It was quite some time ago that I became interested in health, and especially nutrition. My curiosity, however, was propelled forward after contracting a rather unpleasant stomach parasite that I didn’t seem to be able to fully shake off, despite taking medical advice.
In desperation, I visited a naturopathic nutritionist for help. An hour later, I had gained a whole array of information and was given some very sound advice to follow in order to tackle the problem. It worked, and I have never looked back…
From that point on I made it my mission to learn more about health and healing through nutrition and natural remedies, which led me to start a blog: Your Healthy Self. It was the perfect place for me to share my findings, and as a natural progression I went on to train as a naturopathic nutritionist age 47 I had finally figured out what I wanted to do!
After qualifying I started to see clients. However, unlike other more hands on alternative therapies I soon realised the outcome was not in my control at all, and once the consultation was over it was then up to my client to take heed of any advice and suggestions I had offered.
In most cases this worked out beautifully – many really did start to make better choices and become more empowered to change some of their unhealthy habits. However, I also discovered, as our chats unfolded, that I was giving as much advice on depression, lack of self-worth and other emotional issues as I was about food.
It occurred to me that there was consistently a lot more to my clients’ health issues than just what they were eating and drinking. Unchecked emotions, past traumas and lack of confidence all played a part in creating a negative mindset towards eating and food. Collectively it was sabotaging any attempts to get healthy and lose weight and had to be addressed before progress could be made.
In essence as a trained naturopathic nutritionist I discovered the way we eat has very little to do with the food, and much more to do with the mind.
Mission
I felt I had really stumbled onto something that both our trusted health professionals and well-known weight loss groups barely brush upon. And I sensed if I could help people understand why they eat what they eat, highlight how the food industry is playing on our weaknesses, and how to accept responsibility and take back control, then they could gain a more sustainable transformation than could ever be gleaned from simply telling people what they should and should not eat.
I got started with a group of friends on WhatsApp and every Monday morning I posted an insight to trigger a thought process that would help them to rethink their daily habits. It was rarely about food, and the topics ranged widely. The weekly insights started to build up and unwittingly my book started to form.
During the first lockdown Feeding Good Habits really started to take shape, coming together neatly into 12 weekly chapters, with daily insights and tasks to work through. The book covers topics including The Six Types of Hunger, Establishing Good Habits, Busting Health Myths and The Mainstream Malaise, plus much more.
I believe now more than ever our health has been put under the spotlight, and understandably so. As a nation we are getting bigger and are suffering more ill health than ever before. Our children are becoming addicted to junk food and every event we celebrate has been hijacked by the food industry as yet another money-making ploy.
Endeavours
Feeding Good Habits endeavours to address this by gently shifting the reader’s mindset around food and exercise, and creating a greater understanding without adding further confusion to an already difficult topic.
Feeding Good Habits: 12 Weeks to Rewire your Mind, Reset your Habits and Renew your Relationship with Food, for Improved Health and Sustained Weight Loss.
Available on Amazon, priced £10.99
