Nicola Chan
Body Confidence CoachHelping you reach your full potential
My name is Nicola Chan, I am a Body Confidence Coach. I help people using an array of tools for both Mindset and Fitness.
My Story
When I was young, I had ZERO confidence; I was bullied at school, I thought I was ugly, I suffered from racial stigma and thought things would always be that way. I struggled to speak up for myself because I guess somewhere deep down I thought I deserved it. I thought I was not enough.
At age 14 I was subjected to a Violent crime which led me to suffer a cycle of Panic Attacks and Depression. I then found myself pregnant at aged 15. I had to start thinking about my future for my daughter and wanted to build a career and a business so I could support her.
So I studied, and I became a Fitness Instructor. Being in front of people was hard, my feelings of not being good enough were always there, along with the shame and guilt of the Trauma.
I had become destructive and tried to control everything with food and exercise, which led to an Eating Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Infertility. (read more below…)
My Values & Beliefs
Body confidence
You can change your body, it is totally possible, but the results are short-lived and if you don’t change how you feel about yourself you will be on a continuous cycle.
Values
I value ‘Real’ health and fitness, i.e. speaking the truth around weight and diet culture.
I value a Growth Mindset, and by that I mean people who are willing to look within, take responsibility and accountability for their behaviour and actions and keep personally developing themselves.
Beliefs
I believe every girl should be given the opportunity to grow and develop into the person she wishes to be, without needing to change herself to fit society’s norms or current beauty standards. To speak up for herself, to have Body Autonomy and to feel confident enough in herself that she can say NO!
I believe in women’s circles. In holding each-other up rather than competing with each other.
My Approach
I have has over 16 years in the Fitness Industry and throughout that time felt some of the messages and information my clients would come to me with were very negative towards the way they felt about their bodies.
I broke away from the traditional personal training i.e. helping people to lose weight and diet and started learning about Body Positivity and Mindset and discovered very quickly massive changes within my clients. Not necessarily with the way they looked but with their mindsets.
You can change your body, it is totally possible, but the results are short-lived and if you don’t change how you feel about yourself you will be on a continuous vicious cycle.
“Once you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”
More of my story
Some years passed, struggling with food and Body Image and even trying to run a Marathon 3 times which ended up with me being injured before show day. It was only when I finally rested while pregnant that I recovered from my injuries. Four months after giving birth I ran the London Marathon. This meant to be ready I had to start training a week after giving birth!
My mindset wasn’t right, I was still not happy. I wasn’t happy with myself, my trauma still wasn’t healed and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I decided Body Building was the solution. I became a 1st place Bikini winner and after my final show, I binged for 3 months straight. I hated myself with passion.
At rock bottom, I made a decision. If hating my body isn’t working anymore, what if I start to love my body instead? And I went onto Google, as you do, and I typed in the words “BODY POSITIVITY.” From there on my life was changed for good. I now use my story, my experience and my coaching to help other women and girls.
