Modelling health

For much of my life I felt lost. Like so many people, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. 

I had 2 beautiful children and a husband which I dedicated all my life to which made me extremely happy, but something was missing. What was my passion? What was my purpose outside of my family? 

It wasn’t until I heard Alan Watts say “what is it that you can’t NOT do?” that I realised my passion started to take shape.

I was a model for quite a large portion of my life which meant I spent a lot of time restricting my calories and working out in the hope that this would keep me thin. 

Of course, I’ve since realised how warped this view of nutrition is. But one thing this path did give me was an interest in health and nutrition.

The cookie that changed everything

It wasn’t until my son was roughly 4 years old and displaying tendencies towards behavioural issues that my interest was really sparked, though. 

He experienced a lot of trouble controlling his emotions and would have terrible outbursts, sometimes banging his head against the wall or becoming aggressive. He could go from calm to crazy in seconds! He was hyperactive, often irrational and had a lot of trouble in school as sitting still was definitely not his forte.

We were asked by numerous people if we’d had him checked for ADHD. We hadn’t done so and weren’t ready to take that step yet – not before eliminating other potential explanations. 

It wasn’t until one day that I noticed that his mood changed dramatically after he had eaten a cookie. He had been completely subdued all day and then quickly moved from hyperactive, to mad, to beside himself – over nothing! 

This was the first time I linked what we were putting into his body with what we were getting out. 

It makes so much sense now but at the time I was totally oblivious. 

The investigation begins

This made me start to look into the ingredients of everything we ate and I was absolutely horrified with what I found. Foods that were supposedly healthy were hiding ingredients under different headings, claiming to be additive free or all natural but were actually far from it. 

Most of the additives in the processed foods given to kids in school lunchboxes are linked to hyperactivity and anxiety. Definitely not the ideal option for a school day where they need to focus and learn. I was horrified at all the choices I had been making that were adding to his suffering without even realising.

Changing isn’t easy – but it’s worth it

We changed our diet as a family and the results were astounding. 

My hyperactive son who usually couldn’t stop moving could actually sit through a meal at a restaurant. Family members were shocked with the dramatic changes they saw in him.

It was an extremely hard road. 

I went from relying on processed foods like cereals and sauces in jars or packets to making everything from scratch. 

I essentially went from zero to a hundred on the health and nutrition lifestyle – I was all in. Being naturally wired this way, it made me get rid of everything at once and learn to cook from scratch. Which, for the record, I don’t recommend – there is definitely an easier way! 

The hard road becomes the easy road 

I’ve worked for the last 10 years at changing the way we eat as a family and now I find it extremely enjoyable and easy. 

One of things I noticed when I moved to a natural diet and removed all the toxins was that we rarely get sick. 

I haven’t taken my son to a doctor once for illness in those 10 years (apart from when he’s suffered a couple of acute injuries in sport). My daughter is 5 and she’s never needed to visit a doctor for any illness either, and neither have my husband or I. We just hardly ever get sick. 

I certainly feel that this shows that if you let nature look after you, then you are putting your best foot forward when it comes to your health.

My ‘why’

Fast forward 10 years and I now aim to help other families learn to eat real food instead of relying on processed food. 

There are so many dangerous ingredients out there and so many loopholes for food manufacturers to sneak through to advertise ‘healthy foods’ and market them to kids and families. It saddens me that the government doesn’t have our children’s best interests in mind when it comes to food, but this is the reality. This means we have to take our health into our own hands and control everything that goes into our children’s bodies. 

In my opinion, this actually is an exciting and empowering realisation to make. 

You no longer have to rely on massive companies whose job it is to make money off selling you food, and instead can look around to support local small businesses to supply you and your family with truly nourishing foods.

It can be a hard road turning away from processed foods and no longer relying on their convenience, but it doesn’t have to be. 

My aim is to help people to get to where I am now 10 years on, without all the stress and suffering I experienced.

I can help you find ways to make the switch much simpler. Learning to enjoy cooking your family food from scratch and feeling the pride that comes with that achievement is going to be a huge help to ensure that your family live a healthy and fruitful life. 

Of course, as our kids grow up (my son is now 14!) our control over what goes into their bodies lessens. My hope is that all the healthy foundations laid throughout childhood will help our kids to continue making healthy choices as adults – and isn’t that all we can hope for, really!