A little about my career:
I spent several years working in London for a city law firm and later for an investment bank as a paralegal. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced, work-hard play-hard lifestyle, but I also saw how it could negatively impact one’s health. My passion was always nutrition, and whilst working for the law firm I attended college at weekends, earning my certificate in dietary therapy in 2004. I had a reputation at work for my unusual lunch-boxes, containing sprouted seeds, activated nuts and superfood shakes!
After the birth of my first child in 2009 I made the decision to leave the finance industry to pursue my lifelong interest by enrolling in a bachelor’s degree program in Nutritional Medicine. It was the best decision for my career as today, I am living my best life, working in a job that I love, eating healthily, being active, and helping others do the same by sharing my knowledge and expertise. I am committed to continued learning and have since completed a masters degree in Food, Nutrition and Health and I plan to embark on a PhD in the not too distant future.
a little about my interest in special diets:
I adopted a vegetarian diet at 11 after watching a documentary on the meat industry. Being from a large meat-eating family of 7, I had to learn about nutrition and cook many of my own meals. I lapsed from this eating style in my early twenties and caught a severe case of food poisoning eating fish in Egypt which left me with a very limited ability to digest food, and very little desire to eat meat or fish again! In a desperate attempt to heal my gut, I started researching the raw food diet. I was inspired by raw foodist methods of food preparation like sprouting, juicing and dehydrating, as ways to get the maximum nutrients from food as well as increasing the digestibility.
A visit to a gourmet raw food restaurant in Los Angeles, Juliano’s Raw, further inspired me with the incredibly delicious meals they served packed with nutrients and flavour. I used this diet succesfully to heal, staying raw vegan for two years; it made sense to me from a scientific, ethical and environmental standpoint. Now, as a mother of two, I prepare all of our family meals and follow a plant-based diet at home. Although we don’t follow the raw vegan diet, I still use raw food preparation methods and incorporate sprouted, fermented, and dehydrated foods into our daily meals to ensure we get the most nutrients from the food we eat.
My Philosophy
Eat: enjoying food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but ensure that you eat for nourishment and make every bite count. Choose whole, nutrient-dense foods that come from the earth to fuel your body and stay healthy.
Live: create healthy habits that promote wellness and joy in your life. This can be through engaging in physical activities you enjoy, or by prioritising social connections and spending time with loved ones over good food.
Thrive: flourish by doing more of what makes you thrive. Power your motivation with sport. Develop effective stress-management techniques to promote relaxation and maintain optimal health and happiness.