It made me think about how fun sport can be. Feeling part of something bigger, getting a sweat on, losing your inhibitions a little bit. And it doesn’t have to be professional sport either.

I was invited to the Vogue Wellness Retreat last week, which included a sports day (archery, egg and spoon race, archive Vogue book balancing…) and it was a great time. The three day retreat was hosted by Funmi Fetto, Beauty and Wellness Director of British Vogue at Estelle Manor. As expected, it was exceptional.

Lively talks, delicious meals, energising workouts, gorgeous rooms. The guest list included foreign correspondent Yalda Hakim, artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Sahara Longe, restaurateur Ravinder Bhogal, among many other brilliant women. What I enjoyed most was the mix of perspectives- doctors talking to artists, filmmakers talking to founders, broadcasters talking to nutritionists.

I arrived knowing nobody and left with new friendships, future collaborations and a renewed appreciation for how quickly women can skip the small talk and get to the good stuff. Nothing quite like bonding over a “thermal journey” in a 3,000sqm Roman-inspired spa.

I was also honoured to speak on a panel with Dr Amy Shah and Dr Liza Osagie-Clouard on the topic of Aging in the Era of Longevity. In other words - what happens when we’re all supposed to live to 100 while somehow remaining 32 forever? A real Death Becomes Her predicament. It’s a topic very close to my heart - something that often comes up in client sessions and personally during catch ups with friends - and I think we need to rethink how and why longevity matters.

It's an important question because longevity has become one of the dominant conversations in wellness. We measure sleep, blood sugar, biological age, HRV, muscle mass, VO2 max. We’re tracking - we’re optimising - we’re preserving.

All useful, of course. But sometimes wellness can start to feel like we’re trying to keep ourselves preserved in a display case. Pristine and perfect. The problem is that life isn’t like that - it happens outside the glass.

We change careers, move countries, have children, start businesses, get obsessed with new hobbies and occasionally stay out too late. Good health should help us participate in all of that, not retreat from it.

Which brings me to an idea I’ve been thinking about recently: What if wellness was about Participation over Preservation?

Have you got your ticket?

When you’re well, you can participate more fully in the life you want. A life that asks for flexibility of body and mind and is allowed to change shape over time. You can take the long haul flight, start the ambitious project, eat the candy, say yes to things. Health gives you options.

As a nutritional therapist, this is often the shift I’m trying to help clients make. Very rarely does someone come to me because they want a lower fasting glucose score for the sake of it. The numbers matter but usually because of what they make possible.

Basically - and forgive me for being a tad dorky here - wellness isn’t the destination, it’s the ticket to ride.

Perhaps some of the most important markers of health are the ones we rarely measure at all - curiosity, adaptability and enthusiasm.

What struck me at the retreat wasn’t the discussion around longevity, fascinating as it was. It was how engaged everyone seemed to be with life. People were learning, debating, sharing ideas, making plans, encouraging each other, laughing. There was a palpable sense of momentum in the room…those felt like signs of health too.

In clinic, I often find myself paying attention to these things as much as symptoms. Is someone making plans again? Feeling excited about the future? Reconnecting with hobbies? Seeing friends more often? It’s not a diagnostic tool but it can tell you a lot about how somebody is really doing.

If we think about health as participation, it offers up a different and more actionable approach to wellbeing. Health that works in real life rather than requiring ideal conditions.

Three Participation Markers

I want to propose something a little different this week. Rather than talking about brilliant Breakfast Soups or specific herbs and veggies, let’s think about health through the lens of participation.

1. Curiosity
   What are you interested in right now? Eg a book you can’t wait to read, a place you’d like to visit, a skill you’d like to learn. Curiosity is often a sign that we’re engaged with the future rather than simply getting through the day.
   
   If your curiosity feels low, don’t wait for it to magically return. Feed it. Listen to a podcast outside your usual interests or take a different route home. Curiosity grows through exposure.
   
   

2. Enthusiasm
   What are you looking forward to this week? I think anticipation is one of the most underrated wellbeing practices around. Having something in the diary creates momentum.
   
   If nothing springs to mind, schedule something. Can be small. A walk with a friend, a movie to watch tomorrow afternoon. Enthusiasm often follows action rather than preceding it.
   
