I thought I'd share a little something about me, 'put a face to a name' so to speak & tell you my story...
I started my nutrition journey back in 2012. I'd had quite a few years where my skin was awful, I suffered with numerous allergies, I had terrible headaches that were occurring with more frequency & I'd always had horrendously painful periods. I was tired of lots of niggly health complaints. In all honesty, when I look back I can see there was a period in my 20's where I didn't particularly look after myself, it caught up with me & I began to suffer the consequences. I love to read & seemed to be coming across more & more articles about how what we ate (or didn't) could affect our health & this sparked an interest enough to look at where I could study. I enrolled on a 3 year course with The College of Naturopathic Medicine in Manchester, which involved both academic learning & hands on clinical practice. I had no idea what I'd let myself in for or how it would completely change my life.
The more I studied, the more I started to realise that our complex body is the most amazing 'invention' & we completely take it for granted. We're astounded what the latest iPhone can do, that we can send rockets into space or that we run electric cars but how often do we truly marvel at the workings of the immune system or our nervous system for example? We also have the mentality that we'll happily buy the better quality petrol for our cars yet we baulk at paying extra for organic produce!
As part of my training I had to learn about how the body thrives & also how it fails. The more I learned I began to realise I wanted to use my knowledge to educate & empower others. I completely understand how confusing & conflicting advice is in regards to health so I want to help people make informed choices & to take back responsibility for their lives. In this way we're not just protecting ourselves now, but our children, their children & beyond. There are frightening statistics about the prevalence of autism, Alzheimer's & diabetes in the future. We needn't become a statistic or set the ball rolling for future generations but we do need to take a long hard look at what we accept as normal & why we're so resistant to change. For many people its habits or lack of understanding that prevents us from changing. I hope I can help to show you how being more open-minded, questioning the advice we're given by the food industry & the medical profession & making small consistent changes can have a massive positive impact on our lives.
Healthy eating should be more than just following the latest fashionable food trend. It should be the tool we use to flourish & protect our health. I don't believe in faddy diets, unnecessary food group restriction, calorie counting, syns, professional weight loss groups. Instead I prefer to focus on intuitive eating & encouraging people to enjoy healthful food & a lifestyle that gives us optimal wellness. I'm proof that dietary & lifestyle changes do work. We're all individual, so what works for me might not be manageable for you & that's why we should value the importance of personalised wellness rather than the traditional 'one size fits all' model.
Nutrition is such an interesting profession to work in because research is constantly throwing up so many exciting new ideas & giving us a better understanding of the complex interconnections between body systems. We're closer to understanding the purpose of sleep, the significance of a diverse microbiome & the field of epigenetics has never been hotter. Using this research to inspire others & change the statistics in future generations is what drives me.
So now I hope you have a bit more understanding of who I am & why I'm so passionate about being a registered Nutritional Therapist. As always, I thank you for reading & I hope if I've planted just a tiny seed of possibility to change in your mind I've achieved something positive today!