About me (and my fabulous daughter)

My passion for nutrition began 17 years ago following the birth of my first child. I looked at his perfect body and knew that I didn’t want to put anything in there that would harm him. I read books, scoured the internet for information and started to study nutrition. That kept me pretty content for a while as I busily raised my family.

Fast forward a number of years and my second born, my daughter, who was 11 years old at the time, announced that she was vegetarian. The cascade of thoughts that followed were focused on her nutritional needs and family meal times and how that would work in our family.

Until that time, family meal times had been uneventful. Suddenly I was catapulted into a world of cooking two meals, worrying about how much pasta with tomato based sauce my daughter was eating (a lot!), and dealing with the never ending worry that my daughter was not getting the right balance of protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that her growing body and brain needed. 

Teens become plant based for many reasons, for my daughter, it was following a lesson at school where they learnt about the slaughter process of chickens. It was pretty confronting for her and, like so many teenagers (especially young women), she just couldn’t manage the thought that an animal had to die to feed her. I respected her choices and admired her for standing up for her values.

There were some rocky times and I really needed to dig deep to support her. And I wasn’t always the supportive parent I was attempting to be. At times it was frustrating and inconvenient! But the more committed I was to looking after her health and wellbeing, the more I was creating a healthier diet and lifestyle for the rest of the family.

With two carnivores in the family, being meat free was never an option. And being a nutrition coach, I knew that being meat free requires a lot of planning to ensure a balanced diet is consumed. Our food provides an array of nutrients that are critical for so many aspects of health, and eating a wide variety helps to ensure all essential macro and micro nutrients are consumed. Without animal products, the balance of protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals takes more care and planning. It is absolutely achievable with the right advice, support and tools.

I hope that you find useful information and support here. I am passionate about the role of food in health and wellness and, although I’m likely to get a little nerdy at times, I hope you will find the support you desire. There are lots of online resources for plant based diets and recipes galore. Here you will find knowledge around the impact nutrients and the lack of certain nutrients has on the body and brain, the warning signs and some strategies for addressing this for yourself and others in your family. For those with plant based teens, we are busy parents and need to know how to do this without losing our minds or destroying our relationship with our young people. When we remove the arguments around food, we create space for better connection, trust and respect. Raising a teen is hard enough - I am here to support you for this journey to be a little easier.

This photo above is of me with my fabulous daughter recently on holiday. She is such a fun young woman who inspires and motivates me and reminds me to laugh and see the good in the world. It's not always laughter and holidays, but supporting her food choices has been one of the most important relationship building times I've encountered as a parent. I wish for you the same joy.

Louise

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