Never one to give up though I started reading and researching about my condition and discovered just how important food and nutrition was for our health.

• I started changing the food I ate, discovering what I should eat and what I should avoid for my body and my current state of health.

• I learnt that those all of of those symptoms I was experiencing were actually messages from my body trying to alert me that all was not well. I only started healing when I started listening.

• I finally realised how insanely hectic and stressful my life had been and learnt to slow down, smell the roses and accept that life doesn’t have to be so stressful and hectic.

• I learnt how to sleep and breathe again and just take time to be ‘me’.

• I realised that there is no magic ‘quick-fix’. It was up to me to put the time and effort into healing and it was going to take some time!

While nurturing my body and mind helped me improve my health, for some time I still had lingering fatigue, insomnia, pain and inflammation throughout my body. The major turning point for my health was having a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) which showed how depleted and unbalanced my minerals were. My HTMA results explained many reasons for my fatigue, migraines, body pain, palpitations, chest pains, blood sugar dysregulation and insomnia. These were symptoms that I had been experiencing for many years without explanation. By adjusting my diet and supplementing what my body was lacking, my health continued to improve.

Another couple of years later I discovered genetic health testing which added more pieces to my health puzzle. It gave me more insight as to what diet and lifestyle changes I needed to make to support my genetic make-up and reduce my risk of developing certain health issues. When you understand why you need to make changes they are so much easier to maintain.

Some of my favourite things to do - now that I’ve learnt to look after myself…

In between consulting with my lovely clients, reading and researching all about health and nutrition, I love spending time going for long walks in nature with my husband and friends. Finding a yummy cafe to re-fuel is a must! I also love tending my veggie garden (and dreaming of more land one day so I can have a proper veggie garden), cooking delicious, nutritious meals, working on my family history and  spending time with my gorgeous 15 year old ‘puppy’ Meka!

Oh  - and did I tell you I love food?  I love talking about food, growing food, cooking food and most of all eating food!!

Why I got into this field…

As a previously burnt-out Police Veteran, I was disillusioned with the lack of understanding and support on offer. After exchanging post traumatic stress for post traumatic growth, through nutrition, I ‘reinvented’ myself by qualifying as a degree-qualified Clinical Nutritionist. I have a passion for helping tired, stressed and burnt-out people improve their health so that they can live the life they deserve.

There is so much stress in this world and not much education on the consequences of it on our health and how to actually deal with it. Nutrition is an often ignored but absolutely integral piece of the puzzle. Stress depletes your minerals and vitamins and damages your digestive system. A poor digestive system and nutritional status is a further stress on your body! These deficiencies and imbalances in your body can impact every system in your body including your nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular and digestive systems as your cells, organs and body systems are not getting the nutrient co-factors they need to function properly.

My aim is to help you prevent reaching that point of burnout that I did, gently help guide you back if you are already there, and educate and support you to better manage your health. Working with me is easy with online consultations available from your couch wherever you are in Australia - as long as you have an internet connection.

Follow me on Instagram @theburnoutnutritionist