CHELVI MAILVAGANAN

My Journey to food freedom & fullfillment

A Full Life is the product of my own struggles with emotional and binge eating, and the freedom I’ve come to enjoy through my own healing journey.

I spent nearly two decades yo-yoing from one diet to the next, only to find myself oscillating between weight loss and gain, and feeling out of control with food, weight and life. Feelings of unworthiness and not being ‘good enough’ or ‘thin enough’ stopped me from living my life to its fullest.

I’m passionate about helping others and sharing the insights and techniques that led to my own food freedom and body confidence.

After years of cycling through the binge-deprivation cycle, a serious health scare and the birth of my daughter gave me a wake-up call.

I was forced to become aware of my relationship with food, my body and my emotions. I realised that the source of my binge eating was in fact unresolved trauma, un-examined attitudes about food instilled from childhood, and a disconnection from my body.

My binge-eating was simply a symptom of not fully living life, not facing difficult emotions and using food as a way to numb myself.

Once I started to look past the guilt, shame and frustration and address the underlying emotional reasons for my eating habits, weight loss came steadily and is still coming off. I no longer use food to mask my true needs. I have a renewed sense of purpose, a joy for life, and real inner confidence independent of my weight.

Credentials

I am a certified Life Coach and Mindful Eating and Body Acceptance Expert. Prior to Coaching, I worked for many years as a Therapeutic Social Worker in Health Care, helping people make sense of loss, trauma and other painful life events.

I have studied and trained with some of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of eating and transformative coaching including Tony Robbins, Michelle May, Jan Chozen, Marc Davis, Geneen Roth and James Clear to name a few. Right now I am training with world renown High Performance Coach Brendan Burchard for my on-going professional development.

✓ MA Therapeutic Social Work (2008)

✓ Certified Life Coach (2005)

✓ BA Philosophy and English (2001)

My coaching approach is grounded in over twenty years experience of meditation - a daily practice that helped me to gain the insights necessary to heal the root causes of my own emotional eating habits. I teach regular meditation classes and workshops in the Kent area.

When I’m not working with clients the other joys in my life include spending time with my family and raising my beautiful daughter Uma. I also love connecting with friends, day trips to London, watching documentaries, learning new things and early morning yoga.

“Chelvi is very approachable and warm. She has a kind and soothing presence that makes you instantly feel comfortable talking about anything. She creates a safe space where you can explore deep rooted habits and learn how to be kind to yourself.”

— MICHELLE, London