Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - #29 Amelia Freer on What We Need to Eat

Episode Date: September 26, 2018

“Everyone is focusing on what to avoid, no one is focusing on what we need to eat” Nutritionist and best-selling author Amelia Freer has a refreshingly fluid and flexible approach to healthy eating. She believes that we should shift the focus away from what we shouldn’t eat, which can be damaging and focus instead on what we can eat.  Amelia and I discuss her positive nutrition pyramid, which provides a framework of what she believes you should be working towards eating every day.  We delve into how emotional issues can affect the food choices that we make and discuss her own personal journey into the world of nutrition.   Amelia also shares some fantastic tips.  I really hope you enjoy listening! Show notes available at drchatterjee.com/amelia Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee/ Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee/ Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I noticed that people were just focusing, I think we had it from the 80s, women or people in general just like on a fat free diet. And then it became about carb free and then it became about gluten free and then it became about sugar free. And then it's like everyone was just focusing on what to avoid and no one was focusing on what we actually need to eat. And we actually need to eat quite a lot. Hi, my name is Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, medical doctor, author of The Four Pillar Plan and television presenter. I believe that all of us have the ability to feel better than we currently do, but getting healthy has become far too complicated. With this podcast, I aim to simplify it. I'm going to be having conversations with some of the most interesting and exciting people both

within as well as outside the health space to hopefully inspire you as well as empower you with simple tips that you can put into practice immediately to transform the way that you feel. I believe that when we are healthier we are happier because when we feel better we live more. Hello and welcome back to my Feel Better Live More podcast. Or if you're a first-time listener, thank you for joining me. Feedback to last week's episode with Rich Roll on how to find your purpose has been simply incredible to see online and I'm delighted that by sharing Rich's story, it's inspired many of you to make some changes in your own life

and it's also helped redefine what you thought might be possible. Now before we get into today's conversation I'm pleased to announce a partnership with Athletic Greens who are sponsoring today's show. I know that many of you are really enjoying this podcast and look forward to each weekly episode. In order to support the time and expense it takes to put these podcasts on I've taken on a sponsor whose vision is really well aligned with my own to help people feel better so that they can get more out of life. As you know, I believe that the right nutrition is an essential ingredient to having a healthy and happy life. There's no question that I prefer people to get their nutrition from eating food. But these days, that can be a little bit challenging for many of us. You might be busy, on the go, rushing around, and even with the best intentions, some days it can be a little bit tricky to cook a wholesome, nutritious meal. If you feel that this might

apply to you, and you want to take something each morning as a bit of an insurance policy to make sure that you are meeting your nutritional needs, I can highly recommend Athletic Greens. It's a super tasty whole food greens powder that you can take each morning. And unlike most green supplements that I have tried in the past, it tastes fantastic. In fact, my kids absolutely love it. I love the company ethos, and I have to say that it is unquestionably one of the most nutrient-dense whole food supplements that I have come across. For listeners of this podcast, if you go to athleticgreens.com forward slash live more, you'll be able to access a special offer where you'll get a free travel pack box with 20 servings of Athletic Greens, which is worth about £70, with your first order. So guys,

if you are interested in this, do go to that URL, athleticgreens.com forward slash live more. Now, on to today's conversation. So guys, I'm really excited for today's episode with a really good friend of mine, someone you guys have probably heard of, if not already have got one of her books. It is the amazing nutritional therapist and best-selling author Amelia Freer. Amelia, welcome to my podcast. Thank you so much, Rangan. It's lovely to be here. Amelia, I think the best thing for me about having you on the podcast is that we've not seen each other for a while and we get to catch up in person. I know, it's lovely.

You've obviously been very,'s lovely. You've obviously been very very busy you've had a baby girl. I have my lovely Willow yes it's utterly life-changing. I'm sure it has been you know and I'm sure we'll get into that in in our conversation but how long ago is that now since you gave birth? So she's actually going to be one next week. Wow. Yeah I know it's just flown by. Where's the time gone? I know. I feel like the last kind of two years, I just have sort of been locked in a different world, a baby bubble. And has it been challenging? Incredibly, incredibly challenging. I mean, absolutely amazing. But I just, yeah, incredibly challenging. Wow. Well, look, I look forward to hearing a bit more about that later on in the conversation but Amina you're very well known

as a fantastic nutritional therapist and your books have done incredibly well I'm a huge fan of your books particularly the last book I've got to say Nourish and Glow the 10 day plan is brilliant Thank you So I wonder whether a good starting point of this conversation

is for you to talk about your evolution over the three books that you've written, which culminates in this gorgeous thing called the positive nutrition pyramid, which I think is brilliant. Thanks, Rangan. That's great. Well, yeah, so I've been a nutritional therapist now for over 10 years. And I always say to people, you know, you can study nutritional therapy. For me, it was a four year course. I had to study all of the sciences first and then do the nutritional therapy. But really, the learning happens when you start working with clients.

And that's taken me on an immense journey. I've been really fortunate to have a sort of thriving practice from quite early on, just because I think I'm a people person and I enjoy that interaction with people. I enjoy that interaction with people. And my first book really came out of trying to share what I had found to be the most important or useful tools that I discussed and worked on with my clients in practice. So it's really practical things from like changing, you know, getting your kitchen sorted out and making sure that you've got the right things, the positive things, as opposed to the things that you're trying to maybe reduce in your life. I remember doing a chapter on make fat your friend and sugar your enemy and just trying

to get people to sort of become more aware of the role that nutrition plays in their health and well-being. And that book was like six years ago now. Wow. My second book was, I hadn't really provided recipes in the first book and everyone just said, look, we get it. We want to eat better. We understand what to do, but we just need help with how to actually make it a reality in the kitchen. So the second book was purely a cookbook with lots and lots of different recipes. And I tried to sort of put them into different categories

like recipes for on the go, because I know that most people struggle with how to prepare a healthy lunch or, and I had something called the naughty chapter, which in hindsight, I slightly regret the choice of the title. But I was just trying to make people aware that even if things are sort of not natural sugars, healthy sugars, we still need to be conscientious of the amount of foods that we consume. So anyway, that was that cookbook. And then my third book came out last year. And I think it's the book that I'm the most proud of, because it came about from just watching what's happening in the health and wellness industry, watching how well people have responded to healthy eating and the importance of nutrition. importance of nutrition, but also observing that there was a slightly negative shift in the culture and that people were really focusing on what not to eat. And it was starting to become about deprivation. And I think that there was starting to become quite a negative undertone to what I think should be an incredibly joyful and positive process. So the 10 day plan, although it's called

the 10 day plan, that's just a marginal part at the end of the book where I've provided a 10-day plan for people to just dip in, get stuck in and actually feel what it's like to eat well, shop well, cook well for 10 days. And I always believe that after 10 days, people have pretty much got that they feel incredible and that, you know, it's a platform for them to then make it their own going forward. And that's key, isn't it? Getting them to feel better because, you know, I think, you know, as a doctor, when I'm trying to make changes with my patients, I don't think long term they're going to follow what I asked them to do because I told them to. I think I've got to get them to feel it for themselves. And then they're sort of bought in. And I guess that's what you're saying. That's how you almost get them to show them how quickly they

can feel well. You're so right and actually I think it was the best bit of advice I was ever given by another nutritional therapist. Something that I do in my practice and do in clinic with clients is the advice that I give them is the thing that's going to help them feel best, fastest. So it might not be all of the things that they need to do but it's how can I make a difference to this person's life

within the next three to four weeks so that then they actually are more open, they're more, they're feeling more positive, maybe they're feeling more energized, their symptoms have disappeared a little bit, and then they're more engaged and more positive about the bigger picture that, you know, the longer process. And so yeah, that's what I do in practice. But that's certainly what the 10 day plan was aiming to achieve. But the rest of the book really tackles, I suppose it sort of touched, I mean, I'm not an emotional therapist, but it touches because obviously, in my work, the emotions are so tied up in how people eat and their relationship with food. And so I tried to touch on the sort of most complex issues that people find when trying to make healthy living a way of life, because we know lots of people can be healthy for a week or they can say, right, for January, I'm going to give up everything.

