Tuesday 1 May 2007

Welcome to my nutrition and health blog!

Welcome to my new blog. I’m a nutritional therapist and I’m passionate about everything to do with food and health and more specifically how the two affect each other.

Before taking the plunge and training in nutrition, I worked for 10 years in the City as a sales executive for a large asset management house. Travelling, airplane food and long days were the norm. Much of the time I felt exhausted and had endless colds that never seemed to completely shift. Often it was a case of just surviving from one day to the next rather than bouncing out of the bed full of energy, ready to face a new day.

I wish I could say that I had a moment of enlightenment and my life changed for the better overnight when I discovered more about what I should and shouldn’t be eating. In reality the process was somewhat slower. As I started to feel better and my energy levels began to pick up, I realised I wanted to make a career out of nutrition.

Once qualified, I started practicing in the City and Canary Wharf area helping busy professionals who also wanted to regain control over their health and well-being. My intention with this column is to share many of my insights about nutrition, well-being and energy levels and give some fairly down-to-earth tips for tweaking your diet into a healthier direction.

So what is nutrition all about? If you were to believe what’s on TV, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s all about bowel movements and exotic superfoods. Unfortunately the reality is not as simple as gulping litres of the newest super juice for optimum health and radiance.

Don’t be alarmed though. I’m not advocating everyone to start sprouting their own seeds and ditching all their favourite comfort foods all at once. To start with, just look at what your daily diet consists of. Be honest with yourself by including all the little snacks and nibbles in between the meals too.

Now consider this little fact: your body is made purely of the foods that you eat. Then look at your food diary and see how inspired, or not, you feel about a body made of the ingredients in front of you. This is not a guilt trip, just some food for thought. And who knows, next time when you are deciding whether to get a burger or a salad for lunch, maybe the vegetables look slightly more enticing than before.