Why Fluidity Is The Key To Meaningful Self-Care

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With four decades of living in my body I feel I know it pretty well. I can tune into signals that tell me when I am hungry, tired, overwhelmed or nervous. I know what helps me to relax and what to eat to make me feel more energised. I know how much sleep I need to feel better than just okay.

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Category

Friends

Date

25/01/2022

Length

7 min read

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As a qualified naturopathic nutritionist with three years of study and countless hours of additional training behind me, I also have a solid understanding of biology: the roles certain nutrients play and the bio-chemical processes in the body they influence.

I have supported hundreds of women at different life-stages with issues ranging from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome) to endometriosis, fertility, pregnancy and postnatal health as well as perimenopause, anxiety and acne.

So you’d think that my own self-care practices and nutritional habits would be solid, science-based and established. And for the most part, they are. But they are also fluid, intuitive and often in flux. And sometimes they fall by the wayside. 

My personal approach to nutrition and self-care today is different to what it was even a couple of years ago, and what I’ve learned translates into my nutrition practice. I’ll explain how.

My story

I grew up in a single-parent family in London in the 1980s with a health-conscious mum who was into naturopathy and organic food. I still remember the distinctive smell of our local health food shop where we’d go to stock up on nuts, carob bars and natural remedies. School packed lunches were made up of carrot sticks and dried fruit. When I had access to ‘forbidden’ crisps and chocolate at friends’ parties I over-indulged. Looking back, I can see this fostered a relationship with food where I saw things in binary terms – ‘good or bad’, ‘all or nothing’.

Fast forward to secondary school when for the first time I had more freedom over my food choices. It was the 90s and trips to the chip-shop and cigarettes at the bus stop were the vibe. I was more concerned with looking waif-like than with the fact that my periods were so excruciating I needed prescription painkillers every month. What I was eating (and smoking) was clearly having an effect. But it never occurred to me that food and my lifestyle choices were contributing to this hormonal hurricane.

The years that followed in my late teens and my early 20s were all about going out. Food was simply fuel and I got all the exercise I needed by dancing until dawn. I continued to suffer with my periods and also developed acne. But I was having fun and I wanted quick fixes. So the contraceptive pill managed my periods and I used a series of increasingly strong medications for my skin. 

As a qualified naturopathic nutritionist with three years of study and countless hours of additional training behind me, I also have a solid understanding of biology: the roles certain nutrients play and the bio-chemical processes in the body they influence.

I have supported hundreds of women at different life-stages with issues ranging from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome) to endometriosis, fertility, pregnancy and postnatal health as well as perimenopause, anxiety and acne.

So you’d think that my own self-care practices and nutritional habits would be solid, science-based and established. And for the most part, they are. But they are also fluid, intuitive and often in flux. And sometimes they fall by the wayside. 

My personal approach to nutrition and self-care today is different to what it was even a couple of years ago, and what I’ve learned translates into my nutrition practice. I’ll explain how.

My story

I grew up in a single-parent family in London in the 1980s with a health-conscious mum who was into naturopathy and organic food. I still remember the distinctive smell of our local health food shop where we’d go to stock up on nuts, carob bars and natural remedies. School packed lunches were made up of carrot sticks and dried fruit. When I had access to ‘forbidden’ crisps and chocolate at friends’ parties I over-indulged. Looking back, I can see this fostered a relationship with food where I saw things in binary terms – ‘good or bad’, ‘all or nothing’.

Fast forward to secondary school when for the first time I had more freedom over my food choices. It was the 90s and trips to the chip-shop and cigarettes at the bus stop were the vibe. I was more concerned with looking waif-like than with the fact that my periods were so excruciating I needed prescription painkillers every month. What I was eating (and smoking) was clearly having an effect. But it never occurred to me that food and my lifestyle choices were contributing to this hormonal hurricane.

The years that followed in my late teens and my early 20s were all about going out. Food was simply fuel and I got all the exercise I needed by dancing until dawn. I continued to suffer with my periods and also developed acne. But I was having fun and I wanted quick fixes. So the contraceptive pill managed my periods and I used a series of increasingly strong medications for my skin. 

As a qualified naturopathic nutritionist with three years of study and countless hours of additional training behind me, I also have a solid understanding of biology: the roles certain nutrients play and the bio-chemical processes in the body they influence.

I have supported hundreds of women at different life-stages with issues ranging from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome) to endometriosis, fertility, pregnancy and postnatal health as well as perimenopause, anxiety and acne.

So you’d think that my own self-care practices and nutritional habits would be solid, science-based and established. And for the most part, they are. But they are also fluid, intuitive and often in flux. And sometimes they fall by the wayside. 

My personal approach to nutrition and self-care today is different to what it was even a couple of years ago, and what I’ve learned translates into my nutrition practice. I’ll explain how.