And we know that that doesn't really last long term or make a big impact on their health and well-being. on all of the different areas from our social networks, from our own self-worth and from our own self-sabotage or sabotage of others, that sort of... I mean, that's so important, isn't it, Amelia? Because, you know, I think my own thinking, like from what I can tell from talking to you, has evolved over a number of years, you know, what we might have thought five years ago.

Yes, a lot of it is still valid today, but often we modify it and we tweak it and we learn more things and I'm yeah like you're always learning from my patients and sometimes you think oh this is the way to do it and a patient will do another way and they'll come back and I'll be like well that's interesting you know I didn't think of that. I think one of the most frustrating things about practice is there's there's that part of me that wants the comfort zone of just saying right this is my formula this is how to work and and and then I can relax and know that this is what I do with everyone. And I think that lots of people maybe do practice that way. But I think, you know, we know that

that's not possible with an evolving science like nutrition. So I have had to, you know, it's frustrating, and it's hard, because I'm constantly changing how I work. I'm constantly learning new things, learning things that made me sort of second guess what I did, you know, five years ago. And, you know, the more you know, the less you know. Right. Absolutely. But I don't think it's just nutrition, you know, Amelia, because I could say the same thing about medicine. You know, I think a lot of what we're asked to do now with our patients is quite protocol driven. It's like, OK, if patient comes in with X symptom and has got X diagnosis, this is the treatment plan. And I've realised more and more,

particularly over the last five or six years, that actually that symptom or that diagnosis can have multiple different causes. So, you know, someone coming in with, let's say, depression, for example, there can be multiple different drivers. So the treatment plan for an individual patient is going to be different whether whether their label may be the same but the treatment is going to be different yeah absolutely it would be nice wouldn't it to be

able to stay in our comfort zones of just having protocols for everything but but i've certainly learned that that's an that's it's not a way that i'm able to work so what have you seen i know you you do talk about this in your latest book. What are some of these issues that you see in clinic that these emotions, if you will, that are tied up in their food choices that you also have to tackle? So it's not just about saying, oh, you need to eat this, more of this and less of that. You have to tackle some of the other areas. It's often that food is the last thing that we talk about. You know, not with everyone.

It just depends on everyone. Every situation is entirely unique, as is every person. But I suppose what I noticed a lot was I was getting, it's mostly women in my practice, but I do see some men. But I was getting a lot of really successful women who are driven, stressed, busy, they're high achievers, and they want to have all areas of their life completely sorted. And food was the one area that they just couldn't manage to get control of. And so they would often

be, you know, eating well, going to the gym, managing millions of tasks, but then at the end of the day, eating a packet of Doritos or more or drinking a bottle of wine or what have you. So that's something that I saw a lot of. And I remember speaking to, actually, you've had him on your podcast, William Pullen. I chatted to William and I was like, look, what do I do? I need, I don't have the skills to deal with this because it's not really about the food. This seems to be a deep emotional issue. And I need to find a therapist who specializes in this area and can guide me or guide my patient my clients in the right direction and he connected

me with a fantastic therapist who specializes in all forms of eating disorders so I very quickly learned where I had to spot the red flag or where I couldn't actually help people so a lot of people that you know you could see had the potential for an eating disorder or some kind of disordered relationship with their food or health. And I would get them in for a few sessions with her first before we even tackled the food. And I then learned a lot from her and started reading a lot and delving into all of the different areas of stress and how we're so

embedded in in our habits and and sometimes it can be our family that challenge us yeah and they're all interwoven aren't they i know you know that i i talk about these four pillars all the time the food movement sleep and relaxation but they're they're not really separate they're all kind of interwoven with each other and you change one thing and automatically change is another thing but i think you're bringing up a really interesting point, Amelia, which I think, I don't think gets spoken about enough, you know, even on social media, which is, you know, why do people make the food choices that they make? We're often saying, oh, you know, in order to help type 2 diabetes, you need to do it this way, or, you know, people know what to do,

they're just not doing a good job of it and I don't particularly resonate with that kind of messaging because you know at the coalface seeing real people with real lives there are so many complex issues behind why people make those food choices and often there are emotional issues to process first absolutely absolutely I mean for yeah I kind of feel that I'm saying it more and more and more is encouraging people to not be afraid of exploring their emotional well-being. And I think it's something, maybe it's quite British, that a lot of people, they just don't want to go there. And it is a fearful thing to delve into our emotional health and maybe look at ourselves in a challenging way.

It's hard work, but I think I always say it takes a brave person to do that kind of work. But I think it's actually maybe at the crux of everything. And I know a nutritional therapist colleague of mine, Dana James in the States, she's written a brilliant book and she's gone on from, we studied together in London, and she's gone on to learn cognitive behavioral therapy and and she really hammers home this message I think she and I probably see quite similar clients she hammers home this message that you know ultimately it's it's about our self-worth and and that's what we need to look at and I and I just couldn't agree more in many ways it's it's the root of the root yeah you know we're i know me and you are both into trying to trying to discover what's the root cause of why your clients or my patients turn up and are struggling you know what

is that root cause and again i'd say for me it's evolved in the even in the last years and i think emotions and stress are right up there particularly these days in the 21st century when you know what what did we say when we you know we met up grab the quick drink before this podcast and we haven't seen each other i don't think i've seen you since you i think i was very early stages pregnant yeah so it's been a little while yeah and you know the the classic you know intro and and sort of greasing these as how you doing yeah i'm fine just a little bit busy. You know, everyone says that. How many times each day do you hear that? Or do we say we're busy or we hear people are busy?

And I think we've really got to start talking about this because if we are fundamentally busy the whole time, have no time to look at ourselves and understand why we're doing what we're doing, I think we compensate for that with our lifestyle choices a lot of the time, which is why so many people can have a brilliant two weeks or three weeks on a eating plan of some sort. But then they just fall off the wagon because the underlying cause.

Because the foundations aren't in place. And I'm glad you bring it up, actually, because, I mean, this is quite personal for me. But, you know, I did three books back to back and my practice really took off and life became quite busy and really exciting. And I was offered some amazing opportunities, but maybe there were things that I wasn't really, I didn't really have all of the tools to know how to handle it all. It wasn't something that I'd been actively seeking. And I sort of had to take a step back and observe myself, my own well-being, because I know that I'm naturally more of an introvert. I'm not someone that thrives on being in, you know, public speaking or being in groups of people.

But yet I was sort of, because I had all these opportunities that I didn't really know how to say no to, and I thought I should be grabbing them all. I took myself quite far out of my comfort zone and it definitely had an impact on my overall health. And a couple of years ago, I really decided, okay, I've just got to step back. I've got to go listen to me. And a couple of years ago, I really decided, OK, I've just I've just got to step back. I've got to go listen to me. And for me, that's spending time in nature.

