You have advised over 100 athletes as the nutritionist for the New Zealand Vodafone Warriors, what are three health essentials you ask these athletes to live by?
Getting the basics happening on a consistent basis – you are the sum of what you do consistently not on occasion so three top basics for them are:

Eat natural, whole and unprocessed foods whenever they can so choosing things like eggs, fresh vegetables, fish and meats on the bone over packet and processed foods

Master your timing – people cannot always make great decisions so I teach the players to focus on specific times to ensure great food choices such as first thing in the morning to prepare for the day and affect cognitive function optimally and post exercise to ensure recovery and healing and before bed to ensure great sleep.

Never underestimate the power of plain water.  It is imperative for nearly every bodily function and for these athletes we want to minimise the risk of injury and being optimally hydrated goes a long way towards that.

Congratulations on now being a mum, what top tips can you give new mothers post birth?
Be kind to yourself. It is both a wonderful time and an extremely demanding time so being kind to yourself and taking small amount of time where you can even if only two minutes outside to simply breathe or a 20 min catch up with a friend can help reduce the stress.  Take time for yourself and ensure you are eating as well as you can and if this means accepting help from friends who can drop off food, or ordering online groceries, then absolutely do it – when you have great food your body is able to recover much more quickly, you can provide a great milk source for your baby and you have more energy and resilience to deal with the ever-changing landscape that a new baby brings with it.

How do you keep fit, healthy and balanced in your life?
By viewing things in a positive manner whenever I can.  I look at exercise and keeping healthy as part of my life, my job, and a necessity to be able to be a great mother and partner.  Not stressing about missing exercise is as important as making time for training – it’s about not sweating the small stuff and making great choices when you are able to so those foundations on which your life is built are solid and beneficial.

You grew up on a farm in Rahotu, west Taranaki, what is one proactive health tip farmers can add to their toolbox?
I remember from the age of seven learning to drive tractors, getting hay in, digging Ragwort for Dad and milking cows. It was an incredible rural lifestyle and place to bring up children but there was a lot of challenges.

You couldn’t just pop to the store or go on holiday. Cows don’t wait! You must put yourself second to your livestock and farming. Unless you’ve been a farmer or come from a farming family it is very challenging to understand the amount of stress you can be under where work, family, home, and business combine.

What was the biggest career (or life) lesson you have learnt so far?
Now it is simply becoming a mother.  Nothing you hear, read, or see, can prepare you for this life-changing event and it is most certainly life-changing.  Everything I thought I knew about myself has changed. My routines have changed, my focus, my goals, and priorities all have been altered in some way.  I have learnt that things happen and you simply must choose to find the best possible way to view it because, it’s not what happens but how you choose to respond to things that really matters.

What is a nutrition trap you hear most often and what advice do you give people to manage it?
Buying food based on advertisements and marketing. Companies are always trying to sell us things and much of the time they are not healthy or beneficial for us and yet they try to make us believe it is good.  I often hear but they say its natural or it says on the pack sugar-free or its paleo so it’s good, right?  These marketing terms and promotional methods can be so confusing so I always say to my clients, never purchase a product based on the information on the front of the pack – always read the back with the labels as the front is just marketing and advertising and the back is really what’s in the product.

Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?
Tony Robbins – I started listening to motivational tapes and reading his books from a young age and they inspired me to take on everything and believe anything was possible.  This has really allowed me to jump into things with both feet and give everything a go.  When things didn’t go right or I didn’t achieve the result, I just picked myself back up and tried again in a different manner and then tried repeatedly.  He taught me to change my perspective and ask questions like how I might be better and what did I need to do differently to succeed rather than why did I fail?

If you weren’t a trusted fitness, health and nutrition expert what would you be doing and why?
I set out to be a lawyer but that changed to international business and marketing but I have always secretly harboured a desire to be a surgeon and am forever glued to medical drama shows. But the ironic thing is I cannot watch actual surgeries without squirming so not sure if I would have made the grade on that one

What’s your top tips for eating healthily on the go?
1. Always plan as if there will be nothing suitable to eat so when you can pop a small container of raw nuts in your bag or some coconut shavings, some home-made trail mix just to tide you over if you need to.

2. Focus on making your best worst choice – sometimes you just have to make the best of things so choose the most optimal food you can – it may not be what you would like to eat or normally eat but on the odd occasion this is fine – we are the sum of what we do consistently not what we do on occasion. As long as we have a great base that we operate from most of the time, eating foods that maybe not so great on occasion won’t do us too much harm.

3. Don’t leave it too long between meals – may people skip breakfast and don’t get a chance to have lunch until late afternoon which can really stress both body and mind – start the day well when at home in the morning with water on waking, some protein and fats for breakfast and the rest of the day will fall into place.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I adore singing and dancing and I am possibly the worst person ever at both but that does not stop me from trying.  The wonderful thing about babies I have found is they love your singing no matter what, so my daughter is my first real fan.