Welcome! My name is Sharon Snowdon, I’m the founder of this site and I’m really excited you’re here. Want to know more about me? (I guess so as you clicked on this page!!)
Here’s a little bit about my background and what lead me to creating this website.
When I was in my late 20′s I started to take my fitness seriously and I wanted to learn more about exercise programing, nutrition etc. So I signed up for a Gym Instructor course and loved every minute of it, I was hooked. I read every book I could find and attended as many workshops, seminars and training courses as I could – I felt I had found my real vocation in life. It was a couple of years later that I fell in love with the Pilates method and qualified as a matwork instructor. I’ve been teaching Pilates classes for nearly 10 years now and some of my very first class members still come to my classes now.
In 2007 my husband and I celebrated the birth of our son but it was after his arrival that things went a bit pear shaped for me. I had put on 3 stone during my pregnancy and gradually, over the course of 6 months, this extra weight came off. But something wasn’t right – I was a hormonal mess. I got cranky at the slightest thing, I had no patience or tolerance and, quite honestly, I was not a nice person to be around. I constantly craved sweet foods and gradually the weight started to creep back on. I knew I had to do something, if not for my own sanity, then for the sake of those around me! At this point I started to research the link between nutrition, lifestyle and hormones. What I learned was a real ‘lightbulb’ moment.
As a pescetarian for 28 years I thought my diet was pretty healthy: I ate a low fat diet that included plenty of pasta, wholegrain cereals & bread and a reasonable amount of fish & fruit. However I was one of those vegetarians who didn’t really eat many vegetables and I also liked my chocolate and biscuits a bit too much.
What my research taught me was that years of eating all these refined carbohydrates (yes, wholegrain is refined) had actually done me no good at all. I was stuck on the blood sugar roller coaster and this was playing havoc with my hormones.
So I made some big changes to my diet. Out went the breakfast cereals, white pasta, white rice, chocolates, cookies etc. I drastically reduced the amount of refined carbohydrates I ate and replaced them with more natural foods. I started to add more protein and healthy fats to my diet and experimented with some healthier grain alternatives such as buckwheat and quinoa. The changes weren’t immediate but within a month I felt like a different person, within six weeks I’d dropped almost a stone in weight and although I still get the odd ‘cranky’ day, I am a much more relaxed and definitely a nicer person to know. I no longer suffer from that mid-afternoon slump and I have bags of energy and the cravings have (almost) stopped! (Well a girl needs a slice of cake every now and then doesn’t she?!!)
What you can expect at sharonsnowdon.com?
What you will find on this site is the most up to date nutritional and weight loss information available. I’ll show you how work with your body to naturally balance your hormones. Whether you want to lose 7 stone or 7 pounds, if you follow the steps in my popular guide “Six Steps to a Healthier, Slimmer You” and all the tips and advice on this site, you will lose weight without ever counting calories, buying expensive meal replacement drinks or going hungry.
Sounds too good to be true?
Well it is simple but it’s not necessarily easy. You may need to make big lifestyle changes and completely overhaul what you put in your shopping trolley. I’ll ask you to reject the weight loss myths and untruths peddled by the media and view ‘clean eating’ with an open mind.
I want to inform, encourage, inspire and kick you up the backside a little so that you can become the slimmer, healthier person you want to be and really enjoy life.
I look forward to meeting you on the blog soon.