And as you know, I grow my own vegetables and just sort of actually being truthful and being in tune with myself and saying, OK, I'm not going to go to every lecture. I'm not going to fly back and forth to America five times a year to go to the IFM conferences, which I was doing for a few years. And just just, you know, losing that sleep. And obviously, as you know, because I was I was also growing a baby and wanted to make sure that I was, you know, present and alert and healthy and around for my baby. So that meant that I had to make some quite big decisions and turn down a lot of work and and exciting opportunities in my career but how how have you found that because i'm sure there's going to be people listening to this who are in their own lives feeling similar things they're feeling overwhelmed they're seeing all these

amazing things on social media that everyone in their community seems to be doing yet they've got you know they're stuck doing what they're doing. They're busy. You know, they might have children. So they feel I can't keep going off to all these conferences. I just don't have the time to do that. Yeah. You know, how did you find that? I mean, do you still get FOMO, fear of missing out? I don't think I do. No, that's great.

I do because I think that I'm a lot happier that I've taken some time out. that I'm a lot happier that I've taken some time out and I feel like, as I said to you earlier, I'm just emerging from my baby fog, 11 months of very little sleep. And I feel kind of a bit, you know, I've renewed my energy and I've renewed my thoughts and my creativity and I'm looking forward to getting back into practice

and getting back into work. But doing it with my quality of life comes first. And I think as practitioners we have to practice that and that's what we said when we met up before uh doing this was you know you're you're you're busy you're you're taking on all these things and it's like wow rabbit in the headlights how do I how do I manage it all how do I balance it all it's all exciting and incredible stuff but I know that you're a family man and ultimately that's I think that one of the things I've always resonated with you on is a I love how you come across on social media it's always to me very measured it's

it's not I don't know it's very kind compassionate I've always liked your tone I think I think it's absolutely fantastic and I think it's something to be really aware of these days in because I think social media you know again I'm not demonizing it I use it if I love social media, you know, again, I'm not demonising it. I use it. I love social media, but I think it can be very toxic. Yeah, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I do use it and I think that it can be an incredibly positive community and I can definitely have days where I get amazing inspiration from it. But I do worry a lot about how it's used, how some people are using it, how influencers are using it,

worry a lot about how it's used, how some people are using it, how influencers are using it, and just how it can make normal people feel pretty rubbish about themselves if they're having a bad day. And sometimes if I'm a bit tired, which I have been lately, or I'm just having a bad day, which we all do, and I look at Instagram and suddenly it's telling me how to be, it's telling me that I should be laughing or I should be dancing or I should be exercising or I should be eating this. And it's like, whoa. Sometimes I just think we need to remember that it's telling me how to be. It's telling me that I should be laughing or I should be dancing or I should be exercising or I should be eating this. And it's like, whoa. Sometimes I just think we need to remember that it's just an app.

Yeah, and the whole thing with social media is it's this whole concept of perfectionist presentation that we present that perfect side of us on social media. And even if you know it's not real, your brain is still seeing it. Your brain is still constantly getting fed that information. And I think most of what our brain picks up is subconscious anyway. So actually, I think it can be incredibly toxic.

And, you know, you mentioned I'm a family man. I am. And someone said to me the other day, oh, Rangan, you've got to be on Insta stories more. And I'm thinking, you know what? I know I could do and I could have more followers. But it really doesn't drive me. You know, I value that time I've got with my children or my wife yeah and you know something I feel quite strongly about and again I'm not criticizing people who do this and you've always it's such a delicate area but I genuinely when I'm with my children I say at

weekends or in the evenings I don't want to model the behaviour to them that every part of our life has to be snapped and broadcast. I'm tempted sometimes. I'm sure occasionally I have done it. So I struggle with it as much as anyone. But I've really made this sort of vow to myself that my children's wellbeing is more important. And it sounds obvious, but I've just reiterated to myself that their well-being is more important than anything I do in public more important than what I do on social media and that is always my first thing if that means I don't post for a few days or I don't post it into stories so be it yeah but you know I'll just enjoy that time I think well

and I think that that's that's so healthy and balanced balanced. I don't want to model it. We've got a lot of followers. And I kind of want to try and model that behaviour where I can. Yes, absolutely. I agree with you. You can easily get caught up. And I mean, gosh, you know, the amount of times with my little baby that I would sort of be distracted by reading a post or reading a blog. And suddenly realise, oh, my God, she's looking at me and I'm looking at the phone. Wait till they get a bit older. I tell you you kids will start to call you out on it if you are playing with them and you're distracted yeah you know my daughter

once said to me this is a couple of years ago it wasn't to do with the phone actually i think it was just thinking about work or something and i just had lots of deadlines yeah she says daddy you're not here really are you and i tell tell you, nothing brings you back to earth more than that. And I'm like, okay, right. You're absolutely spot on. But yeah, so this is something I guess we can talk about a lot. And this probably feeds into people's lifestyle choices a lot. But if we just bring it back onto foods, you are obviously an expert in nutrition. And, you know, when you have seen in your experience, patients, sorry, I know you call them clients. When you see your clients in clinic, what are some of the common problems that you see? And then, you know, what are some of those solutions that you can give them? Because I know lots of people will be listening to this and thinking, know i want to learn i want to learn some tips on nutrition from amelia

so i wonder what what you've learned in the clinic that can help our listeners today sure i think i've i've i've really seen all sorts and and it's i've often been thinking i must try and find an area to specialize in like lots of women specialize in hormonal health or and i and i have never been quite able to do it because I've always had such a wide variety of people come to see me. I suppose gut health, digestion, that's actually what got me into nutrition in the first place. Can we just delve into that a minute? What did get you into nutrition? I think that would be super fascinating for people. So I remember as a young girl, I'd say probably, you know, I'm talking eight years old,

I would always have a tummy ache. And I would never quite be able to get to the bottom of this tummy ache. And in my teenage years, I mean, I didn't, I wouldn't say I ate a bad diet, you know, my mum cooked from scratch every day. But you know, we probably ate cereal for breakfast. And if I could have, I would have lived on sweet cups of tea and Marmite on toast. I wasn't that into food. In my teenage years, I had really bad acne and it was really, it was awful. And then I moved to London in my early 20s and sort of working. And lots of people have heard me talk about this before, but I kind of really binged on junk food.

I just loved that I had access to junk food. I thought it was really sophisticated to have a croissant for breakfast and a baguette for lunch. And I kind of went for it. Again, I wasn't connected with how what I was eating was impacting my health. And my digestive health that hadn't been great, I'd had these pains from when I was eight years old, it just got worse and worse. And I always say I just wasn't a vibrant girl. You

know, I'd always dreamt of coming to the bright lights in the big city. And then there I was, and I was just exhausted, unwell, in pain, you know, bad skin. I had taken quite a few courses of the drug racutane for my acne which i now know having obviously having understood nutrition and understanding what these drugs do i now know the pattern of of what went wrong with my health from you know digestive uh digestive health etc um i i went to lots of doctors i was offered um you know the standard medications that doctors have available to them to offer for the symptoms that I was presenting, but antidepressants, antispasmodic drugs and pain relief. Did that work?

No. Well, I didn't take antidepressants because I didn't, in my heart, I didn't feel that that was the underlying issue for me. And I suppose that was probably the time when that real burning of why started to happen with me. And, you know, I, I, I remember then connecting with my father, sadly died when I was a young girl, when I was nine. But he was quite alternative. And he did yoga in the early 1980ss and he practiced nutrition and homeopathy. And I hadn't really, obviously because he died, I didn't really pay much attention to it. But I remember starting to connect with that and starting to think there must be other solutions here because why am I the only one with acne? Why am I the only one with this sore tummy?

