As part of the Wellness Women I love (which also happens to be on Wednesdays!) I’ve been busting to feature this beauty.  She’s been on the site before here.  When chronic fatigue syndrome put a swift end to a million-mile-an-hour corporate career, it also created the most incredible life transformation imaginable for her. Now free of CFS, Amy credits her return to health to a whole food, sugar/toxic free lifestyle combined with extensive energy healing and a range of therapies called CTC (Combined Therapy Cocktail) of which she is now a practitioner. Amy’s blog and business The Holistic Ingredient and her whole foods eBook, A Nourishing Kitchen, combine her passion for food and cooking, toxic-free living and healing therapies.

I love her.  I’m super excited to dive into her life a little more today.  What’s more, for all of you that have registered and are joining me in my Gentle Body Cleanse next week, Amy is launching the perfect condiment – her Detox Your Life events with the first off the springboard being Detox You Pantry!  You must keep reading to find out more (details at the bottom of this post).  But hey, you’ll need to get onto that stat.  It’s totally the next layer to your cleanse.  Ok over to the beauty that is Amy.

1. What does fertility mean to you?

Being as healthy as I can possibly be, therefore giving me the best possible opportunity to have a child, should the opportunity present itself.

2. What is one ritual or practice that you do that connects you back to yourself as a woman?

Yoga, I feel a wonderful sense of connection with my body and breath.

3. If you could tell your teen self one piece of advice about health/fertility/hormones, what would it be?

Get to know your body, it’s intricacies, it’s cycles and the emotions that play out as a result. Understand that the pressure and stress you put on yourself to achieve, to constantly ‘do’ more will negatively impact on your health (believe me, I know!). Create balance in your life and learn to embrace stillness and rest in your life, as early as you can!

4. Would you change something you did in previous years in regard to fertility and health? If so what might that be?

100%. I would never have taken the contraceptive pill, knowing now what I do about the negative impact it has on my body. If only I had known this at my leaky gut diagnosis many years ago! I would have taken greater notice of my cycle and developed a better understanding of how my lifestyle was impacting my hormones and health as a whole.

5. What ignites you?

My new life – I pinch myself every day that I can get up and do what I do and love it this much! The people I meet and interact with every day, the new friends I am making in this amazing wellness space. Creating new recipes and seeing other people recreate them. Getting out amongst nature with my dog and watching him run about. Seeing my new projects come to fruition. Exercise and the way I feel when I walk back in the door. A really good piccolo! Spending time with inspirational women. I could keep going forever but fundamentally it’s the simple things that make me happy. I feel happy when I bit into an organic carrot that truly tastes like a carrot!

6. What’s your one essential health item?

The far infrared sauna. It was the first turning point in my recovery from CFS. I now have one in my treatment room.

7. Favourite food?

Easy. Raw chocolate. Oh how I love raw chocolate. I make my own and it has a very short use by date!

8. Favourite movie or book?

My favourite book would be A Fine Balance by Seth Godin. It has taught me so much about showing gratitude for all the amazing things in my life. I don’t really have a favourite movie; there are many that I love. The last movie I can remember absolutely loving though was The Intouchables. Just beautiful.

9. Cheesy addiction (ie boy bands or soap mags)

Blue or tasty cheddar? 😉

10. Morning or Evening routine?

I drink a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. I’ve been doing this for three years and do so to help alkalise my body and support my digestion.
As I mentioned (I couldn’t wait), Amy has recently launched tickets for the first in a series of ‘Detox Your Life’ events in Melbourne on Thursday 13th February. ‘Detox Your Pantry’ will: teach you how to simplify your diet with whole foods to nourish your body; educate you to make better buying choices at the shops; steer you towards the best places TO shop; equip you with a shopping list to get the most bang for your buck and; provide you with a menu to make a weeks work of cooking at home both affordable and simple (a particularly good one for the mums!). You can get your ticket here.