   

3. Adaptability
   How many things need to go right before you can have a good day?

   
   The healthiest people I know aren’t necessarily the ones with the most perfect routines, they’re the ones who can absorb disruption and still feel pretty good (note I didn’t say ‘thrive’ or ‘amazing')
   

   If your health currently relies on ideal conditions, look for opportunities to practise flexibility. Adaptability is a skill and skills improve with practice.

Curiosity, enthusiasm and adaptability don’t replace markers for sleep, movement or good nutrition but they can be useful signals that those foundations are doing their job. They help us zoom out from the individual habits and participate in the life those habits are supposed to support.

The gist: wellness should expand your life, not become your life.

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What’s fed me

It’s not just food. Everything you take in shapes how you think and feel. Here’s what I’ve been up to that’s nourished my creative brain:

‘Fun and Gains’ by Morgan Fargo. Back in March, I chatted with Morgan Fargo, British Vogue’s beauty and wellness editor, about the weird one-size-fits-all wellness approach that was going on:

One thing Morgan and I touched on was context. Wellness advice often assumes an imaginary person with unlimited time, unlimited money and unlimited control over their environment. Most of us are operating under slightly different conditions.

Our chat is now included in the latest issue of of the magazine with Anok Yai on the cover (her story is GORGEOUS). Go grab a copy.

‘Someday’ by Sensation. I spent some time in LA last month and whenever I’m there, I prioritise hangs with my (basically) family Marisa, Terence, and their toddler Jade. There’s always lots to do but I have to say breakfast chats with these three is often the highlight of my trip.

Aside from doing countless creative projects, Terence also makes music with Daniel de Lara under the name Sensation and they’ve just released a beautiful new EP called A Heaven. I’ve had the second track Someday on repeat since i first heard it. Play it loud and let it transport you somewhere warm and full of possibility.

Mistress Dispeller dir. Elizabeth Lo (2024). On the flight back to London I watched this documentary about a woman who hires a ‘mistress dispeller’ to secretly end her husband’s affair. It’s SO good. I watched it with mouth agape. One of those films that immediately makes you text your pals asking, '“have you seen this?”

Well, have you? Because if you have - get in touch - must discuss!

If you liked this, please tap the 🤎. It helps more people find Full Serving and I appreciate it. Leave any questions or thoughts in the comments or send me a message. I’d love to hear from you.

I’m also on Instagram - say hi.

I actually don’t think circadian rhythm gets enough airtime, considering it influences almost every aspect of our health. We’ve kind of built our lifestyles around overriding the body clock - macchiato at 4pm, group dinners starting at 930, replying to emails in bed with your face six inches from a screen at 11pm... what are we doing here? Yes we should think about protein, supplements, strength training but what if we zoomed all the way out and went back to the fundamentals?

I’m going to take today’s newsletter to recap a few things we discussed during the talk. It was an hour of chatting s…

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I get asked about eggs a lot. Recently, I had two clients ask the same thing in back-to-back sessions. Different people, same Q: were they overdoing it? Both had heard something about cholesterol and wanted reassurance. The first client definitely wasn’t overdoing it. She was probably under doing it. Eating one egg with a bit of toast for breakfast meant she wasn’t getting enough protein to set herself up and she felt it too, often needing to snack on something at 10.30-ish to tide her through to lunch.

There’s also all the chat around protein sufficiency right now, and rightly so. We’re finally moving away from the idea that you only need protein if you’re trying to build muscle, and toward understanding that adequate protein intake is fundamental to how yo…

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It made me think about the idea of sugar cravings in general. Are you someone that eats a meal, then immediately reaches for something sweet? Or perhaps no prior meal needed - you just find yourself rummaging at various points of the day. I’ve had clients at various levels of obsession - I’m thinking of the self professed “sugar fiend” who finally kicked the 38 year habit after changing how she stocked the house and scheduled in daily desserts (more on this later).

It’s one of the most consistent patterns I see in practice. Chocoholics - the bunch of us. Personally, I’m partial to some sour candy but that’s neither here nor there. What is helpful to …

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I’m making the most of the neighbourhood as by this time next week, we’ll have moved to North London and be in the process of doing up the new house. I’ve got a fun/ambitious list of ideas for the space already. (Speaking of - if you have recommendations for joiners and architects, please let me know. Rooftop gardening tips are welcome too, thank you.)

