Surrey Dietitian

Today I’ve been working with Aspens Services assisting with a new business pitch in a secondary school.
Aspens are a company who recognise the value that dietitians can bring to the school environment and I was delighted to have been given the opportunity to promote my profession to teachers, students, and caterers alike!
We got the students engaged in some fun sugar-awareness activities including guessing the number of sugar cubes in some popular drinks, which definitely provided some food for thought (excuse the pun!) 😂

Happy Dietitian's Week!
The British Dietetic Association are doing some excellent campaigning this year about the importance of seeking nutrition advice from a regulated and qualified nutrition professional...
#TRUSTADIETITIAN

Great to meet with Natalie from Nualtra for a working lunch to discuss more exciting upcoming projects... 🤗
Really great to hear from Natalie about the value that RDs bring to their business, and tuck into some delicious dishes of course! #dietitianslovefood

I’m very pleased to share this brilliant e-book produced by some of my colleagues.
26 UK Registered Dietitians have got together for a charity project to raise money for the Trussell Trust, a food advocacy group who also run food banks in UK. Today they are launching an e-book of every-day family recipes for sale at just £3.99.
What do you get for your £3.99?... • 25 “family friendly” evening meals that shouldn’t take too long to prepare and cook • Mostly for 4 servings • A mix of plant-based and non-plant-based meals and 2 bonus cookie recipes! • 100% of sales go to the charity – helping families in need while you feed your own
Please help to support the project by buying a copy – link to purchase below.
https://transactions.sendowl.com/pr…/78 043592/9817DCB4/view…
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Very excited to be running this cookery workshop with Jen Roach from Fearless in the Kitchen!
Eat Well - Optimize Your Health
Saturday June 15th, 2019
... 10:30am - 2:30pm
Warfield, Berkshire
PRICE £55pp
The day is a combination of hands on making healthy food plus snippets of useful information on eating well for health, especially in times of stress, illness and busy times.
I will be covering:
- unpicking fact from fiction - how to spot a fad diet - top tips for eating well for health ​ Full agenda & bookings www.fearlessinthekitchen.co.uk/special-ev ents
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It was great to meet up with Once Upon a Town in Epsom today. Looking forward to working with this local magazine to bring evidence-based nutrition advice to my local area!

Delighted to share my latest article for Nualtra on engaging carers with nutrition support. Very topical given that this week is "Experience of Care Week"

This weekend I visited a gym which had some of those fancy body composition scales. I was given the opportunity to stand on said scales and have my body composition analysed . I personally don’t weigh myself regularly, but I was intrigued to see my results, particularly since I spend a considerable amount of time resting in bed (which has been associated with reduced muscle mass) . What happened next made me reflect on the way we view ‘health’. The personal administering the ...test congratulated me on my “excellent” results and said I was in near perfect health 🙄 . But deep down I was feeling really sad 😰because it felt like that was far from the truth. Just because the numbers on the machine said I was in “good health” doesn’t mean I feel in good health or indeed am “healthy”. I have several chronic illnesses which show their ugly head several times a month, and when they do, I do not feel “healthy” . These are dark days, and whilst I always do get better and jump back on my normal daily activities a while later, I never see light at the end of the tunnel during a crash (yes, it’s something I’m working on!) 🤯 . I’m in the middle of a crash right now, this week has not gone according to plan and I feel rubbish. I suppose my point is, you can tick ✅ all the boxes to an outsider, but true determinants of health cannot be determined by a machine alone
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Know Your Risk Event‼️
Super excited to be running this diabetes ‘know your risk’ event at the @royalautomobileclub alongside the Surrey @diabetesuk group.
If you’re a Royal Automobile Club member, do come along. It’s on Thursday 9th May 7-9pm at Woodcote Park

