food have a think about it what does
this even really mean now this is the
question I am commonly asked by the
majority of my clients who walk through
my door in clinic and I’d like to ask
you all some questions and you don’t
need to put your hands up but do you
think carefully
have you ever calculated the calories in
your meal before eating it or have you
followed the latest dietary trend like
the juice cleanses 5:2 Atkins meal
replacement programs or perhaps you’re
that person that steps on the scales in
the morning and then feels really
bloomin deflated afterwards or you know
you should be eating some more green
vegetables and a whole varied diet but
you end up ordering a takeaway three
nights a week and ordering the same
thing to your desk at the office the
next day because I don’t need to see a
show of hands I’m pretty confident the
majority of you have tinkered with your
diet in some shape or form to feel
differently about ourselves and the fact
of the matter is we all have a
relationship with food we have to eat to
live right so this relationship is
developed throughout our lives and this
is something that I discuss with my
clients in clinic and I often call at
your food world which is everything you
all believe about food or your food
script and that’s the journey that it
took you to get to where you are now
with food I developed an unhealthy
relationship with food aged 17 my life
quite literally changed overnight I I
went from working in my local Subway
store as a sandwich artist because
believe it or not that’s what we were
called to winning classic FM’s young
musician of the year as a soprano
without any formal training I left home
very young to London to embark upon a
whole new life I was very excited it was
worlds away from
small hometown in Wiltshire I had some
amazing opportunities and for those of
you musical theater fans in the room you
might know I’ve son on stage with alfie
Boe and Michael Ball even international
royalty I was led to believe that I
would be the next Katherine Jenkins
needless to say it couldn’t have been
further from the truth and after three
relentless years on the singing circuit
I had a career which was quite frankly
over before it had even begun and the
record industry’s pursuit of quick
changes and fixes overnight held no
boundaries
I believed that in order to be
successful I had to be slim and to fit
into these beautiful and binding dresses
that they provided me with and the
perfectionist in me tried I tried so
hard I went straight down to the local
supermarket and I stocked up on all the
latest products you know the ones I mean
those there’s no calorie energy bars and
the pho
oh there’s food chocolate tea milkshake
things and chokers I thought I was being
really healthy in doing so of course
after a period of time I became I became
so malnourished and low in energy that
in desperation I went to my doctor and I
remember this moment so clearly I was
searching for answers and instead of
identifying my nutritional deficiencies
he prescribed me with antidepressants
and looking back I still can’t quite
believe that they were so quick to
medicate someone so young in this
situation this was a complete no point
in my life so my decision to switch
singing part-time and enroll in a
three-year degree in nutrition and
health it it saved my life quite
literally saved me I still can’t believe
I graduated three years later with a
first-class degree in nutrition and
health which would really astonish my
GCSE science teacher
I had very little time for science back
there and it was all about the music and
I went straight away with my clients on
London’s Harley Street to work with them
on their nutrition with these big
ambitions that I could help every single
person that walked through my door now
of course I soon quickly realized that
it’s very hard to separate what someone
should be eating of how they feel about
the food they’re eating because the
psychology and nutrition they are what
work hand in hand and this is what
inspired me to study a further master’s
degree in obesity and another master’s
degree again in eating disorders because
we all have that inner voice inside our
heads and for so many people
this voice it’ll be dictating how you
choose the food you choose it tells you
what to do for some people it’s very
loud it’s almost like a bully inside
your head that tells you that you’re not
good enough or that you should be doing
this or you should be doing that and for
some people that’s the voice that
dictates your food choices how can you
help people implement health behavior
changes if this voice is ruining their
decisions every single day keeping them
trapped the most useful thing you can do
is learn to separate that voice in your
head with what you really want and what
you really would enjoy that day for
instance making very small changes can
have really really big results if
consistently carried out one such
example would be a plant-based diet now
this is known with fountains of research
to improve health and vitality but that
is a small change that cannot be
measured by a number on the scales how
can the scales be a marker for health
how can how you look on the outside
reflect how you’re feeling and how
you’re functioning on the inside
stepping on the scales
frankly consumed so much time and you
spend your whole life aspiring to reach
this one number because you can’t enjoy
that pizza cake or donut observe how you
feel and be mindful watch and save at
the moment because everything in
moderation that’s what life should be
about if you respect your body enough
you’re given a whole variety of
different foods on a daily basis and if
you get organized and you believe in
yourself and those that allow themselves
enjoyed foods the research suggests that
they are less likely to overeat and
binge on foods because black-and-white
thinking that’s what gets us into
trouble I’m sure a lot of you can relate
to this one
they’re very all-or-nothing well I’ve
had one biscuit so I might as well have
the whole pack or I’ve been really good
all week so I’m gonna have this now at
the weekend these are the thoughts in
our heads that can make life just that
little bit more difficult I try and
merge these thoughts from black or white
into gray a middle ground how about
instead of I’ve had one biscuit I have
one or two but I’ll have it with some
yogurt or fruit instead well if you’re
exhausted why go on that run when you
could just go for a walk these are very
very small health behavior changes that
cannot be seen by a number on the scales
because being stuck in that cycle the
binned restrict cycle is a very vicious
place to be and I’m sure a lot of you
may be able to relate or know someone or
you’ve tried to follow your latest
social media star or celebrities diet
and often that means taking something
out of your diet rather than what you
can put into it how many of you have
restricted what you’ve eaten and then
the minute you restrict that food item
or you can think about obsessively every
single day is that food item that you’ve
restricted which then leads you to
eating that item and then you’re riddled
with fingers of guilt feelings of shame
which lead you back to
stretching again this cycle can keep
people trapped their entire lives but it
doesn’t have to be that way the single
most important thing that I have ever
learned is that you are all as unique as
your personalities and what works for
you it won’t work for your friend or
your child even because you’re your
genetically biochemically unique
individuals and you need to find a
balance that works for you because the
minute that you embark upon a diet for
anybody about to do a diet on the verge
of one or giving up on one let me tell
you that I’ve been there very lost and
confused but I can assure you that the
secret to good health is not hiding and
the bottom of a pack of super foods or a
pack of chia seeds and what fatty diet
peddlers do not share with you is it’s
not how you feel days or weeks later
it’s how you feel months and years later
because diets don’t work
if diets worked we would we would all be
doing them so I developed four easy to
remember principles to help you all
focus on nourishing your mind and your
body on going back to basics I call
these my four R’s respect your body
because if you respect your body and
think how amazing it is it will treat me
right in return it’s about the mindset
listen to your voice and not that voice
that may be there in your head think
about refuel food is fuel food is energy
food is an amazing thing it’s not just
for people that work out think about how
you can fuel your day in the correct way
rehydrate now there’s a very scary
statistic that the average Briton drinks
one glass of water
just one your body is 60% water it’s
such a simple simple aspect but a vital
function of life for you to feel amazing
every single day back to basics and
recover allow your body time to rest and
I’m not just talking again about
muscular repair talking about about your
hormones or your mind or sleep sleep is
something that is too frequently
overlooked I believe that food is not
intrinsically good or bad and we need to
stop labeling in this manner because
everything is there to be enjoyed so I
would like you all to consider
unlearning everything you thought you
knew about nutrition just decided and go
back to basics
seek out qualified advice and stop
turning to a search engine and if we can
stand together we can fight diet culture
we can embrace our individuality –zz we
can do different because education that
is truly empowering and I have a vision
that food is is something to be seen as
a positive aspect of life offering fuel
enjoyment and happiness for your mind
and your body and that is what I call a healthy relationship with food