Compared to your friends and your community. Compared to friends and colleagues and everything yeah so so that that's a long a long story but I ended up discovering hearing about nutritional therapy and I went to a nutritional therapist and it was for me just wow absolutely uh I I was I was fascinated do you remember what what what what were those wow moments what did that nutritional therapist say to you that that had such a big impact i remember her talking me through the digestive system and explaining what goes on something i had never ever thought about and she she just explained it in a really straightforward way she explained blood sugar balance which you know once you get it you're like oh okay uh and and she she really highlighted to me what my diet consisted

of which was beige foods and high high high sugar um and so it just it just kind of made sense when was it hard to make change yes very i mean i was i was very resistant reluctant i didn't want i liked the way that i ate and and uh we were talking about coffee earlier. I really was addicted to sweet tea and to give up sugar and tea was major for me. You say sweet tea. I would have three teaspoons of sugar in my tea and I would have about 10 cups of tea a day. Oh, wow. I know, so stupid, right? But I don't mean to say stupid as a judgment, but now looking back, I can't believe that I was that.

But that's the norm for many people. Yeah, yeah. And did you, you know, when you first started seeing a nutritional therapist, did you really think in your heart, okay, my digestive problems, my skin problems are going to get better by changing what I eat? I had a really good friend who had been on a bit of a nutritional journey and I'd seen that she was in a very positive place so there was a little bit of me thinking I want some of that but I was probably quite dubious if I'm honest

and you know like I say it's uncomfortable changing our habits and I wanted to carry on eating the foods that I was eating and I didn't want to be weird and and strange with my food choices which you know we're talking 15 years ago when I started and you know there was not the wide availability that there is now of healthy options um so I remember buying sandwiches and scooping out the insides and having them in like some lettuce so it's not as easy as it was now. It was nowhere. As it is now. Yes, exactly. Because I think, well, I don't know if it is everywhere.

I know to say, I don't live in London. I am often in London and I find it pretty easy to eat healthily when I'm in London actually. There's such a vast array of choice now. But I don't find that everywhere. You know, I don't find that you still can everywhere even though there's a growing awareness of this. It's still hard to buy convenience food that's actually got it right yeah so you basically had some health problems you tried everything medically available wasn't

really helping you'd heard about nutritional therapy you went to a nutritional therapist you made some changes and digestion and skin got better so I think it was my skin that improved rapidly and that was just you know as a young girl in her in London you know that was really important to me I was deeply uncomfortable about my skin and so that was that was the thing that I noticed the first then I suppose it was digestion then it was energy and it was just a ripple effect but But by then I was hooked. You were hooked. I remember I just left my job and I went to India to learn yoga.

And it was there that I was actually chatting with a doctor and I was sort of saying, you know, I'm not really sure what to do with my life and I'm kind of interested in nutrition, but there's no way I could be a nutritionist. There's no way I could do that. And she sort of talked me through it for a while and she said, you know, what are the things that you're always drawn to if you're looking through a magazine? I was like, oh, it's always recipes and food. And she's like, I think this is your calling.

So I remember coming back to London and enrolling on the course. I mean, there wasn't many courses at the time that did anything to do with nutrition so I studied at the Institute for Optimal Nutrition which was for me I loved it it was it was I just remember being there I didn't tell many people I was doing it just in case it was a complete disaster but within the first few few days I knew that I was absolutely in the right place. I mean, it was still quite self-motivated. I was still doing it. I didn't ever envisage having a career in it.

I was doing it for me because I wanted to learn it and get my health completely on track. A lot of nutrition theorists I spoke to, or even medical doctors who are embracing nutrition and lifestyle as a way of treating their patients, I find more often than not, they've had a personal experience. They've had some reason to challenge and question the norms. Some reason that either for their own health

or someone close to them that has forced them to go, well, let me try a different way. And then they're the ones who want to sing it from the, shout it from the rooftops because they've started to feel the difference themselves. Yes. It feels really important for me that I've had that experience

and I feel like it makes me a more empathetic practitioner because I've been there, I've made the changes, I've experienced it firsthand and not just sort of going and going, oh yeah, I've heard about this, try it. And you know how hard it is because I think a lot of people will be able to resonate with that. They don't want to necessarily change the way they eat. They like the way they eat, I've heard about this, try it. And you know how hard it is because I think a lot of people will be able to resonate with that.

You know, they don't want to necessarily change the way they eat. They like the way they eat, but they don't like their symptoms. And I think that's, yeah, that's pretty incredible, actually. So you've been on that journey. So as a nutrition therapist in clinic, you know, are there some common themes

that you see over and over again that maybe we could discuss that are going to help some of the listeners actually understand what they might be able to do to change things in their own life i i think that a lot of people come to see me with the same sort of four or five things it's it's they're busy they're working really hard they're very stressed they have digestive symptoms they're probably not sleeping enough and um there's often that emotional battle going on between wanting to be well and feeling better but not actually managing to you know put put everything in place in order to sort of live that way do you you find, yeah, absolutely. Do you find that you're often telling your clients

things that they don't know or they sort of already knew it that you've just almost, you're helping to order things for them and actually just reinforce something that they sort of knew but just didn't have the courage to change? Actually, I'm surprised to say

because I suppose, you know, I'm so entrenched in nutrition that I kind of figure everyone knows this stuff. But it always astonishes me how my clients will sit there and they don't, they don't know. They're not aware of their patterns. They're not aware of their behavior. They're not aware of what's going on. You know, one client of mine that comes to mind, she was really trying her best.

And she said, you know, I'm just hardly eating anything. Why am I why am I too stone overweight? I hardly eat. I was like, you do know that you do actually need to eat. You do actually need a vast amount of nutrients each day in order to be well and to thrive. And maybe you're not losing weight because you're actually depriving your body so much. And she just she she she was astounded and she left with permission to eat and uh with a meal plan that gave her three proper meals a day and that's that's actually sorry i'm sort of going off i keep going off track from you

asking about the common threads in my clinical practice but just to bring up my um the positive nutrition pyramid from my book which is why i kind of recreated it. Because like I said earlier, I noticed that people were just focusing. I think we had it from the 80s, women or people in general, just like on a fat free diet. And then it became about carb free. And then it became about gluten free. And then it became about sugar free. And then it's like everyone was just focusing on what to avoid. And no one was focusing on what we actually need to eat. And we actually need to eat quite a lot. And believe it or not, to some people, it's a shock to people, we need to eat every single day in order for us to thrive and be well in all areas of our life.

And so the Positive Nutrition Pyramid is to show people just, I mean, obviously, we're all unique. We can't be general with it all. But it was a sort of general, based on a modified Mediterranean diet. It's brilliant. What we need to be eating on a daily basis to remind people that we need to be eating fruits and vegetables, because we know that majority of people in the UK aren't even achieving their five portions of fruits and vegetables a day. They're not getting any healthy fats.