Harissa Blackbean Burger Recipe • Jen from @fearlessinthekitchen has shared this quick and easy bean burger recipe - it’s just one of the few things we’ll be making with clients on our Chronic Illness Cookery School day in June! ☀️ More details to be revealed shortly • INGREDIENTS:... • 1 tin/240g Chickpeas (drained) 1 tin/240g Black beans (drained) ½ sweet potato, cooked Handful of Chopped Fresh Coriander 1-2 tablespoons Harissa paste Zest & Juice of Half a Lemon 3 tablespoons of Flour Salt & Pepper • 1. Preheat oven 180C 2. Combine the chickpeas and black beans in a food processor (just pulse so some mashes and there’s still some texture) until it starts to combine. 3. Then put the pulses into a bowl. Add the sweet potato, breaking it up with your hands 4. Add all the other ingredients. 5. Once combined, form into your desired burger shapes. 6. Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, then 10 minutes in a pre-heated oven. 7. Serve the burger in a grilled bun, with pickled onion, avocado, lettuce, tomato & mango salsa.
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CRASHES & CARBS‼️
I’ve been reading up a lot about Joint Hypermobility Syndrome/Ehler Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and adrenalin (the fight or flight hormone responsible for surges of energy) 💥
Some people with JHS/EDS produce too much adrenalin for a variety of reasons (such as autonomic dysfunction) ⚠️
... For many of us, we’re constantly in ‘fight or flight’ mode. We’re often the sorts of people who love to be busy and are always on the go. We find it hard or even impossible to know when our body is tired, because the fatigue is masked by this extra adrenalin. The result? We run 100mph until our bodies can’t cope and we crash and burn 😑
This is thought to be part of reason behind some EDS/JHS patients (myself included) developing chronic fatigue syndrome
During a crash, your body is exhausted and in desperate need of energy. How do you restore your energy? Sleeping 🛏 and eating 🍽 well. Sleep plays a smaller role for some of us because sleep studies have shown that EDS/JHS patients don’t experience much deep sleep (which enables your body to rest and repair). Instead we have light sleep, often with vivid dreams, which is disturbed by chronic pain for some
So eating 🌽 well is even more important. Where do we get energy from in the diet? CARBS are our main source of energy...found in bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar, sweets, cereals etc. 🍞 🍚 🍝 🍫
If you find yourself craving carbs during crashes, you’re not alone. Your body is probably crying out for energy in the form of s quick sugar rush. The cravings could be linked to medications (such as certain mood stabilisers and sleeping drugs) and there’s some evidence that carb cravings have a neurobiological basis (basically, the brain and hormones in the body are involved)
My advice is to roll with the cravings, and if you’re hungry, eat. Carbs should make up about half of our daily calorie intake anyway, and eating a little more occasionally isn’t going to do you any harm in the long run
I’ll talk about choosing the right types of carbs in a future post when my brain fog has lifted!
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OBSESSING OVER STEPS ISN’T HELPFUL‼️
Today my iPhone 📱(un)helpfully notified me to the fact that I’ve been walking very few steps over the past weeks. I don’t think I’ve reached 10,000 steps a day for months 😂which is partly due to being busy and partly due to my chronic illnesses
Over the past few weeks I’ve also seen clients with chronic illnesses who feel really guilty 🙄when their conditions or symptoms prevent them from achieving the 10k steps per day that the government... recommends
It got me feeling pretty angry 😡...
‼️ The guideline for steps is simply a guideline - as far as I’m aware (nutrition colleagues, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!) there is very little scientific 🧪 data supporting this 10,000 step cut-off - this number could have quite simply been plucked out of thin air ☁️
If you’re someone who is able to get their 10k steps in each day, I applaud you! 👏🏼 But I’m speaking for my chronic illness clients who are made to feel guilty and even “lazy” when they don’t meet this target
Why can’t we focus more on joyful movement? Some of my chronic illness friends have found enjoyment in gentle and relaxing forms of exercise like yoga and Pilates or even gentle stretching. These exercises might not clock up steps, but they have important benefits on mental, not just physical health
I’m all for promoting exercise, but let’s put less pressure on people and focus on the other benefits of exercise aside from the number of steps and calories burned 💕
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HEALTH WRITING ROUNDUP‼️
Better late than never, here’s a summary of what I got up to last week! 🖊
A lot of people say to me how on earth can you write that much? For me, writing is a form of relaxation! Once I’m stuck in, the words just flow. But, writers block is definitely a thing, and I regularly find myself taking breaks or procrastinating! 🙄
... I’m actually a night owl, and my best work is done late at night (8pm-midnight are my prime time hours 😂). So during the day I’ll do admin, see clients and do some exercise and then I start to panic mid-afternoon and final knuckle down early evening!
