Counting calories is synonymous with the dreaded ‘D’ word… dieting.Just the word 'calorie' can send a shiver up the spine. It triggers memories of deprivation and misery... and ultimately failure. But we need some kind of weight loss strategy because the stats are not...

Could sugar be the underlying problem for women trying to lose weight in menopause?We've got the media telling us weight loss is hard if not impossible after 50 (some doctors have even told my clients that!) And you've either experienced… Never struggling with your...

The problem with being drawn into alluring diets promising quick weight loss is that they don’t work.On average, weight loss attempts last four weeks for women and six weeks for men, and have a 98% fail rate! While I'm not a fan of diets, I’m also aware that, if...

Do our changing mid-life hormones cause an increase in hunger and result in overeating?Research does suggest that declining estrogen can cause an increase in our stress levels, which in turn can lead to increased hunger. But is the increase in hunger and overeating...

In recent times the importance of adequate sleep has come to light. .  In fact your brain needs you to sleep so it can remove toxic proteins from its neurons that build up as a normal by-product of your daily activities! A lack of sleep can negatively impact your body...

Is this high-fat diet supporting menopausal weight loss?There is still a lot of confusion around keto, a high-fat diet that puts the body into ketosis, which basically means you stop eating carbohydrates so your body burns fat for fuel rather than glucose. However,...

I'm a Dietitian who doesn’t count calories to lose weight.However I ALWAYS know where those calories are coming from. Counting calories is a well-known weight loss strategy. But often a time-consuming ‘diet’ focussed way to lose weight. And not necessarily a healthy...

Today I want to talk about why building muscle in mid-life is key to breezing through menopause.It is said that it's NOT osteoporosis that causes us to fall as we get older but weak muscles and lack of core stability - makes sense, doesn't it? But that's just the tip...

As we start to experience the ‘change’, the time in a woman’s life when her hormones are reshuffling, you may be questioning the health advice you’ve been following for the past few decades. Mainly due to the fact that what used to work isn’t working now! Whether...

Have you been on keto or a high-fat diet? It's a tempting 'diet' because if followed properly you will lose weight...Much like any diet but I think the lure is being able to eat fat and still lose weight! At least in the short term you can lose weight but from all the...

Quite frankly health AND weight loss get complicated after the age of 45!There are so many changes and side effects it’s hard to keep up In this blog, I want to look at the impact on our health when we lose the protective effect of estrogen, and what you can do about...

Boosting your mood can be as simple as eating more plants especially when you’re faced with menopausal mood swings!Not only are plants high in vitamins & minerals, nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants, they contain fiber. Fiber is only found in plant...

Why would Naturally Nic, a Dietitian of over 3 decades, and breast cancer survivor choose Naturally Goat?After a mastectomy back in 2013, I took a deep dive into the research and found the information overwhelming in favour of eating more plants to not only reduce my...

Do women in midlife need to sacrifice a healthy body weight for health?How often do you hear…”I’d rather be healthy than skinny”? While I agree with the sentiment, I would propose that you can be healthy AND be a healthy weight. It’s common for women in midlife to...

If diets are designed to fail, what's the answer?You've heard the statistic that diets last on average 6 weeks. Basically, we can grin and bear the deprivation for about 40 days, and then we give up in despair. The only people benefitting from your diet 'failures' is...

Let’s talk about forgiveness. Forgiving ourselves for where we find ourselves right now.Perhaps you're not happy with where your health is. Perhaps you’ve heard yourself saying… ‘I’ve let myself go’ You stopped paying attention to what you ate and being proactive with...

Confused about what is healthy now you’ve hit mid-life?While this seems obvious it’s not easy in this day and age to determine what is healthy. There is so much confusing, conflicting information bombarding you at every turn, I want to encourage you to keep...

A lack of clarity around the type of food that is going to optimise your health and help you release weight can undermine all your efforts.If you do not know which foods are going to nourish you and at the SAME time assist your body to release weight, you can feel...

What if you could eliminate ONE single ingredient that would accelerate your weight loss?An ingredient that you use every day - but don’t need for optimal health (you can eat the superior alternative instead). Now I’m not going to try and tell you that good fats are...

You can make all the healthy changes in the world, but if you’re still referring to being ‘on’ a diet or saying a certain food is ‘bad’ it keeps you stuck in a dieting mentality, and can prevent you from creating a lifestyle.Often my clients will say to me…’Oh, I did...

Whether it’s Easter, Christmas, birthdays, or the supermarket aisles it seems like chocolate pops up everywhere... but can you have it in the home?For some of us the tempting, tantalising brown stuff is difficult to resist. I say ‘some’ because in my field, working...

I'd been a Dietitian for over 20 years and I was the healthiest person I knew, so how the heck did I get breast cancer?While any diagnosis is a shock, I felt mine was a double whammy. Getting cancer meant that I needed to focus on my needs, which was something I'd...

The real reason we don't invest in a product or service - is because we don't believe it's worth the effort.We have to be able to see the value, meaning we have to intrinsically understand the benefits for us before we hand over our hard-earned cash or invest the time...

