Meet The Team
Founder of The Weight Loss Academy
Anna Wallace
Anna Wallace is the founder of The Weight Loss Academy which prides itself in revolutionising how women lose weight, increase energy and gain confidence without low calorie diets.
A Registered Associate Nutritionist, NLP Practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist with extensive eating disorders training. Anna once found herself in the same shoes as her clients, starting a new diet every Monday, taking laxatives to lose weight, jumping on the scale everyday and emotionally eating. She found herself in a vicious dieting cycle with her weight going up and down.
After a personal transformation which involved vowing to never diet again, Anna sought out to learn more about food and the impact it has on us. Anna studied Food and Nutrition at the University of Ulster, N.Ireland and over the years through education, training and personal mastery, Anna lost weight, never gained it back (even after pregnancy) and finally got control back with food.
Fast forward 8 years Anna and her programs have transformed the lives of over 7000 women around the world. Anna is disrupting the dieting industry, she is passionate about getting women away from low calorie, restricted diets. Instead support them with creating flexible, positive relationships with food and connection back to their own body.
Anna and her husband John have a young son called Leo and you will often find them galavanting around the world.
wla nutrition consultant
Audrey Rankin
Dr Audrey Rankin completed her BSc (Hons) degree in Food and Nutrition with a Diploma in Industrial Studies at Ulster University, Northern Ireland in 2009, graduating with a 2:1. During this time, Dr Rankin undertook a placement year within the School of Psychology at Ulster University, working on a randomised controlled trial investigating the effect of fish consumption on positive and negative mood states in healthy free-living older adults aged 55 to 79.
Dr Rankin then worked as a Research Assitant at Ulster University working in the area of B vitamins and overall health outcomes, before commencing her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University in 2011.
Dr Rankin’s PhD is entitled “Factors determining uptake and effectiveness of personalised nutritional interventions”. This was a mixed-methods framework of work which aimed to understand the public perspective of personalised nutrition and to establish best practices, develop services and policies that will enable personalised nutrition to promote dietary health in the general population.
Since completing her PhD in 2015, Dr Rankin has worked in a number of research positions at both Ulster University and Queens University Belfast in a number of areas including psychology, mental health and behaviour change interventions.
Dr Rankin now works at the Weight Loss Academy as a Nutrition Consultant, where she writes nutrition-related content for social media and develops healthy recipes.
Dr Rankin says she enjoys working in nutrition as you get to see the direct impact of your knowledge. You can see people change their relationship with food from negative to positive. Food should be enjoyed, so it is nice to see people get excited about food and cooking again!
wla Customer Service
Rutchel Garcia
Joining the Weight Loss Academy is a massive breakthrough for Rutchel…
She spent most of her career in the customer service industry, being a customer service representative then worked her way up the corporate ladder as a unit manager.
She landed a job in office administration when she went to Dubai, and is now working as Anna’s personal assistant, supporting her and the WLA team with various tasks behind the scenes.
She is the lady behind the customer service emails. If you have any technical problems, you email Rutchel and she’ll sort it out for you…
“Working in the academy made me realise my potential and purpose. I wouldn’t know that I have skills in designing, until I’ve tried doing it. It is such a beautiful feeling as well knowing you are supporting the whole team and the clients to overcome their struggles at the end of the day. I will be forever grateful for being a part of this team”.
wla head Coach
sinead murray
Sinead came to the Weight Loss Academy after struggling with her weight and yo-yo dieting for most of her adult life. She had done Weight-Watchers, My Fitness Pal, skipped meals, cut out carbs, taken supplements… each time she would lose weight but always put it back on again plus more. She had reached a point where she couldn’t face yet another diet but she also knew for the sake of her health and her future, she couldn’t continue the cycle of losing and gaining weight.
Joining the Weight Loss Academy was a complete game changer for Sinead. She lost weight but most importantly she kept it off… something that she’d never been able to do before.
Sinead experienced massive breakthroughs and mindset changes going through the programme, her whole relationship with food changed and she learned how to take back control around food and be happy and relaxed with her food choices. She still enjoys food; she loves a pie, pasta, chocolate, even a glass of wine… but the WLA has thaught her how to have balance in her choices. She can go on holidays, enjoy Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries without worrying about “the damage” when it’s over.
As Sinead worked through the WLA process she wondered why more coaches weren’t offering this simple and sustainable approach to weight loss. So she decided to become part of the solution herself and she joined the WLA certification programme. In the summer of 2019, after completing the certification process, Sinead joined the team of coaches in The Weight Loss Academy as Head Coach.