I’m working for some really great companies at the moment: PR, tech, supplement, health clubs and food companies. Last week I had the pleasure of working alongside @sophiedietitian @sharon.kallos @heatherdeeringnutrition @wearedawn @nualtra @joe_leech amongst others!
Today is my PR day, so I better crack on! I’ll be posting a blog tonight with the help of @sharon.kallos on Eating Well for Busy City Lives too 👍🏼
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NEW BLOG - DENTAL SURGERY NUTRITION‼️ 👄 If you are unfortunate enough to undergo wisdom tooth surgery or indeed any other dental procedure, it’s important to get the right nutrition afterwards 👩‍⚕️ A diet of soft, nutritious food immediately after the surgery is the best way to help reduce the risk of complications, reduce swelling and promote the wound healing process... 🦷 You will need to follow a soft diet for several weeks, but this doesn’t have to be tasteless and boring. I've been there and done it myself, having had three wisdom teeth removed several months ago. This blog post shares my tips for what to eat and drink including what NOT to do.
Read the blog here: https://www.surreydietitian.co.uk/…/wha t-should-i-eat-after…
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LUNCh IDEAS FOR CHRONIC ILLNESS: • Quick homemade chicken ramen (pre-cooked egg noodles, chicken stock, spring 🥬 , some protein such as slices chicken, tofu or 🦐 , and some chilli 🌶 to flavour it) • Ready made soup with a crusty bread roll and a few slices of cheese 🧀 ... • Jacket potato with some protein such as tuna mayo or baked beans and cheese with a side of salad • Sandwich 🥪 with a protein filling such as chicken and avocado or egg mayonnaise and salad with some fresh fruit and a handful of nuts 🥜 • Slice of ready made quiche with a side of salad 🥗 • Pita bread toasted with hummus, grated carrot and sliced cucumber and avocado 🥑 • Ready made 🍝 pasta such as tortellini with a jar of tomato sauce (check the food label to try and choose a low sugar sauce) with grated cheese and a sweet corn and grated carrot 🥕 salad
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TRAINING FOR A SPORTS EVENT? • Marathon 🏃‍♂️ and triathlon 🚴‍♀️season is upon us and lots of my clients are training for a big sports event 🙌 • Are you eating enough of the right stuff to fuel your workout? Do you need protein supplements? Should you drink sports drinks in the gym? These are some of the commonest questions ... • The answer is...it depends! Everyone has different nutritional requirements, and a dietitian can help you to determine how much you need to be eating and when • As a rule-of-thumb: 1️⃣ If you’re an endurance athlete, it’s a good idea to eat something before your workout 2️⃣ For the rest of us, it’s down to personal preference. The sooner you eat to working out, the smaller the meal or snack should be 2️⃣ If you don’t like to eat before exercise, that’s fine, but make sure you eat something afterwards, ideally within 30 mins of finishing your workout 3️⃣ Post- workout try to get some protein (for muscle recovery) and carbs (for glycogen stores) into your snack... Good examples are peanut 🥜 butter on toast or a 🍌 , handful of nuts and glass of milk 🥛 4️⃣ Stay hydrated during and after working out. If you’re doing high intensity exercise lasting more than an hour, you may benefit from a sports electrolyte drink (you can make your own - see my previous post!). For the rest of us, water 💦 is fine 👍🏼 5️⃣ Protein supplements are a quick and easy way of getting post workout nutrition into your bodies...but nearly all of us get more than enough protein in our diets. Even if you’re a body builder, protein requirements are only increased by a small amount (about the equivalent of a chicken breast), which you probably meet quite easily through your diet. So (generally speaking), I’d recommend eating your protein over drinking it!
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EATING MINDFULLY:
Did you see my recent article in the NHD magazine on mindful eating? This topic has come up a lot in my clinic as slowing down and enjoying the eating experience can help some people’s symptoms (particularly in conditions such as IBS)
It’s something we can all try to do when eating, but it’s probably unrealistic that you’ll eat mindfully 100% of the time, so don’t get too worked up about it!
... CHARACTERISTICS: 1️⃣ Eating more slowly and acknowledging feelings and sensations (such as hunger), and stopping before you feel uncomfortably full 2️⃣ Enjoying foods you want to eat and savouring he eating experience 3️⃣ Focusing on the present moment - switch off background distractions such as screens and phones 4️⃣ Being fully present - recognising different sensations whilst eating (smells/textures/colours of foods) 5️⃣ Compassion - being gentle and kind on yourself, not judging or punishing yourself after eating and recognising that every food has a role in a healthy & balanced diet 🙌
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Really enjoyed speaking at the @royalautomobileclub last night, championing the work of dietitians! • The talk was focusing on eating well for busy city lives, and it covered some key themes: strategic snacking, healthiest lunches on the high street, coffee o’clock and fine wining and dining 🍷 • I’ll be sure to share some snippets over the next few days. Big thanks to several colleagues who joined me there: @sharon.kallos @sophiedietitian @thednadietitian