In this lesson's episode, discover how one unexpected book sparked a lifelong journey into nutrition and wellness.

Understand how food labels, fat types, and cooking oils impact long-term health,

explore the dangers of oversimplified social media advice,

and learn why critical thinking is essential when evaluating health claims and diet trends.

Was when you were, when you were practicing yoga, was diet? I mean, diet for people that are into working out and into fitness, it's always a thing,

but was it as much of a component of your life as it is now?

So here's what happened. I was 21 years of age, living on a diet as most 21-year-olds do,

of bacon buddies and sausage suppers and, you know, French fries and, you know,

with the occasional, you know, good meal thrown in there.

I definitely wasn't being in at the time. I was living with my boyfriend who, um, he had a yard. We, I've always ridden horses my entire life. And so we had set up this horse yard together. And so we were very fit and very active. I was very, very, very lean. Like a, it was a UK, or like a US size two at the time. And I'm five foot eight tall. So like that was really, really lean. So I was physically active, physically fit, looking great. But I, do you know what's a really, it's one of these funny moments. I remember one day going to the mirror and going, oh, was that a pimple on my cheek? I remember like scraping my cheek and thinking like I had like a pimple.

And as I kind of poked it and moved it, it didn't, you know, like if you, this is disgusting, but like if you have a pimple and you squeeze it, it pops, well, this wasn't popping, right? And I remember going, what is that? And I remember going, getting a pair of pointed tweezers and poking at this thing and pulling it out, right?

And it was a little white ball.

And I realized it was like a cholesterol deposit in my cheek. That's, and I don't know whether

it was or it was. That's so gross. What happened? That's so gross. I did not expect you to

be going in that direction. So I, so what happened was I picked it out. And so I had a moment, I, at the time I was eating a lot of bacon, right? And we didn't have a lot of money at the time. And so, you know, we were spending money on food, but we were probably not buying like the highest quality food. And I was eating a lot of salt, a lot of bacon. I was, you know, drinking probably a lot of alcohol. I was smoking a lot of pot. I was like,

you know, not the healthiest, like 21 year old in the world. And I remember that was a pitiful moment for me. I remember thinking, I wonder should I change my diet? So this weird thing happened. I went to my aunt had a beach house. Okay. Now, it sounds very glamorous. It's really not. Like over here Northern Ireland, we do not have big beaches. Like this is clocky beach we're talking about here.

It's like 100 metres long, right? And it, we do not have big beaches. Like this is Clocky Beach we're talking about here.

It's like 100 metres long, right?

And it's mostly like pebbles and a bit of sand. But she had a house in this little town called Clocky. And I was working at the time in a restaurant. So I was working really long hours, you know, working, you know, and I didn't get much time off. And whenever I did, I was with the horses.

And so I said to my boyfriend at the time, I was like, Jonathan, let's go to clocky, like for my day off.

Let's leave. I didn't get much time off. And whenever I did, I was with the horses. And so I said to my boyfriend at the time, I was like, Jonathan, let's go to clocky, like for my day off.

Let's leave after, you know, I finish. I've got two days off. We'll go there. We'll go to the beach. This is in the middle of winter. And I was like, we will, you know, we'll have a great time. Now, this is before iPhones, iPads.

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