotional but it was the best feeling. I instantly felt happier and healthier. I knew my bulimia was okay and I was accepted. I knew my life was about to change for the very best." www.artyourlife.com.au
Catie Kirke is a passionate presenter, dynamic trainer and founder of ART Your Life. She regularly facilitates corporate training events and is in demand as a keynote speaker. Catie has broad expertise as a transformational life coach, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Program) Master Practitioner, Extended Disc Behavioural Profile Specialist, and is a Values Pendulum Practitioner and NLP Trainer. www.artyourlife.com.au
About ART Your Life: ART Your Life helps women across the world to learn to love themselves, their bodies and their lives through a transformational ART Your Life 7 Week Intensive.
ART is an acronym that company director Catie Kirke created to convey her signature in a fun and memorable way. Catie believes that life is like a canvas; it's our to paint and design in any way we choose. ART stands for Activate, Reshape and Transform, which is the amazing process that the ART Your Life participants go through to create powerful and permanent change in their lives.
The ART Your Life approach creates inner health and happiness from the inside out. Specifically designed to help women of all ages and backgrounds rediscover their appetite and passion for life, the program is fresh, real and raw.
To learn more about the ART Your Life mission, and to meet the team, visit www.artyourlife.com.au.