A lot of people are really dehydrated, not getting enough fluids. Some people are eating too much fruit. Some people are eating none. So the pyramid is like a tick box where you can just go through your day and tick and see at the end of the day, oh, I actually haven't eaten enough, which is what most people feed back to me. They realise that they've had, you know, lots of bread, but they actually have only had one vegetable and no fruit and one glass of water. I remember when I first saw that, there's a beautiful graphic illustration of your positive nutrition pyramid in your book, which I think is lovely

because it really helps illustrate to people what they should be having or could be having on any given day. And, you know, yeah, I agree with you. We can't generalise for everyone, but it's a pretty good template that can be individualised and personalised for whoever wants to,

depending on their preferences. And I really go into that in the book and sort of say, look, this is your diet, you must make this for you. Some of you might need more, some of you might need less, and I've given all of the tools so that if people read it, they'll understand how they can adapt it for them. But this is a general theme of, and going back to what you say, the common threads in clinic,

and I think this has really shaped my career, is I've worked with all sorts of people with all different kinds of symptoms and seen many different challenges. And what I kept coming back to was, it's about the food. People want to know what to eat. And so that was early on

where I started to teach myself how to cook and on where I started to teach myself how to cook and then where I started to teach clients how to cook. And some of my clients I actually cooked for and filled their fridges just because while we know this complicated science, we know the autoimmune potential and we can see red flags when we work with a client and see what's going on with them.

They don't necessarily need to know that. They just need to know what to eat for breakfast or for supper that day and so I've always just tried to I know it's a hugely complex area and obviously we can't simplify it but I've tried to simplify it in a positive way and just help people engage with with their food because if they get that right it's amazing how much else falls into place and then if they've still got a symptom that's what you work with that's that's what you need to address and dig a little deeper. And so if people are just eating a bit better, it makes the whole process a lot. So what should people be eating, Amelia? What would you recommend they eat? So from the positive nutrition pyramid,

which I spent a long time looking into into it I started with hydration first because I was seeing I fall into this category I can easily forget to drink water and I think when I talk with clients a lot of people say that they're suddenly aware that they that they're pretty dehydrated and that they might remember the coffees or the teas but they're not actually remembering just some glasses of water or herbal teas. And I have pointed out that, you know, coffee and tea is still a form of fluid. And so it's not saying you can't have those, but it's just being aware that, you know, we need a bit of variety and that it shouldn't all be caffeine. So I have got eight glasses of water, which is the sort of standard advice. Some people

might need more, some people might need less, but it's a good starting point. And if you actually, you can print off the pyramid from my website and if you actually have it on your desk and just tick it throughout the day, it really helps remind you that you need a bit more water. And the difference that that can make in just like mental clarity and energy and mood, I think is vast. I think that's brilliant.

Guys, just for those of you who just heard what Amelia said, I'd really encourage that you go onto a website and print it out because it's a really helpful guide to, you know, if you're struggling with your nutrition, you want a bit more of a template, a bit more of a guide on what you should be doing, I think that can be a great resource. So we will be putting links to that that in the show notes you can go to the show notes page afterwards which will be drchachi.com forward slash Amelia and you will

be able to see all the things that me and Amelia have discussed and all those links just to make it a bit easier for you. Thank you and just to just to remind that that the reason I've called this the positive nutrition pyramid is because it's not about shaming and making you feel bad if you don't achieve it. I don't achieve the positive nutrition pyramid every single day. But it's just meant to be a sort of nice template to help us connect with it and help us think about it in a positive way and actually realise that we can eat more food and it's not about being starving. And that's that, you know, that's not the way to lose weight or to be healthy. So you start off with hydration. And then I go with vegetables because I genuinely believe like I'm always asked if you could just the way to lose weight or to be healthy. So you start off with hydration at the bottom and then it goes up.

And then I go with vegetables because I genuinely believe, like I'm always asked if you could just give people one bit of advice, I always just say it's eat more vegetables because I don't think that can do any harm to anyone, I don't think. And we know that our diets need to be predominantly plant-based. So I've got six portions of vegetables and I try to tell people to go for the rainbow, make sure you've got some leafy greens and try and get some colours in there too. And then I've got three portions of fruit.

Again, we know that we need fruit, we know that it's beneficial, but we don't need vast amounts of fruit. And I think sometimes people can go a bit crazy with fruit juices and smoothies, et cetera. So do you prioritise vegetables over fruit? I do, I do. Likewise.

And I actually find personally in clinic that um when people are trying to hit their five a day let's say they will often if they are having anything they'll often be having fruit super sweet fruits i agree i've people that say they have five bananas done my five a day exactly and i so i feel that i'm not anti-fruit at all i think fruit can be a very helpful part of a of a you know of a healthy diet basically um but i always prioritize vegetables because i think that's what people aren't eating enough and that's that's what i always encourage as well um so okay so we've gone for hydration then you go to vegetables then we've got some fruit and so i say i say it's best to split your fruits up across the day as opposed to have it all at once,

which I think is just a kind of sensible way. And then it's protein because as a nutritional therapist, that's always been the sort of main key when I look at my clients' food diaries is they're always not eating enough protein. So I always encourage people to have a little bit of protein with every meal. And you can choose your protein source. It doesn't have to be animal protein.

But making sure that you've got some protein. I mean, I'm not promoting any extreme diets here or even anything with a name. It doesn't have to be high protein. It's just a little bit of protein. And for people who are not sure about protein, what are some of the foods that can give them protein? So I would always say, you know, going for the healthy options. give them protein? So I would always say, you know, going for the healthy option. So the plant based proteins such as pulses like chickpeas and lentils, nuts and seeds, tofu, and then the animal protein. So some some nice fish or some lean meat or poultry. And then you've got the dairy aspect.

So some good quality, you know, non-sugared, full fat yogurt or cheeses. Yeah. I think that's all the proteins. And eggs, of course. And eggs, of course. Yeah. And I think protein is, you know, it really helps fill people up, doesn't it? It's great for stabilising blood sugar.

And yes, I always notice people that say they're always hungry. Usually they're quite low on their proteins. And something that I've really observed is if I start my day on protein my day goes really really well and I can and I've noticed that if I start my day on just like a cart like something at porridge by the by four o'clock in the afternoon I'm craving something sweet or I'm craving some kind of carbs yeah I think I mean that's such a great points because um in the so question porridge can work for some people as a good breakfast. But I see many patients who it doesn't work particularly well for.

It leaves them feeling a bit empty, always craving. They're always hungry from 10 o'clock in the morning. I think it's fine if you marry it with a bit of protein, which is what I'm always saying. So add in some peanut butter or some almond butter or some milk or some yogurt or some flaxseed or some chopped nuts. Anything just to balance out that carb. So you've got some protein there near the top of the pyramid, but we're not quite at the very top yet, are we? Because you've got a few more layers to go.

So then I've got the complex carbs. This is always, you know, hugely debatable with people. I'm not anti-carbs. I think that we need carbohydrates, but obviously, and for me, it's not even about the quantity, it's the quality. So I always say go for whole foods. So here in the picture, we've got some sweet potato and we've got some oats. And really, I'm just trying to advise people to steer away from or, you know, reduce the white refined processed carbs that we know are lacking in nutrients and not beneficial for our health.

For some people, if they're really sedentary or they're struggling with thyroid issues or metabolism issues, they maybe don't need the carbs, those parts of the pyramid. For people that are really active, they probably need more. So this is probably the most negotiable part of the pyramid. And it's really down to individuals to try and experiment and see what works for them. Great. And then at the very top. And then I've got healthy fats. So again, I'm not really promoting a high fat diet,

but we know that we need some healthy fats. And by that, I mean the natural fats. So I've got a quarter of an avocado and a tablespoon of olive oil. And that's all we really need in a day. Some people can be fine with more again it depends on their activity levels but I like to get it in there just to remind people that we do need some healthy fats and then at the very top I've got a portion of nuts and seeds because they can marry up as some healthy fats and protein and we know that they're just nutritional powerhouses so just having a small portion which is about eight nuts so that's what I mean by a portion on the palm of your hand is a good guide.