Sinead is passionate about helping ladies to reach their goal and conquer their food demons. She wants every woman to be able to experience food freedom for themselves, to breakaway from endless cycles of dieting and to feel comfortable, happy and confident in their bodies.
As head coach, Sinead is your biggest cheerleader but will also coach you to be your best version of yourself.
“I can’t believe how much the Weight Loss Academy changed my life. Now I enjoy all food in a healthy and balanced way. The no-nonsense approach in the WLA really transforms lives and I feel very privileged and grateful to be part of the team to support more ladies along their journey”.
“I love my role supporting and encouraging the ladies in the Academy through the ups and downs in their journey, celebrating the wins and navigating the challenges – the community is amazing! I am excited to be undertaking the WLA certification so that I can learn more and support everyone from a position of knowledge alongside my personal experience.”
wla support coach
dee kidson
Dee first joined a well-known slimming club when she was 16 having been overweight throughout her childhood and was then on one diet or another continually with varying degrees of short term success before regaining in an endless cycle. When she spotted the advert for the WLA, she was the heaviest she had ever been and rapidly becoming a recluse because of her size.
WLA was life changing, and indeed life saving for Dee. She grabbed the opportunity with both hands, trying everything and embracing the support available in one last ditch effort to sort her life out. It was easy to incorporate around a busy working life and with all recipes portioned for one perfect for her living alone without wasting food.
Applying the principles of the WLA and being consistent led to Dee losing over 50kg (8 stone) focused on her reason for wanting to lose weight – her desire to go through the IVF process in an attempt to become a mum. The healthy approach of the WLA lifestyle gave her the best chance of success, moving her from pre-diabetic to having perfect blood work with the resting heart rate of an athlete! In April 2022, Dee became a mummy and has no doubt that the WLA helped her with the journey and through a successful pregnancy.
Now, Dee is focusing on continuing her journey and teaching her son a healthy relationship with food by being a role model for him and is eager to share the WLA way of eating with him.
Dee realised there were many women, like her, who deserved to be shown the WLA lifestyle rather than being conned in to the dieting industry so she completed the certification to be able to support others on their journey and loves being part of the team of coaches in the WLA now.
wla Support Coach
penny carlos
Penny felt like she had been on a diet since her early 20’s. She had tried so many over the years. Atkins, Slimfast, Weight Watchers, and while some worked short time, she soon found they were not sustainable and once she stopped dieting, she put the weight back on again.
It was just after turning 50 that Penny was feeling totally fed up and just wanted to enjoy food again without having to count points for the rest of her life.
She was on the verge of giving up, until she came across a post on her Facebook to join the 21-day reset. She decided that as she had tried everything, she would give it a go.
The 21-day reset was totally different to anything she had been on, and not only did she lose weight, but she also loved the education that came with it. It was a no-brainer for her to join the Academy, so she could continue to learn and keep enjoying her own weight loss journey.
However, Penny didn’t want to stop there. By finding this new way of eating where she could have total food freedom by still enjoying her favourite foods and even that odd glass of wine, she wanted to help other ladies learn how they too could live this way for life. So, she enrolled on the Weight loss academy certification and qualified as a certified weight loss coach in January 2022.
Like the rest of the team, Penny is a brilliant coach and understands exactly what the ladies in the academy are going through when it comes to weight loss, because she has been there herself.
“Working as a coach in the Academy is the most rewarding job I have ever had, and I love it.
Being educated around the food we eat is what we need to keep a healthy lifestyle and The Weight Loss Academy teaches this.
I love helping the ladies reach their goals and following their own weight loss journeys and as a coach I am there to support them every step of the way.”
wla personal trainer
aoife droney
Aoife is a mother of 4 adult children ranging in ages from 33 to 22 years.
Fitness has always played a huge role in her life.
She started teaching group classes at the age of 21 and has carried on teaching right throughout her life, she is now 55 years of age and as passionate about movement and the physical and mental benefits it brings, as ever.
She has taught in a number of gyms and studios and recently brought her classes online due to the Covid pandemic.
Aoife has wanted to support her clients with a healthy, sustainable and positive weight loss programme and had been searching for one, when she came across an ad for the Weight Loss Academy last year. It’s ethos completely matched her beliefs about diet culture and the negative impact it has.
She is now training to be a Weight Loss Academy Coach and looking forward to helping clients ditch the diet mentality and learn how to nourish themselves, physically and emotionally.
