An experienced dietitian and nutritionist and the founder of Smart Dietetics, Suzannah believes people have lost sight of what healthy eating actually looks and feels like.
“Many people have lost touch with knowing how to eat according to when they are hungry or full,” Suzannah says.
“We are all born with it – you don’t tell a baby how much to drink! It’s a skill that has huge effects when we learn to trust it again.
“The effect of just being mindful of what you are eating and dragging yourself out of auto-pilot into conscious thought is very powerful.”
Social pressures, unrealistic body images and seemingly endless new diets are also clouding people’s judgement when it comes to food.
Suzannah is no stranger to these pressures and speaks openly about her own personal experience.
“I saw a dietitian when I was younger and it helped me towards what I now know is a non-dieting approach,” the 28 year old says.
“The problem is diets don’t work, or they work for a while and then they don’t – 97 per cent of people who go on a diet will put all the weight back on, plus some.
“It’s our culture too, that instant gratification, and that’s what we are sold in the media, that you can lose that weight quickly and easily. We see the before and after, but we’re not shown the “after” after.
“So it’s very normal to fail a diet, and that can be depressing. It was tough for me to come to terms with that, because (dieting) is what I’d been taught.”
However clinical placements in Australia and abroad, combined with an interest in food psychology, have given Suzannah a refreshingly different approach.
Her philosophy is founded on simple, achievable targets and incremental change, not quick fixes or false promises.
“It’s got to be sustainable long-term and it has to fit in with your lifestyle,” Suzannah says. “People don’t have the time or energy to spend five hours at the gym every day or buy all the super foods and prepare crazily healthy meals.
“I focus more on mindset changes and habit changes.
“It’s not quite as captivating as the fad diets that lure you with a promise to lose 10 kilos in the first week – but it works so much better!”