Scotland’s best-known health expert, nutritionist and author, Amanda Hamilton, is on a mission.
The 38-year-old mum of two, a regular on television shows such as Something for the Weekend and How To Live Longer, wants to ensure Scots adopt a healthier lifestyle – and enjoy an improved relationship with their diet.
“What Jamie Oliver has done for food, I want to do for diet,” said Amanda who was in Tain at the weekend running a wellbeing retreat in partnership with Aspen Spa, Tain.
“What’s out there just now is old fashioned and concentrates on things that aren’t sustainable.
“What I’m creating is a sort of boot camp for the inside of your body.
“I’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, but this was the first time I managed to get around to running a retreat in the Highlands due to my other commitments.”
Amanda’s CV ranges from being a TV news- reader’s ski bunny in Aspen to being an eco-journalist in Mexico (she’s a fluent Spanish speaker).
Although she is a qualified nutritional therapist, as well as presenter, author and director of her own retreat, Amanda was keen to learn more and studied for a masters degree in obesity science at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen – a move sparked by her genuine concern for the number of overweight children and adults she saw.
“There seems to be two things happening in Scotland of late,” she said.
“There’s definitely more interest in good health and innovative approaches but at the same time, the obesity statistics aren’t getting any better.”
Her advice to mums who want to raise healthy children is: “Keep it real. By that I mean real food. Try to steer away from heavily processed foods and get back to basics.
“If the majority of your food comes out of a packet then that’s going to cause problems but if 80% of your diet is healthy, simple food then the rest doesn’t really matter.
“Just remember, if you can’t pronounce what it says on the label then you probably shouldn’t be eating it.
“There’s nothing wrong with serving children simple food like a baked potato, tuna and salad and they should be encouraged to drink water and milk instead of fizzy juice.”
Her unique spa-based detox and weight loss method has made headlines in more than 22 countries and she’s currently supporting nearly 4,000 people to have a better, healthier lifestyle.
“I’ve had to put on hold my plans for the degree at RGU as the combination of studying, launching a weight-loss website and having a baby was just too much – I’m not superwoman,” said Amanda.
“As a working mum you have to make choices – it’s impossible to have it all.”
What Amanda has given up is the travel and exciting projects abroad that took her away for great chunks of the year.
“Now I try to combine working abroad with the school holidays so the family can come along,” said Amanda.
“The rest of the time I split my working day in two, working for a few hours during the day when the children are at school or nursery then I work for a few hours each evening when they are in bed.”
For further details of Amanda’s no gimmick health advice visit www.amanda hamilton.co.uk/