Yeah, it's a really helpful guide, that. And I can see why you're so proud of it, because I think it's got the potential to really help a lot of people. Well, the feedback that I get from people is they do find it incredibly useful to just give them a guide. And, you know, I say, like, write the other stuff. If you have a Kit Kat or a glass of red wine, write it in the top corner and, you know, it's not the naughty corner stuff. If you have a Kit Kat or a glass of red wine, write it in the top corner.

And, you know, it's not the naughty corner. There's nothing wrong with having those things, too. It's your choice if you want to add cake onto this. But that's not nutritional. And you've got to make sure that you're aiming to have, you know, everything that we've talked about in the pyramid. There's a purpose. It's for your nutrition. It's for your health.

It's necessary to eat all of those things. I think that's great the way you the way you explain that it's like this is this is almost like your base requirement exactly to fuel your body every day yeah if you want to have some treats on top of that that's your choice that's your choice yeah but you're focusing on the positive nature of food and what it can do to us and you are right but that's there's been this real move about restricting things and cutting things out. And again, you know, some people have got very good reason for cutting out certain food groups. There's no question about that. You know, that gets demonized as well.

I feel very sorry for those people because actually I often in clinics sometimes can see quite clearly that a patient is reacting to a certain food group. And often with a short term elimination, they can feel a lot better and then we can figure out how we're going to manage that long term but yes and and obviously for all of my nutritional therapy um friends out there you know i i i'm so pleased that you brought that up because obviously we do in practice often work with elimination diets and they're really beneficial and important for people but i suppose what i've learned is when you're talking in a general way such as a book you can't be that specific and so I think you know that that's why I tried to do it in a positive way and and actually all of the book is gluten-free and dairy-free because that's the way that I eat because that's just what I found

suits me and I challenge that all the time and I change it up and I'm not I'm not afraid of those foods but I don't make a big thing about the fact that that's what this book is about because I'm talking about positivity. But yes, there are lots of people that do benefit from removing certain foods, but hopefully they're doing it with the support of a qualified practitioner. Absolutely. So that they're doing it in a sensible way and they're not resorting to processed gluten-free foods or junk foods and that they're not missing vital nutrients from their diet. Yeah. And the other thing I sort of emphasise, and I've heard you talk about this before as well, Amelia, is that, you know, if you are in a certain state of health and your gut is not doing so well, your microbiome possibly isn't in the best shape that it that it could be often you can be more

reactive to foods and often when you do a short-term elimination do some work on your lifestyle your nutrition your sleep your stress levels you know um increase the amounts of colorful vegetables in your diet it's a bit by bit starts to change your gut health and your microbiome it is amazing how many things you can tolerate that you couldn't tolerate in the past and i've experienced that myself you know my gut is in a lot better shape than it was even even probably two years ago yes um i've got to say a lot of that started with nutrition but a lot of it's from actually something you you mentioned at the start which is that emotional work it's amazing that actually i've i've gone a bit of a journey doing a lot of emotional work on myself um that's fantastic and it feels great and that in itself you know

lowering your own stress levels that has an impact on your gut health um i couldn't agree more i mean certainly from not sorry to interrupt no please from from my you know becoming a new mom is definitely quite quite stressful and quite challenging. And I've noticed the impact that that's had on my health. You know, there I was, I went into it quite healthy, feeling like, yeah, I've got this nailed. And then suddenly you go through a new change in life, which is, you know, losing vast amounts of sleep, which was my crux. And having someone reliant on you. Yes.

And learning all of these new things and and thinking every day god am i doing this right like there's no manual on how to be a parent well this i think this is interesting people that's you know amelia freer the nutritional therapist the best-selling author you know you know there's probably a perception you had it all down with your nutrition which is possibly not correct either. But what has changed since you've been a mother? Obviously, you're exhausted a lot of the time. You've been telling me about that. I can totally resonate with that.

Do you get sometimes when you're that tired, you think, I can't be bothered cooking a fresh meal. I just want something quick. Absolutely. I found this year to be incredibly eye opening and challenging for me. I mean, and when I say that, like, I don't beat my I've never been someone that beats myself up over food choices. I've never been obsessive or sort of neurotic about it. I've always embraced nutrition in a kind of joyful way. And I should just say that, you know, obviously being a new

mum is incredible. And I'm, I'm not meaning to whinge about it, but I think it's important that we talk about the reality of just how much sleep a new mum loses and what an impact that has on their wellbeing. Because I've experienced it firsthand and I'm horrified. I did not know or understand and I was never empathetic enough. Now that I've gone through it, I have so much respect for mums and how they function. But it's impacted my digestive health. I feel like I've kind of gone back to square one.

I'm having to do a lot of work on my microbiome. I'm taking probiotics. You know, I found breastfeeding made me so hungry. I've never experienced a hunger like it. And I was just craving sugar. Like I, I, the sugar went back into my tea. How many did you get up to? Only one. Only one.

Only one. But it went back in. That's interesting. It went back in. And, you know, I kind of thought, OK, I'll just do this for a week. And then, you know, and then another week and then another week. And I was like, oh, my goodness. And I'm not ashamed to share that. I think think you know it's it this this kind of thing is normal there's no there's no shame in it but it took quite a while for me to kind of wean myself off that habit and I blame the hospital because they bought me a sweet cup of tea after I'd given birth and I was like oh this is amazing but I found that I was really craving you know fast processed sugars because and it was the breastfeeding that was making me do it I was eating every two hours um so that was a that was completely new to me I've always been the girl that doesn't snack and doesn't have any sugar and you know that was real life right absolutely but that also goes to you Amelia you you I've heard you talk about

your approach in nutrition before I think you've I think I've often heard you use the term uh fluid and flexible I think is that right yes yeah I think you just often heard you use the term fluid and flexible, I think. Yes. Is that right? Yes. I think you just demonstrated that there. Yeah. It has to be fluid and flexible because life constantly changes.

Nothing is static. Our symptoms change, our circumstances change, and we have to adapt and respond. And I think there's probably a lot of people that take healthy eating in quite an extreme way and it becomes quite obsessive for them and they panic and they would never have a spoonful of sugar in their tea um and and i don't think that that's healthy i think if it's if it's stressing you if it's if it's a form of control all the time i'm not sure that that's that that healthy you know i think that food's important but as you talk about a lot our stress is important too and and so i i

haven't beaten myself up over the food choices that I've made over in the first few months of being a mum while I was breastfeeding. Is the sugar still there in you? No I'm slowly working my way no no the sugar's gone and I feel like now I'm probably much more engaged again in sort of microbiome gut health because there are some things that I need to work on and certainly my hormonal health needs a bit of work so uh you know it and the acne came back for a while you know it's all been turned on its on its head which which I I think is is is fascinating and just a reminder that it doesn't matter you know health is not a destination it's a it's a constantly fluid yeah I think that this can be incredibly reassuring for some people listening, you know,

particularly if anyone's listening and they've got young kids or they're pregnant and they're struggling to make, or, you know, it could even be work pressures. It could be a whole number of reasons why people are struggling. That's okay, you know, it can be challenging to do this all the time.

And I guess what I'm trying to do with this podcast is to get on a whole wide variety of guests hopefully inspire everyone listening that actually it is possible to make those changes it is possible to have a fuller life and the reason i mean i call this feel better live more as i genuinely believe is that you know when we're feeling better in ourselves, we get more out of life. I think nutrition and lifestyle is a really great way to do that. I mean, you mentioned you grow your own vegetables. I do know that. Yes.

