I’m a certified holistic nutritionist, freelance writer and food blogger. I educate people who follow allergen-friendly diets about how to eat simply, deliciously and safely, allowing them to rediscover the pleasure of food. I help clients shift their mindsets from one of deprivation to one of abundance. Eating healthy is not a punishment – and I’ve got a host of tasty recipes to prove it!
I met Paula three years ago at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, where we were both students. From the outset, Paula was extremely forthcoming and brave about her struggle with disordered eating, and was often the voice of reason when we all panicked about what to eat.
Nutrition information is both mind-blowing and terrifying, and as students in the holistic health world learn more about food – where it comes from, what’s in it, and its capacity to heal – we often become restrictive and fanatical about the way we eat. Paula always reminded us to make dietary choices out of love for our bodies, not fear, and that has always stuck with me.
People constantly tell me how bummed out and depressed they are when they discover they can no longer eat gluten, or dairy, or nuts, or eggs, or whatever they’re allergic to. There’s a period of mourning, of grief, of devastation, and of panic, where people worry that they can’t eat anything. The more I work with clients, the more I realize that very little of the relationship we have food is based on the food itself – there are so many deep-seated emotions, memories and values that influence what and how we eat.
I’m certainly not immune to this. I work to address my own complicated relationship with food (which I’ve described in more detail here) every single day. Paula has been a beacon of support, insight and love for me in my self-development, and indispensable as a colleague in helping me coach my own clients who have issues with emotional eating.
That’s why I’m so pleased and honoured to be contributing weekly nutrition advice and recipes here. Please join me each Wednesday as I share a delicious, easy recipe for you to try, and let us know if you have any special recipe requests, too.
I look forward to cooking with you!