Is blaming your unwanted weight on a nutritional deficiency another distraction like blaming your midlife hormones for weight that won’t budge?Just like there are dozens of reasons why we get a headache there are a plethora of reasons why those kilos have crept on...

Weight loss in mid-life can be challenging, but like it or not weight loss gets harder as we age.For women over 40, it’s easy to blame our hormones, but they aren’t necessarily the sole issue. Just like there can be a dozen reasons why you might have a headache, and...

Before you go blaming your hormones on those extra kilos that won’t budge now you’re over 40, do a fat audit and discover which diet camp you’re in.Let me explain… Low-fat plant-based and keto (or high-fat low carb) are on opposite sides of the dieting spectrum. Both...

Are you making lots of new plant-based recipes but not seeing results?It can be disappointing to invest in your health by eating more plants and not see any weight shift However just because you’re eating plants and trying lots of new plant-based recipes doesn’t...

Do you remember your first diet? The excitement of discovering there was another way to eat that was going to help you lose weight and keep it off forever!Oh the joy and anticipation, as you took a glimpse at future you, swishing around in her size 10 jeans and...

Are you thinking, is this the ‘diet’ that will finally help me shift this weight and keep it off! If the truth be known we all take sneaky peeks at those Ads…and read to the end of the 65-page marketing hype trying to get us to buy their ‘secret’?To be honest we’re...

Carbs have had a bad rap for too long! We’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater, just like we did with fruit and fat!Remember back a couple of decades ago when we discovered that sugar wasn’t just a benign calorie that caused tooth decay? And we threw out whole...

When you embark on a plant-based journey it won’t be long before you’re confronted with the possibility that you may have a cheese addiction.With so many delicious plant-based milk and yogurt alternatives, most people have made the switch. Cheese is another matter....

If you’re transitioning to a plant predominant lifestyle it won’t take long before you’re asked…’Don't you need to eat meat get your protein?’We need protein to build & repair muscles and tissues, plus keep our hormones & immune system functioning properly. So...

Did you start reading this blog wondering for the millionth time that maybe, just maybe, there really is a magic formula to weight loss?You’re not alone…I’m still standing at the front of the queue. I’ve spent my life researching weight loss. Growing up with a Mum who...

We currently have an explosion of plant-based snack foods hitting the shelves...are they healthy and will they help your weight loss journey?These highly processed foods have alluring labels that make us believe we are about to buy a super healthy snack. But is it...

It's so easy to get into habits, but conversely, it’s just as easy to get out of them.So don't think there’s anything wrong with you! You’re normal. Recently I bought a new car and went from a manual to an automatic. After driving the new car for a few weeks, I had to...

Sometimes it's easy to tolerate certain ‘things’ when we believe those ‘things’ are out of our control...but what if they’re not?The definition of tolerating is … “Allowing the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one dislikes or disagrees with)...

In the lab, a calorie might be a calorie but it’s rarely the case in real life.For example, think about 240 calories of Coke (600ml) compared to 240 calories of carrots. One you can down in a few seconds… The other will take you 2 ½ hours of continual chewing - yep...

Probably seems a strange question because isn’t all weight loss healthy?To be blunt ...no. There are many ways to lose weight but not all are beneficial for your health. Weight loss is a billion-dollar industry and there’s no shortage of options. However, not all of...

How is it that women who value their health, and know a lot about food and nutrition, can still struggle to achieve optimal health?I see a lot of smart women who know what they want - they’re just not getting the results they desire. These women want to be trim and...

We all have our ‘go-to’ reasons but the truth of it is...if we really want to do something, we find a way.I was reminiscing recently, when I saw a young mum with a toddler strapped to her back, and pushing a pram with a newborn. That was me some 20 years ago, finding...

I know it’s not a popular topic but it’s one we need to be talking about!If you’re not achieving an easy, daily, bowel movement it could be the underlying cause of stubborn weight, unbalanced hormones, gut disturbances like gas & bloating, and a compromised immune...

Are you unknowingly flailing around in a mishmash of dieting beliefs and confused as to why you’re not losing weight?You ‘think’ you’re doing the right ‘things’. You’re eating what you think is healthy but those kilos will not budge. It’s easy to get to this point and...

Why does it get more difficult to lose weight as we start to experience hormonal shifts in our fourth decade?If you’re over 40 you’re probably experiencing one or all of these symptoms: *** Unwanted weight gain *** Fluctuating hormones *** Declining energy levels What...

Although this seems obvious... how do we 'know better?'More importantly, how are you seeking out information so that you can make informed choices? Choices that are going to balance your midlife hormones, optimise your health, AND assist your body in releasing...

Knowing your 'why' matters for the success of your long-term weight loss goals.When I first learnt about the connection between what I ate and my health I was 18. Initially, my reasons for wanting to eat healthily were to stay slim. This motivated my choices,...

Do you think we avoid being accountable for the very reason of not having to confess when we fail?Accountability seems to be one of the KEY factors to success. Accountability helps us reach goals like running a marathon, building a business, or achieving a healthy...