I'm just, it made me wonder, you know, it's one of the issues now in society that we've lost that complete connection between what food is, where it comes from. You know, we're buying things in packets or in shops. We don't actually understand where that food actually came from. Do you think growing your own vegetables has brought you closer to food and has helped you make better food choices? I wouldn't, I don't think it's helped me make better food choices because I was making good food choice, you know, the right food choices. I shouldn't say the right. I was making good food choices before growing vegetables.

But it has certainly brought me much more in connection with it. And like what's available seasonally, you know, just just sort of I just used to take for granted if I felt like asparagus, I'd just go out and buy asparagus. And now I understand that asparagus is an incredibly short season. It's maybe three weeks and, you know, you get an abundance of it. But the rest of the year it doesn't grow. And figs are just in season in my garden now. And so I've been enjoying fresh figs. And so it's and, you know, the pumpkins are ready. And I just love being in touch with how the seasons change and provide what we actually need, you know, as the weather changes.

And, you know, like autumn, suddenly we've got access to all of these lovely starchy foods that we lend themselves perfectly to lovely comforting stews. Yeah, I think for you, although it didn't change things for you, I think I see a big problem out there. And I probably would argue that I've been been i've struggled with this in the past you know i don't think i was necessarily brought up with that connection with where that food comes from no yeah and i think it's it's something i'm not saying i'm doing a great job but it's something i'm definitely trying to instill with my children is to have that real understanding of where this where this all comes from and um you know living in harmony with nature as much as possible. I think these things are really important, actually.

Yes. There's so, there's just, I mean, I'm incredibly privileged to be growing my vegetables. I know that it's not, it's really time consuming and it's not that easy, but it's, there's just something so wonderful about going out and picking it and taking it in and eating it. And I have so much more appreciation for that courgette or that tomato or that aubergine or lettuce.

I grew up with a greenhouse in my garden. My dad, he'd be working incredibly hard. He was a doctor and he'd always be doing nights, working weekends. He wouldn't be around that much. But when he was back, I remember seeing dad for hours in the garden. I've not thought about this for a long time, actually. And it's nice to think about this because my dad passed away about five years ago and um he used to love growing tomatoes and courgettes once he grew grapes and then he went on this projects in the loft to make his own wine and i love that i didn't quite get it at the

time you know but now i'm craving that myself. I'm craving, oh, I'd love to get my own greenhouse now and actually grow my own veg. There's something so therapeutic about it. I mean, when I'm stressed, I go into the garden and everything is all right. And I just, there's something really like, I mean, it sounds really cringey, but it's just being connecting with nature. Nature is key. I mean, there's a whole, whole you know we were speaking about before about my book on stress which comes out in a couple of months and you know there's a whole chapter on nature in it and you know i really try and make the case that nature is the antidote to modern technology it's the complete opposite and again tech's not going anywhere you know tech's

here it's got so many great benefits but i think we're hardwired to be in nature. And I think we do have a nature deficiency as a society, many of us. And I do think going in nature is an incredible way to just reconnect with foods, with yourself. You know, the study's showing that just being in nature lowers your cortisol levels. Cortisol, one of the main stress hormones, goes down when we're in nature. Even when we look at a picture of nature, our cortisol levels can go down. Isn't that incredible? Isn't that incredible?

I can definitely say firsthand it worked for me moving to the country and just taking some time out and away from work and London and busy, busy, busy, busy. And just being in nature, it was just... For people who don't live in the country i mean i'm i'm not a expert vegetable grower so i'm not sure um if i can add some expertise here but are there things that they can do and if they don't live in the country about growing their own vegetables i would definitely say you know on a window box or even in your kitchen you know herbs would be the

first place to start because they're they're really rewarding they grow pretty easily and then you can just add them to all of your food and which will just take the food up to another level um then i would say tomatoes are pretty good if you've got a little outside space wow um and um what else what else lettuces like i did that with my kids recently i know it's easy it is super easy to grow lettuce it is it is there's something so pleasurable like earlier this year i would just do little rows and then every week i would do a new row of beetroot and then just watching it germinating and oh brilliant hey guys if anyone's listening to something and

they actually are doing any of this with vegetables in the garden or with window boxes please do you know snap a shot tag me and amelia on their social media let us know we'd love to see what you guys are doing with that I think we should all start growing all veggies this is where social media can be a really positive medium for change, if everyone starts sharing these photos, it's very encouraging for other

people to start saying, oh I can do that so I think we should start a campaign to do that yes, I love it spread a bit of joy absolutely I'm just trying to think we've gone a bit off track, I love it. It's been a bit of joy. Absolutely. I'm just trying to think, you know, we've gone a bit off track. I didn't quite know where we were going to go with this conversation, but I've actually had a lot of fun. I've loved it. But yes, we have gone down a few roads.

In terms of bringing it back to practical tips, I heard you recently talk about pre-chopped onions oh yeah and I found it incredible because I tell you when I in my first book the four pillar plan um I remember I wrote this chart of tips to help you in in the house I can't remember what I called it actually and I never thought that pre-chopped onions or pre-chopped garlic would be useful for anyone right and one of my patients came in and told me oh I find it so useful to have that like I actually buy it and keep it there and it means that I'm much more likely to cook a fresh meal when I don't have to go to all the hassle of chopping it and I thought okay well you know fair enough that works that I'm gonna openly admit that's not what I do but my one of my patients told me that. But then I heard you say that you do this as well. Well, because, you know, I've perfected most of my recipes around helping clients over the years.

And a lot of my clients are just too busy or they're not that confident in the kitchen. And you know what, if you've just got a bag of chopped onions in the freezer and that means that you can have a vegetable curry made. I mean, of course, we know it doesn't take very long to chop an onion. No, sure. But sometimes the tears put people off. Sometimes people just, I don't know, don't think that they have the time. So, yeah, I do use it. I mean, I grow my own onions and I do chop my own onions.

No, I think it's great. But I always have some frozen chopped herbs, some frozen chopped garlic, some frozen chopped chili, some frozen chopped ginger and some frozen chopped onions in the freezer at all times. And you can rustle up a curry in about five minutes if you have those things available. I'm coming around. You're going to have to teach me how to do this. This is just incredible. I think, guys, that is a fantastic tip. I must admit, it's not something I do, but... You might. I might now. I'm going to try and do that now.

And just to hear you say that that's how you do it, I think that's incredibly inspirational for people to say that's not sort of... They can still make a freshly cooked meal at home, but they're not having to do it all. And anything, I think, that can remove the obstacle to getting people to eat well, I think is a good thing. I agree. And again, it's a good thing. I agree. And again, it's not about being perfect.

I mean, of course, I don't know how much nutrition stays in and I'm not sure that the flavour would be the same. Fresh is always better. But sometimes it's just about getting... It's probably better than eating out. Exactly, yeah. Or, you know, a ready-made meal that has a very long shelf life and is wrapped in plastic.

Yeah, I think that's a great tip, actually. And I'd be super interested for any of the listeners who actually uses that themselves. Do let us know on social media. We'd love to hear who uses that tip as well. And Amelia, I've had a fascinating conversation today. Just to try and wrap it up now. One thing, you know, one of the things I'm really trying to do with everything I do in the media, with books, with this podcast,

is I want to inspire every single person listening to become the architects of their own health. And I always love to leave them with some take-homes. And I wonder from your perspective, because I talk about four pillars in my book, I always talk about four tips. And I wonder if you have four top tips for people listening to this podcast

that they can implement to improve the quality of their, well, improve their health, which in turn will improve the quality of their lives. I suppose this changes all the time and it does change according to who you're speaking to.

