What’s my approach to nutrition?
I believe food is something to be celebrated
and enjoyed. I have always had a healthy interest in cooking and eating and I
believe that how we think about food and our bodies has just as much impact on our health as what we actually eat.
I combine nutritional therapy and life
coaching principles to enable you to bring about lasting change to your diet
and lifestyle, helping you to achieve your health goals at your pace.
As a qualified Nutritional Therapist, I take a holistic
approach to nutrition that recognizes and works with people on all levels -
physically, emotionally and spiritually.
I draw on the naturopathic philosophy that your body is always
seeking
to return to a balanced state of wellbeing and focus on helping you to
develop
your understanding of how you can work with your body, not against it.
My approach to diet focuses on hydrating the body, improving its
essential fatty acid profile, correcting acid alkaline balance and
addressing any other issues that come up! Dietary recommendations move
clients towards a wholefood diet with an emphasis on plant foods.
As an experienced NLP practitioner I can also offer
the extra help that's often needed to change old habits, behaviour and beliefs
around food, making it easier for you to develop a love of good food and get
more of what you want from life.
I aim to offer my
services to everyone who is serious about improving their health and wellbeing. If
you have any questions about my approach or would like to discuss how we could work together create the kind of future you want for yourself, contact me.
What's my background?
I
have
always been interested in food and eating. I grew up in a family who
taught me a love of good food and cooking and now, with my own family,
I enjoy
passing this love on to them.
My
curiosity about the place of food in our lives and how it contributes to the
health of our bodies began whilst studying Social and Biological Anthropology
at Cambridge University. I
learned from Biological Anthropology what types of diet our body considers to be ‘normal’ through studying how humans evolved from primates, eating the ‘hunter
gatherer diet’. And Social Anthropology offered me a unique perspective on the current health crisis in the UK today, as it helped me to take an “alien from mars” view of our society, where Western values and ideas about food predominate. It seemed to me, with
obesity levels at epidemic proportions, that we had collectively lost the
knowledge of how to feed and nourish ourselves in a healthy way. I studied many
peoples living in non-western cultures who all found no difficulty in feeding
themselves in a healthy way. Click here to see just how much diets around the world vary with photographs from Peter Menzel's book "Hungry Planet".
So
I began asking myself what’s happened to us?
I
believe there are strong social and cultural pressures that lead us towards
bizarre behaviour around food that seems ‘normal’ to us – it’s what everyone else is eating so it
must be alright! When lots of the messages
on television tell you it’s normal to eat fast food, salt, sugar and consume
lots of alcohol it can be hard to remember that our body has a better idea of
what is good for us than an advertising company for the food and drink
industry. Understanding the signals and messages your body is giving you, and learning how to
interpret them is something that is not taught well in our society… yet! This is what I enjoy helping others to
learn.
I
trained with the Nutritional Healing Foundation and
enjoyed their naturopathic approach to nutritional therapy. The
Foundation taught me how to work with the body, not against it, balancing its
need to eliminate as well as assimilate and recognizing how a person is more
than a machine that requires fuel and repairs when it breaks down in order to
be healthy. The training incorporated old truths and ancient wisdom in order to
understand the body and spirit in a new way, drawing on traditional Chinese and
Ayurvedic medicine and western scientific approaches to understanding nutrition
and health.
I also trained as an NLP practitioner with John Seymour Associates. NLP
has sometimes been described as “the manual for the brain”. It gave me the tools and skills
required to focus my attention on what I wanted to do with my life and enabled
me to teach these skills to others.
Before
I started my practice I worked with a number of organisations promoting healthy
eating and healthy lifestyles. I
worked for Triodos Bank, (the UK’s leading organic bank, supporting organic farmers and retailers) and I
also worked on the Food For Life project run by the Soil Association, who campaigned
alongside Jamie Oliver calling for better school meals in
2005. During my time working for Penny Brohn Cancer Care
(formerly Bristol Cancer Help Centre), I was inspired by the wholefood cookery that forms part of the
Bristol Approach to living with cancer and I was lucky enough to work with
award winning Head Chef and Dietary Advisor Jane Sen.
Working full-time whilst developing my practice gave me a good understanding
how hard it can be to make the time to take control of your diet and
support your health when you have many other commitments.
Jane Sen, Head Chef and Dietary Advisor, Bristol Cancer Help Centre
As a parent, I recognise the difficulties in staying focused on eating well and creating time to look after your own wellbeing. I have found that learning
how to balance the immediate needs of those around you whilst remaining
committed to your own long term health goals takes time, practice and
support.
Since becoming a mother, I also know what it is like to hold responsibility for your children's diet. This is possibly the biggest challenge, as when
your
family have their own likes, dislikes and needs of their own, it
can often seem tempting to give up and let them live on biscuits and
cake if
that's what they really want! I don't know that I could have understood, before I did it, how much energy
it would take to wean my son gently and continue to breastfeed him
beyond 12 months. And to support my son through a bout of recurring
ear infections during
his second year, I created a toddler friendly wheat and dairy free diet
which he maintained for 6 months. This required a lot of creativity and commitment
at the time, but I now know it is possible to feed your family in a way
that will nourish and support them, whilst feeding them food that they
enjoy and look forward to eating.
I
began my own practice as a Nutrition and Health Coach in 2006. I enjoy helping people to understand
what health means to them and how changing the foods they eat everyday can
contribute to their state of physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
I aim to offer my
services to everyone who is serious about improving their health and wellbeing. If
you have any questions about my approach or would like to discuss how we could work together to create the kind of future you want for yourself, contact me.