In general, it feels like ideas are flowing more easily at the moment. It’s likely down to longer daylight hours, earlier and consistent light exposure, and more time outside, all of which support circadian signalling and in turn influence mood, appetite and cognitive function. All relevant when you’re trying to think clearly or create anything new.

But - how are you feeling? Still shaking off winter or already in the swing of things? I’…

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Last year, I did something similar with my friend Fran. We happened to both be in LA at the time and spent the day cruising around town, eating delicious bites from LA Grocery and daydreaming together. That day ended up being more important than I realised. It’s when I first properly articulated what I wanted my nutritional therapy practice to become. A couple of months later - Full Serving was born! It started with events, now we have this newsletter, and I’ve got something up my sleeve that I’m excited to share with you all. Stay tuned.

Since then, I’ve made a point to express - out loud…

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You might have been vegan for fifteen years but now want to try something new - you can. Or maybe you’re going the other way and want guidance around eating less meat. That works too. You can be pescatarian. Vegetarian. You can reconsider alcohol, sugar, fasting, carbohydrates, protein bars, coffee.

Food choices aren’t permanent identities. They’re fluid, situational, seasonal. They’re choices we make in a particular chapter of life. And just because you’ve always done something doesn’t mean it’s still the right choice for you now.

The world of wellness can be so preachy and dogmatic. It acts like our food choices are our entire identity. And if you dare to eat something you once swore off, or change your stance…

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But if you’re still here, good morning! Let’s get this out of the way: I think we need to talk about pooping more.

Is it sexy? No. Does it make you feel more comfortable in your body, support how your skin looks, keep your hormones circulating properly and your energy steadier? Whole-hearted yes (so actually, it does make you feel sexier, would you look at that).

Our bowel movements are one of the simplest daily indicators of gut function and routine. And while there’s benefit to stool testing - I utilise this in my private practice - for most of us, it’s unnecessary to get that deep into the weeds. We can get a good understanding of how our gut is functioning just by looking into the loo. No stool sample or AI-activated smart toilet needed.

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Yesterday’s brief flirtation with spring put a real pep in my step. Sure it was short lived—I’m in London after all—but even a few hours of light can recalibrate our mood. It got me thinking about the ways we can access that kind of lift on the dreariest of days. How to feel more alive.

I’ve been working on a bunch of fun projects behind the scenes that I can’t wait to invite you into. But just like everyone else, the need to stay motivated and focused to create these things, all while balancing my private practice and everything else, requires a certain level of energy. In phases like this, I have very little tolerance for complicated food.

So, I’m going to keep talking about ways we can keep nutrition a priority without turning every meal into a spreadsheet or another round of chicken and quinoa.

Today, that means Toppings.

Toppings just feel fun

Before I go into which toppings I’m excited for you to build into the routine, I want to talk about the importance of integrating fun into our pursuit of health.

If you’ve been here for a while, or joined a Full Serving event, you’ll know I care about pleasure and participation. Health should expand your world.

There’s a version of wellness that does the opposite. It becomes rigid, competitive and self-surveilling. Everything is correct or incorrect. The world narrows quickly.

I’m not interested in that version.

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Happy new year, friends! I couldn’t stay in Hong Kong for the full run of celebrations but I hung up my decorations in London as soon as I got back over the weekend. This morning, I rang my family for a virtual bai nian.

Bai nian is when you exchange Chinese New Year greetings with your loved ones. I wished my parents good health, a prosperous year, and lots of fun ahead. They wished the same for me, with an extra dose of courage to do the things that bring genuine happiness.

Health is always the first wish. Because health is of course, wealth.

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Since I got here I’ve been enjoying tofu at most meals. It’s a regular for me in London but when I’m on this side of the planet, I tend to have more. There’s a stall in the wet market near my parents’ house that sells blocks of the silkiest tofu - we buy it fresh and add it to fish soup where it dances flirtatiously amongst the quartered tomatoes and sliced onions. Delicious.

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Heartbreak isn’t exclusive to romantic relationships ending. It can come from the weight of the news streaming in - horror after horror. It can be the accumulated strain of economic pressure, climate anxiety, and the sense that the world is asking more than we can give.

Heartbreak comes from paying attention.

When we experience heartbreak, it registers as stress. Stress affects appetite, digestion, and decision making. Physiologically, this often shows up as elevated cortisol and altered blood sugar regulation. During heartbreak, appetite can become inconsistent and unreliable.