But I generally, I've said it already, eat more vegetables. I think if everyone can just focus on adding an extra portion of vegetables even just a day or maybe to a couple of meals I really believe that that's going to to influence their health on on that before you get to point number two can I just ask you have you got any top tips to help people make vegetables more attractive for them to eat because many people i mean i love vegetables yeah but some people think oh it's a bit boring have you got any any tips for people i think um good quality olive oil yeah really helps just what just a drizzle on the veg yeah just have a little

drizzle of good quality olive oil and i think fresh herbs like i'll add some chives to some spinach and that just some you know so spinach with a little bit of black pepper some chives and some olive oil that's yeah it's incredibly delicious or you know herbs and spices so like you know roasting broccoli with some cumin or coriander that's lovely or turmeric makes a huge difference rather than just a steamed i think flavors uh make a make a big difference but i always think it's just the idea and actually it still is really tasty once you eat it but I think flavours. So eat more veg and don't neglect spices and herbs as a way of bringing out those flavours okay. My second tip I haven't really thought about this but I suppose

my second tip and again we've touched on it and it's not really about food but it's something that I believe to be really important for all of the clients that I've worked with over the years is don't be afraid to tackle your emotional health. Don't be afraid to have the difficult conversations. Because I think that that is the crux of, you know, most of our happiness and health and that that can influence our food choices or our life choices. Yeah, absolutely. So I think that's really important. I think my third tip would be cooking from scratch, just encouraging people to have the confidence. You know, you don't have to be as amazing as Jamie Oliver or these wonderful chefs.

It doesn't have to be to their standard. But have a go, get in the kitchen and try cooking as many meals as you can from scratch and and enjoy it don't don't don't approach it you know thinking that that it has to be complex and lengthily and and perfect because it might not always taste amazing but it doesn't matter it's going to be okay yeah and i think that trying to take the perfectionism out of of cooking is quite important yeah i think making it fun is a great point for me. And one thing I've started doing is I've got this CD player,

this old school CD player in the kitchen. And I actually, it's almost a bit of me time sometimes to actually put on like an old album that I've not heard in a while, put the music on and just be there in the kitchen and try and make something. I think it's a joy. It really is. It can be. It can be a really fun experience. Yeah and that's

always how I've approached it. I mean in the past I would always put on some lovely jazz and it was just like my happy place to be in the kitchen and rustle up some food. That definitely has changed since becoming a mum because there just isn't the same time but I still when I get the time like when Willow goes down for a sleep and I just think oh I've got an hour in the kitchen to myself I'm going to cook and I think that brings me on to the the fourth point which is for me cooking is quite a sort of meditative process but a couple of years ago I did actually learn to meditate and and I found that to be transformational to my health and there's not a single client that I work with in that I will work with in the future that I won't recommend it to um I know not everyone um

aspires to nutrition or a lot of people have the idea that it's really difficult and that you have to sit in a cross-legged position and go arm and chant and maybe have long hair and light just sticks. And I learned from someone who just is the opposite to that. And having that as a tool now to help me when I'm a bit stressed or when I'm a bit down or when I'm overtired, like when Willow hasn't slept, meditation has become a really useful tool for me. And I think I just want to encourage everyone to just give it a go. Had you tried to meditate for a while before you actually finally made it a practice? Yes, I had. And I always believed that I couldn't do it because my mind was too busy and my mind was wandering and it wouldn't stay still and it wouldn't stay quiet. Common things that everyone thinks, right?

Yeah. And so you know was quite harsh on myself just i can't do it i've got a really busy head um and it was such a liberation i learned from a lady called jillian lavender who runs the london meditation center and uh she used to be in the corporate world and so she's just approaches it from a very normal angle and when when when i said my head's just too busy she went that's brilliant welcome it yeah let the chatter come let the thoughts come and i was like what, she went, that's brilliant. Welcome it. Let the chatter come. Let the thoughts come. And I was like, what? That's not meditation.

That's incredible to hear that. In fact, I did a podcast a few episodes ago with Light Watkins in America. And he's, again, you know, I don't know if it's exactly the same approach or not, but he very much embraces the busy mind as well. So good. You know, you've got to embrace that. You're not trying to shut that down. That's where your mind is at the moment we'll work with that and he also um he was the first person to really say you don't need to have a straight back you

know yes you know he's like you know if you don't spend your life with a straight back you know then most people who try and sit there and across side having a straight back all they're thinking about is how do I maintain this posture for 10 or 20 minutes? And so he, you know, if you guys haven't heard that episode, I really encourage you to listen to that because light really has helped me change my meditation practice. You know, I've been up and down with it for years. I've always tried, I've go through the good time where I do it for maybe 10 days and then I, you know, I slip off again. But light has really helped me take the pressure off things. And it sounds as though you've also had a great instructor to help you.

Well, a lovely way to think of it was she said that thoughts were like a stream. And so you're watching the stream flowing and then a little leaf might come down and that's a thought that comes. You just let it go. And then, you know, a stick comes along and then a fish or something. It's just allowing your thoughts to come and go and not feeling that you have to shut them down. Yeah. Well, Amelia, look, those are four fantastic tips. See if I can remember them.

Eat more veg, work on your emotional health, cook as much as you can, and finally, you know, try and get a practice of meditation. I think these are such beautiful tips that are going to help all the listeners to to this podcast Amelia I've really enjoyed chatting to you today so lovely chatting to you thank you for um you know taking some time out of your schedule and um you know I wish you all the well with motherhood and the next few months the next few years I hope we can catch up again soon and And yeah, thanks very much for coming on. Thank you.

That concludes today's episode of the Feel Better Live More podcast. I hope you liked those four tips from Amelia at the end. I know I certainly did. I hope you found the conversation enjoyable and it's hopefully inspired you to make a few changes in your own health. Don't forget, do let me and Amelia know what you thought about the conversation. And indeed, if you have taken any tips from it that you're going to put into practice, do let us know on social media. Do tag both of us and if possible, use the hashtag feel better, live more. Don't forget the full show notes for this episode are available on my website at drchastity.com forward slash Amelia, where there are lots of other links that you can access to continue your learning experience

if you are so inclined. Guys, if you've got something out of today's conversation, please do help me spread awareness. The best ways are to leave a review on whichever platform you are listening to this now on, such as Apple or Acast. Or you can take a screenshot on your phone right now and share it on your social media channels. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way and just let your mates know about the podcast. I would really appreciate any help that you can give me to spread awareness. So thank you very much. One of Amelia's tips in our conversation today was about starting a meditation practice, something that she said has been truly transformative in her life. Now, if meditation

is something that you have tried to do before, but struggle to maintain a practice, I would highly recommend that you listen to episode 23 of this podcast, The Truth About Meditation, which you can find on any podcast application, or go to my website and you can listen to the whole episode at drchastji.com forward slash light Watkins. Don't forget to visit the sponsor page to help support the show, athleticgreens.com forward slash live more, where you can order what I genuinely think is a great product. I know that many of you are already familiar with my first book, The Four Pillar Plan. For those of you who are new to the podcast, please consider picking up the copy. It is also available in America and Canada with the title, How to Make Disease

Disappear. I'm also delighted to let you know that my second book, The Stress Solution, is out in just a couple of months and is available to pre-order now. Links to all of these books are on the show notes page at drchastity.com forward slash Amelia. Guys, that is it for today. I hope you have a fabulous week. Make sure you have pressed subscribe and I will see you in about one week for the next conversation on my Feel Better Live More podcast. Remember, you are the architects of your own health. Making lifestyle change is always worth it because when you feel better, you live more. I'll see you next time. Thank you.