Hey Nina, can you give us a brief rundown of your journey so far? 

My passion for health and nutrition started around the time I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes where I essentially had to relearn how to take care of myself and notice how much of an impact what I ate had on how I felt. I was also swimming competitively during high school which further fuelled that fire. Unfortunately I took my desire to get things ‘perfect’ with my health and food too far, and ended up developing an eating disorder which I struggled with throughout high school, which almost cost me my life. Recovering from my eating disorder and going on to study nutrition, followed by sports nutrition, gave me a whole new understanding, appreciation and respect for the importance of nourishing and fuelling my body properly, and what ‘health’ really means.

What are your morning rituals? 

What inspires you? 

We love your passion for fitness, what are your top 3 tips for working out in winter?

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?

What’s your favourite thing to make with our Mylk Bases?

One thing my mum once said to me was ’no one is coming to save you’. And that really stuck. It was in the context of my eating disorder where I was stuck in the same destructive habits and vicious cycles, getting all the treatment available to me yet not actually taking onboard any of the help. It made me realise that no one could magically fix my problems for me and it wouldn’t suddenly get easier or go away, it was me that had to make those changes and face those fears for things to actually change for the better.

Make sure you check out Nina’s website and follow her on the ‘gram! 

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You can see a pattern here. The earth is not merely a platform in which we reside on. It is a living being, as are we, and we are a part of each other. Its health is our health.

When seasons change, our environment undergoes a major transition. Now, coming into autumn you may notice the weather is a little cooler, the mornings a little darker, the trees and plants around us also begin to transition and transform. They shed what they no longer need in preparation for new growth in the spring.

If we maintain the notion that we are a part of the earth, and the earth is a part of us, is it then safe to say that we also undergo a similar transition? Our changes are a little more internal but they are there all the same.

In winter, you simply cannot consume the same foods you did during summer. Cold slows everything down. Our digestive system slows down too and this is why we need well-cooked warming foods during winter, foods that are easy to digest.

In traditional Chinese medicine there is a major and minor organ associated with each season. The lungs are associated with autumn. They are the one organ that connects the outside world to the inside and vice-versa. The lungs bring in oxygen, transform it, transport it around the body, and eliminate what the body no longer needs. The minor organ associated with the lungs, and autumn, is the large intestine. The end stage of elimination of what we no longer need. Rather fitting, isn’t it?

Can you align yourself a little more with the environment around you, and use this time to shed what no longer serves you? Is there something you need to work through in order to let go of? Can you invite the intention of new beginnings? The lungs are our biggest organ of transformation, and the emotion associated with the lungs is grief and sadness. Can you breathe a little deeper, and allow some stuff to come up and clear? Tears are so powerful, cleansing and healing.

Autumn is all about transitioning and transforming. Therefore, it is the perfect time to transform. Because, after a period of transformation, there is new growth.

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