Oh I simply LOVE the farmers market!I have a favourite morning. It’s every first and third Friday of the month. I do the school run and then spend a blissful hour walking around my local farmers market. I love it, whatever the weather I’m there because I believe it’s truly the best way to buy food.

Farmers market food is fresh, its local and it tastes delicious. I now know the stall holders and have a chat with them whilst buying the Bream they caught yesterday or the tomatoes picked today and discussing all the things you can do with artichokes (ooh err). Yes you pay a little bit more but it’s sustainable for the people putting in the extreme hard work.

The food available means we are eating seasonally which is so much better for health. Asparagus doesn’t grow here in February so it’s not a good idea to eat it. We have lots of beetroot and squashes around, combined with dark leafy greens which means the large amount of folates, iron and beta carotene that’s naturally occurring is what we need through the cold winter.

In my clinic I’m forever banging on about getting back to basics with food. In general we rely very heavily on processed, packaged, convenience foods and bread based goods. Most of my 80 year old clients have  better health than the 30 year olds I see because the post war diet was so exceptional. The quick and easy food we eat today alongside coffees, fizzy drinks and take-aways are killing us. By going back to basics with food we are getting a better nutritional foundation and our bodies thank us for it.

Shopping this way also stops me having to endure supermarkets. They are really noisy, over bright horrible places. More importantly the food is inferior. For the most part it  has travelled often thousands of miles. Its’ picked when unripe, refrigerated, stored and is tasteless and nutritionally void. The ethics behind supermarkets suck too. Those fabulous 2-4-1 offers don’t come from supermarkets profits. They coerce the farmers into doing the deals and taking the hit and if they don’t tow the line they get dropped and their whole business can go under. Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson brought this to our attention when he launched the People’s Supermarket and started to fight back against the
supermarkets power.
Baldrick loved turnips enough to spend £40,000 on oneSo on the odd weeks my farmers market joy isn’t possible I get an Abel and Cole organic box delivered. I love it almost as much as the market. On Monday I spend 10 minutes choosing what I needed and on Thursday it’s delivered. Marvellous. I chose Abel and Cole over other schemes as they have an excellent selection so you can really tailor what you have in your box. They also sell storecupboard essentials, meat, fish, non- dairy, gluten free options and even wine. My latest discovery is that they sell bones for boiling into stock ridiculously cheap so we make delicious homemade soups and stews and nothing is wasted. The passion they have for food is contagious.

More important than any of that is that our food tastes real again – I’ve noticed how I’m loathed to let anything waste. I’ve pounded the pavements on a drizzly day to buy my kale so I won’t let it rot in the bottom of the fridge, I’ve become really imaginative with food again and I’m
using new veg I didn’t even know existed. Look out for your local farm shops, local seasonal food is the key here. Try it out and trust me, meal times will become exciting again!

And finally heres something that made us Balanced Wellness ladies laugh - Farmers Market by Armstrong and Miller

Claire fighting her MS beast in really good knickers

The highlight of my week: “I can put my knickers on easily” says my client whilst standing up and doing me a demo.
It was funny, but it actually made me cry with joy.

This client is called Claire and is a pretty, bubbly, lovely young woman who was recently diagnosed with MS, not the one that comes and goes but the one that doesn’t stop until it’s taken everything you hold dear in your life and ravaged your body. I trained in physical disability so know only too well the effects this condition can cause.

When Claire contacted me, it wasn’t for an “out there” cure for MS, she wanted some food sensitivity testing as she had put herself on a radical diet that can possibly halt the progression of the disease. I explained that the work I do could also support her body nutritionally and emotionally and give her body the tools it needs to fight back and give the disease no reason to progress.
 
This of course comes with no guarantee but it’s better than waiting for the inevitable.

Claire had a leg that was dragging a bit and stopped her running. It would have probably gone undiagnosed had a brilliant Physio not spotted it. By the time I met her she couldn’t run, had some instability in the leg, tingly arms and a diagnosis. But she decided that wasn’t going to define her. She is throwing herself into the jaws of the beast, determined to keep her life.

Claire radically altered her life, she researched and requested an almost unknown drug, she works on positive thought programming, she is eating food which supports her body not depleting it, she is taking a lot of nutrition to give her poor nervous system the tools it needs to repair itself and more importantly we are working together as a team.

We often talk about the 80:20 rule. I can only do 20% of the work, the client has to do the other 80%. They need to take the nutrition, make mindful food choices, do their exercise and deal with their stuff. I can only offer recommendations.

In my experience the clients who get the “wow” results are the ones keep coming even if they haven’t seen a result for a session or two and keep taking nutrition and do all the weird and wonderful techniques I recommend. They keep throwing themselves at the jaws of the beast and they eventually win the prize in the end. Their health and their freedom. 

By taking responsibility for their health and not handing it over to the NHS or even to me, they are making a stand against their conditions and changing their future.  The truth is even if we are already “well” we still need to do this stuff. Supporting our bodies nutritionally, exercising, eating supportive foods, avoiding too much medication and working on the emotions that hold us back. It works and gives us the ultimate prize. A healthy life and a deeper understanding of ourselves.

So this is for Claire and for all my other amazing clients who come with IBS, bad backs, bad skin, fertility issues, M.E and everything in between.

Your courage, determination and tenacity is inspiring. I salute you. It’s a huge honour to be supporting you on your incredible journeys.

Permission to publish given by client.

Image by Genzoman

4 portions of chips with my burger please

Claire and I were talking the other day about celebrities.

I asked her ‘if you could get anyone on your couch who would it be?’ Claire said Adele. “She always has throat problems and laryngitis so is constantly cancelling her tours. She also struggles giving up smoking which will be trashing that gorgeous voice of hers. I reckon I can help support her immune system as well as help her give up smoking.” Good answer. What about me? Who do I want on my couch?

Katie Price. Everyday of the week. The woman fascinates me. I am so intrigued by her. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion, I can’t turn away. I wonder what she is like in person, I also have a suspicion that her health is in a terrible state. When everyones out of the house and I’m alone with SKY1, a bag of raisins and ‘What Katie Did Next’ I am stunned to watch her starving herself, running marathons and then eating some horrendous take away burgers. Her poor tiny weeny body!

But it’s not just what she eats that intrigues me so. She puts herself out there day after day in the public view asking for opinion, criticism and comment. She is so desperate for perfection she mutates her face and body to achieve it. I see a woman looking outside herself for validation, acceptance and answers. And trust me Katie, that’s not the right place to look.

As Kinesiologists we take a whole person approach understanding that emotion plays a huge role in the health of an individual. Sure Katie Price has confidence, drive and ambition, I think the woman has incredible balls and hats off to her, the woman knows how to make money and market herself. But I question whether she actually loves herself. If she did why would she go to such extremes to change the way she looks? What could this twisted sense of self be doing to her health? My guess is that this non acceptance of who she is and what she looks like is as unhealthy for Katie as that manky burger. Katie, if you’re reading this, I would love to have you on my couch, just call round anytime and book an appointment.