Growing up in Australia my parents were keen to pass on to me the importance of being fit, active and healthy. I swam professionally in my early years and have fond memories of being able to eat whatever I liked and looking down at a flat stomach.
Fast forward to when I left home at 17; I no longer swam competitively and gravitated towards the ‘good’ life – smoking, fast food, caffeine/diet pills and booze. The weight kept piling on, even though I felt I was constantly on a ‘diet’ and although I was never technically fat or obese – I was absolutely unhappy in my clothes and with my body.
My ‘light bulb’ moment came in a share house in North West London in 2002 when I was shuffling through cupboards complaining to one of my many housemates that I was sick of being overweight and had nothing to eat.
Many late night kitchen conversations pursued about all things health, nutrition, natural medicine and even my bowel habits (that were anything but healthy at this time). The first nutrition experiment I ran on myself was adopting the ‘Fit for Life’ approach (made famous by the Diamonds in the 80’s). As if by ‘magic’ – I was never hungry. I no longer needed coffee or sugar to get me through the day or pain killers to get me through my period; and I started going to the toilet for a number 2 – every day! Yes the weight came off (and about 12kgs of it too!) but for the first time in my life I didn’t care what the scales communicated back to me – I just felt so good in my clothes and in my self.
I went on to study my Bachelor in Health Science (Complementary Medicine) and have been privileged to work alongside industry leaders in herbal medicine in Australia and I have been honored to be able to lecture nutrition & naturopathic medicine to motivated and inspired undergrad students at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London.
Where am I now?
Total health for me is not a destination – it’s a journey; and I’m 100% still on it. I’ve absolutely lost my way from time to time. I’m human! I’m not perfect – and I don’t want to be either.
If you want to work with me – I’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t eat. I want to get you to understand your individual body – your personal story and the habits and beliefs that have undermined your health journey so far. I’ll help you establish some realistic goals and provide you with customised and easy to achieve modifications that you actually want to do!