My story

I grew up in a single-parent family in London in the 1980s with a health-conscious mum who was into naturopathy and organic food. I still remember the distinctive smell of our local health food shop where we’d go to stock up on nuts, carob bars and natural remedies. School packed lunches were made up of carrot sticks and dried fruit. When I had access to ‘forbidden’ crisps and chocolate at friends’ parties I over-indulged. Looking back, I can see this fostered a relationship with food where I saw things in binary terms – ‘good or bad’, ‘all or nothing’.

Fast forward to secondary school when for the first time I had more freedom over my food choices. It was the 90s and trips to the chip-shop and cigarettes at the bus stop were the vibe. I was more concerned with looking waif-like than with the fact that my periods were so excruciating I needed prescription painkillers every month. What I was eating (and smoking) was clearly having an effect. But it never occurred to me that food and my lifestyle choices were contributing to this hormonal hurricane.

The years that followed in my late teens and my early 20s were all about going out. Food was simply fuel and I got all the exercise I needed by dancing until dawn. I continued to suffer with my periods and also developed acne. But I was having fun and I wanted quick fixes. So the contraceptive pill managed my periods and I used a series of increasingly strong medications for my skin. 

As a qualified naturopathic nutritionist with three years of study and countless hours of additional training behind me, I also have a solid understanding of biology: the roles certain nutrients play and the bio-chemical processes in the body they influence.

I have supported hundreds of women at different life-stages with issues ranging from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome) to endometriosis, fertility, pregnancy and postnatal health as well as perimenopause, anxiety and acne.

So you’d think that my own self-care practices and nutritional habits would be solid, science-based and established. And for the most part, they are. But they are also fluid, intuitive and often in flux. And sometimes they fall by the wayside. 

My personal approach to nutrition and self-care today is different to what it was even a couple of years ago, and what I’ve learned translates into my nutrition practice. I’ll explain how.

My story

I grew up in a single-parent family in London in the 1980s with a health-conscious mum who was into naturopathy and organic food. I still remember the distinctive smell of our local health food shop where we’d go to stock up on nuts, carob bars and natural remedies. School packed lunches were made up of carrot sticks and dried fruit. When I had access to ‘forbidden’ crisps and chocolate at friends’ parties I over-indulged. Looking back, I can see this fostered a relationship with food where I saw things in binary terms – ‘good or bad’, ‘all or nothing’.

Fast forward to secondary school when for the first time I had more freedom over my food choices. It was the 90s and trips to the chip-shop and cigarettes at the bus stop were the vibe. I was more concerned with looking waif-like than with the fact that my periods were so excruciating I needed prescription painkillers every month. What I was eating (and smoking) was clearly having an effect. But it never occurred to me that food and my lifestyle choices were contributing to this hormonal hurricane.

The years that followed in my late teens and my early 20s were all about going out. Food was simply fuel and I got all the exercise I needed by dancing until dawn. I continued to suffer with my periods and also developed acne. But I was having fun and I wanted quick fixes. So the contraceptive pill managed my periods and I used a series of increasingly strong medications for my skin. 

As a qualified naturopathic nutritionist with three years of study and countless hours of additional training behind me, I also have a solid understanding of biology: the roles certain nutrients play and the bio-chemical processes in the body they influence.

I have supported hundreds of women at different life-stages with issues ranging from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome) to endometriosis, fertility, pregnancy and postnatal health as well as perimenopause, anxiety and acne.

So you’d think that my own self-care practices and nutritional habits would be solid, science-based and established. And for the most part, they are. But they are also fluid, intuitive and often in flux. And sometimes they fall by the wayside. 

My personal approach to nutrition and self-care today is different to what it was even a couple of years ago, and what I’ve learned translates into my nutrition practice. I’ll explain how.

My story

I grew up in a single-parent family in London in the 1980s with a health-conscious mum who was into naturopathy and organic food. I still remember the distinctive smell of our local health food shop where we’d go to stock up on nuts, carob bars and natural remedies. School packed lunches were made up of carrot sticks and dried fruit. When I had access to ‘forbidden’ crisps and chocolate at friends’ parties I over-indulged. Looking back, I can see this fostered a relationship with food where I saw things in binary terms – ‘good or bad’, ‘all or nothing’.

Fast forward to secondary school when for the first time I had more freedom over my food choices. It was the 90s and trips to the chip-shop and cigarettes at the bus stop were the vibe. I was more concerned with looking waif-like than with the fact that my periods were so excruciating I needed prescription painkillers every month. What I was eating (and smoking) was clearly having an effect. But it never occurred to me that food and my lifestyle choices were contributing to this hormonal hurricane.

The years that followed in my late teens and my early 20s were all about going out. Food was simply fuel and I got all the exercise I needed by dancing until dawn. I continued to suffer with my periods and also developed acne. But I was having fun and I wanted quick fixes. So the contraceptive pill managed my periods and I used a series of increasingly strong medications for my skin.