For some people, it disappears completely. For others, it bec…

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They touch and advise the faces that set our aesthetic ideals. Unsurprisingly, the culture of intervention comes up often in their work. Like many of us, their clients arrive convinced something needs fixing. A new procedure, miracle laser, or hard-to-find product. But what I heard from them was: when you are this close, it becomes obvious how little actually needs fixing.

It’s the same pattern in nutritional therapy. Here, the interventions look a little different. A lot of supplements and and wearables. And yes, hard-to-find products, often in the form of a superfood that comes with hefty shipping costs.

People come to me certain they are doing something terribly wrong and armed with questions on the latest products that have tailed them across social media. They feel th…

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There are many reasons why we experience discomfort in our joints, and it’s not limited to getting older or arthritic diagnoses. It could be the season. It could be a lack of movement. And it could be because you’re skipping some crucial nutrients that support flexibility.

I’m going to go over the foods worth keeping in regular rotation if you want to feel limber and not like a box of loose parts. I’ve focused on food today, may do a supplements specific letter in the future. Let’s begin.

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In amongst it all, I’ve been seeing a fair amount of advice on how to reset and rebrand yourself in the lead up to 2026. January: the most ambitious of all our calendar months. Whilst I’m a huge fan of leaning into temporal landmarks to initiate change, be it the start of a new year, month, or week… I have thoughts on going too big in January.

For one, many of us are knackered from all the socialising, travelling and family-care that December asked of us. Most of my nutritional therapy clients didn’t truly take the christmas break off. And now we’re right back to business. This matters, because prolonged social and emotional demands can keep our stress hormone…

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I’ve selected a few to answer here, including questions around the role of alcohol, eating with family over Christmas, and breakfast ideas that aren’t smoothies. Let’s get stuck in.

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When I was retraining to be a nutritional therapist I didn’t tell anyone for the first two years of my studies. It felt like such a bizarre leap from the hyper-social, late night, decadent lifestyle that I had been pursuing for most of my career. For some reason, I couldn’t square the two worlds. I thought that this switch up would put people off.

Turns out, I was wrong. When I finally shared what I was doing (and why I had gone missing for a couple of years, having swapped nightcaps for early mornings in student clinic) I was met with enthusiasm and a lot of questions.

Friends and strangers alike had something they wanted help with, be it bloating, poor sleep or how to choose supplements. It was clear that everyone could use a little nutritional therapy in their lives. Especially those of us …

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Speaking of which, I’ve been thinking of adding a few more strings to my substack bow for paid subscribers:

Dial-a-Nutritionist
A virtual hotline for your questions. Not everyone needs to do a full nutritional therapy programme. Sometimes you just want to know what’s missing from your breakfast or what to pack in your carry-on for the holidays. I’ll answer a mix regularly.

The One Thing
I love a pep talk. This will be a short, weekly voice memo with one thing worth trying to feel more energised and grounded that week. Handy if you like audio.

Case Studies
Real scenarios from clinic, fully anon…

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“I’m not a breakfast person.”
“I don’t cook.”
“I have no willpower.”

For some reason, we talk in fixed terms. Permanent roles of our own making. We cast ourselves as the kind of person who swills coffee on an empty stomach, then pushes through the morning with jitters and sweaty palms. Or the person who lacks discipline - has never stuck with anything - and thus will forever be waiting for next week, next month, next year for a fresh start.

It’s just how it is.

Says who?

Nobody starts out effortless. But I often hear about a fictional benchmark we compare ourselves to, and this fantasy person has certain traits. They’re mysteriously ‘together’. Balanced. Somehow always jet setting across time zones, with a wine glass in hand, never saying no to dessert, and still inexplicably ripped. They are up for a run and they are up for a rave. How.

Of course there are reasons some people move through the …

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Which makes sense, because so much of life can feel a little grey. Or at least that is what I’m being served on my feed. Beige, grey and “greige” is fine for interiors…less so for your gut. We are alive. We need vibrancy, diversity and vitality!

There’s a reason colour makes you feel more alive. Colourful plants tend to contain more polyphenols and fibre varieties which feed a healthy gut. A well-fed gut makes more of the neurotransmitters that support mood, clarity and focus. These pigments also give your mitochondria what they need to produce …

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