She joined the Weight Loss Academy in October 2021 as their personal trainer and since then has taught a variety of classes each week.
Meet The Team
Founder of The Weight Loss Academy
Anna Wallace
Anna Wallace is the founder of The Weight Loss Academy which prides itself in revolutionising how women lose weight, increase energy and gain confidence without low calorie diets.
A Registered Associate Nutritionist, NLP Practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist with extensive eating disorders training. Anna once found herself in the same shoes as her clients, starting a new diet every Monday, taking laxatives to lose weight, jumping on the scale everyday and emotionally eating. She found herself in a vicious dieting cycle with her weight going up and down.
After a personal transformation which involved vowing to never diet again, Anna sought out to learn more about food and the impact it has on us. Anna studied Food and Nutrition at the University of Ulster, N.Ireland and over the years through education, training and personal mastery, Anna lost weight, never gained it back (even after pregnancy) and finally got control back with food.
Fast forward 6 years Anna and her programs have transformed the lives of over 7000 women around the world. Anna is disrupting the dieting industry, she is passionate about getting women away from low calorie, restricted diets. Instead support them with creating flexible, positive relationships with food and connection back to their own body.
Anna and her fiance John have a young son called Leo and you will often find them galavanting around the world.
Weight Loss Academy Head Coach
Sinead Murray
“I can’t believe how much the Weight Loss Academy changed my life. Now I enjoy all food in a healthy and balanced way. The no-nonsense approach in the WLA really transforms lives and I feel very privileged and grateful to be part of the team to support more ladies along their journey”.
Sinead is a mother of two girls from Dublin, Ireland.
Sinead came to the WLA after struggling with her weight and yo-yo dieting for most of her adult life. She had reached a point where she couldn’t face another diet yet she knew for the sake of her health and her future, she couldn’t continue the cycle of losing and gaining weight.
Sinead joined the academy and worked through the process and discovered that weight loss
is about so much more than counting calories (in fact the WLA doesn’t count calories at all).
As Sinead experienced massive breakthroughs and mindset changes going through the programme, she wondered why more coaches weren’t offering this simple and sustainable approach to weight loss. Soon after she jumped at the chance to train as a coach and help other ladies, like herself, make peace with food.
In the summer of 2019, after completing the certification process, Sinead joined the team of coaches in The Weight Loss Academy as Head Coach. Sinead is passionate about helping ladies to reach their goals and conquer their food demons using healthy and sustainable methods.
As head coach, Sinead is your biggest cheerleader but also coaches you to be your best.
Weight Loss Academy Coach
Danielle Coetzee
Baker, master organizer and meal prepper, lover of delicious food and most importantly a health coach.
In May 2017, Danielle joined Anna’s coaching program. Danielle had always battled with weight and saw her first nutritionist at 13 years old and after having moved a continent by herself to a country where she did not speak the language and had no support system. Daniell emotionally ate and put on even more weight. With Anna’s help, she was able to learn to love and enjoy food again and not be afraid of food groups as well as learning healthy coping techniques instead of turning to food.
Coaching and teaching people has always been a passion of Danielle’s, in April 2020, she joined The Weight Loss Academy Coaching Certification as Danielle wanted to be able to help more women to learn to enjoy food and be more confident and happier within themselves.
Danielle is known for being the queen of meal prep and often delivers cooking classes in the academy.
Weight Loss Academy Support Coach
Dee Kidson
“I love my role supporting and encouraging the ladies in the Academy through the ups and downs in their journey, celebrating the wins and navigating the challenges – the community is amazing! I am excited to be undertaking the WLA certification so that I can learn more and support everyone from a position of knowledge alongside my personal experience.”
Dee had always battled with her weight, done every diet going and failed them all – a perpetual yo-yo of ups and downs, gains and losses.
When Dee stumbled across the WLA advert, she had given up, resigned to being the biggest she had ever been and was increasingly becoming a recluse.
Dee is still on her personal journey. Following the WLA lifestyle and adopting the principles in her own life, she has lost more weight than ever and is excited to continue until she reaches her happy place.
Dee’s relationship with food has transformed. Food used to be both her biggest source of comfort and biggest source of guilt, but not anymore – Dee loves eating to nourish and fuel her body and eat more mindfully, thoroughly enjoying indulgences with no regrets.
For Dee, it is an honour and a privilege to have been taken on as a support coach within the WLA.
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