The human body is the most intelligent ‘living machine’ in nature – an extremely adaptable system which is programmed to preserve life at all cost. Today’s lifestyles are dramatically changing this machine by genetically modifying its ways to sustain life. We all know that our ancestors lived in a different environment – nutrients-rich, full with natural goodness and stress-free activities. Their only fast-food came from ‘fast’ food hunting which required physical effort and strength – a truly natural way to keep ‘active for life’.
Unfortunately, this no longer exists in modern society. Many people feel obliged to exercise and have little desire to understand their bodies and lead a healthy life. The food around us is not doing us any good either – the beneficial microorganisms that we need are now replaced by pesticides, additives and other toxins that challenge the digestive system and affect our ability to perform.
As a result, many of us may lack the basic building blocks for the body to function at its best. Intensive farming, pollution and food processing kill vital vitamins and minerals while stress and life challenges deplete the body’s reserves of enzymes and beneficial bacteria. This in turn is likely to cause energy slumps, headaches, poor digestion and increased susceptibility to colds and infections.
This is where I was until 2011 – eating just to live and living life at full speed. With a mind focused on success at all cost, I paid no attention to my health but my degree and career development. The damage soon followed. Being diagnosed with IBS, I had to turn myself into a test lab animal, experimenting with various foods to find out what was causing the problems. In the end, it turned out that it was all due to stress and poor nutrition.
This is also where nutritional therapy saved me. This treatment relies on nutrition to restore health balances or complement medical therapies. It is not about following a diet but educating people on healthy eating to better understand their bodies and ultimately prevent future diseases.
There are many nutritional therapists out there and every day we are bombarded with health information from the media and the Internet. However, none of this is personalised – we are all different and must not leave our health in the hands of general advice. I also struggled to find a specialist who can create a diet, flexible and effective enough for my busy lifestyle. Thus with my business mindset, I took my nutrition and fitness as a ‘marketing project’ – I created a strategy that would allow me to achieve my health goals in the most efficient and cost-effective way without causing damage to other work and life areas.
After two years of experimenting, I feel that I have the necessary pieces to enable me to create such diet plans myself – personal experience and scientific knowledge. I graduated with a Merit Diploma in Advanced Nutrition for Optimum Health where I was taught to challenge every claim and never make assumptions for people – we are biologically different and every health advice must to be tailored to individual lifestyle needs.
If you recognise yourself in this story, then get in touch. Whether it’s to discuss your challenges towards optimum health and nutrition, book a consultation with me or just share your experience with ‘on-the-go’ healthy living and fitness, I would like to hear from you.
I am looking forward to hearing from you and walking the journey to Optimum Health together.
In Health & Balance,
Maya xxx
HEALTH & BALANCE 
