Happywhenfit: How my own health journey began and the legacy I would like to leave behind

I grew up in a small country town. My older sister and I were raised by my single mother who worked 3 jobs to provide us with an education and the opportunities that she wanted for us. My grandparents were an integral part of our childhood and we enjoyed the time we spent with them on the farm building cubby houses, cooking with my nanna, woodworking with my pop and eating freshly grown veggies as we picked them out of the ground. I learnt from a young age to value hard work, respect, resilience, nature, play and good, wholesome food, made with love, as my nanna would always say.

I don’t have a lot of photos from my early years in life, not because mum didn’t want to take any photos, but because as a baby I had chronic eczema and undiagnosed food allergies. Mum went from doctor to doctor who would prescribe steroid creams and more antibiotics, continually treating the symptoms instead of the cause. It took another night of mum holding me, a screaming baby in the ED, when finally, a lovely doctor on duty that night sat her down and promised that he would help her get to the bottom of my real issues. He instructed her to keep a food diary to monitor my bodies responses to different foods. It didn’t take long to discover that I was reacting to a lot of different foods, including dairy, high sugar/acidic fruits and other inflammatory foods that would keep feeding the problem. In the youngest years of my life, I found truth in the the saying “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” (Ann Wigmore). Whilst it wasn’t a great time for my mum, I feel blessed in a way to have had that experience so young. I learnt to intuitively eat and listen to my body as a guide to being my healthiest self. I also learnt that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to any facet of health. We are all different and that’s something I always share with people in the Happywhenfit programs. Whether it be diet, exercise or the things that make you happy, you have to explore what works for you and what doesn’t. In this way, our approach to health should be a celebration of our differences and how incredibly intelligent our bodies are at communicating with us if we will listen. My passion for preventative healthcare started young, because it literally saved my life.

My older sister and I dressed up ready to go out in the beautiful matching outfits my mum made us. My sister wasn’t a big fan of the little sister matching, but I thought it was great :)

Whilst I have a lot of positive schooling experiences, for the most of it, I remember always feeling like an outsider. In primary school a lot of our school lunches were homemade, like our clothes (see picture above). At the time it was something I felt so much shame around, because the ‘cool’ kids would have packets of shapes, roll ups and juice boxes, something I know now isn’t really cool at all once you know how far removed from wholefoods those products are. In high school, it went from comparing lunch boxes to not being cool to be seen eating food at all! I knew highly competitive and skilled kids who excelled in primary school athletics, who wouldn’t compete in high school because it wasn’t cool! They would have no doubt won their events, yet they chose to sit out. The pressure to fit in and maintain a certain body image or status is huge in adolescence. Highschool taught me how much our mental health can impact the choices we make across all areas of our health, including diet and exercise. The need to fit in can come at a high cost if you don’t have the right network of people around you to guide you through what can be the toughest and most character building years of your life. As an adult, I can see now how absolutely critical positive role models are not just in our youth, but all throughout our lives.

I am beyond grateful that I had a family and some amazing mentors around me who helped me to see the value in nourishing my body, not depriving it. My Mum and Nanna would be at every athletics day and sports game cheering me on loudly from the sidelines. The value of wholefoods and movement goes far beyond just food and sport. It’s about family, quality time, belonging, celebration, respect for the land, connection to people, connection to ourselves. This is where my passion for health started. I realised what Health really stood for in my life and it was always at the essence of who I was and the kind of person I wanted to be for myself and others, cheering them on from the sidelines just like my mum did for me. After all, the healthiest version of ourselves is normally hand in hand with the happiest.

For me my mission is simple: To help other people recognise their true potential in being the healthiest versions of themselves and to allow everyone to have equal opportunity and access to that.

When I think about some of the challenges I faced in school, I think about how my health classes supported me in understanding how to look after my body and mind in practical and relevant ways., and with all due respect to my educators who were simply delivering a broken curriculum, they didn’t support me at all. Health classes were non-practical and in no way an insight or preparatory tool to transition into adulthood. Leaving school and becoming a teacher, I see that not a lot has changed, but it needs too! I looked at the curriculum that didn’t support me and found myself delivering the same lessons. I couldn’t sit back and watch another generation enter adulthood feeling like they didn’t have the adequate tools given to them when they needed it the most. I don’t want any child to feel like an outsider like I did and a lot of the time having people to look up to can take away those feelings and replace them with the empowerment of knowledge and the confidence to apply it. I want health education to feel for kids how it felt for me growing up on the farm. Real, authentic, relevant, meaningful, hands on! I wanted to create a program that empowered kids with preventative healthcare as opposed to reactive healthcare - eating to heal, nourish and energise, moving to have fun and feel good, and connecting with themselves and this beautiful Earth that looks after all of us when we look after her. Our health is our number one priority. Without it, what do we have? I am so passionate about helping kids and adults recognise this and creating a community of like minded people who work together to help support each others best picture of health.

The Healthy Schools Program at Maiden’s Park Primary School.

I’ve been running the Happywhenfit Healthy schools program for 2 years now with the support of the incredible family at Bunbury Farmers Market. I get to teach kids and adults about holistic health everyday. We prepare and eat delicious wholefood and I feel like I’m back in my nanna’s kitchen again hearing her tell me that her secret ingredient was “love”. She was right. I love what I do. I truly love feeling like I am making a difference and every time I hear a kid come up and say something like, “That was the best health lesson I’ve ever had”, I light up inside and I know I’m on my right path.

“I get to teach kids and adults about holistic health everyday. We prepare and eat delicious wholefood and I feel like I’m back in my nanna’s kitchen again hearing her tell me that her secret ingredient was “love”. She was right. I love what I do. I truly love feeling like I am making a difference”

My next step has been the start of the Happywhenfit Healthy Schools Committee, in which I hope to make some long lasting and sustainable changes within our school and community environments by networking, bringing our passion, skills and knowledge together to start actioning some changes that will really make a difference to what health education looks like and how our community supports that. I have school leaders, community health representatives, parents and community people who are all coming together with the same goal of making our schools and communities the healthiest and happiest places they can be. How lucky am I to work alongside these amazing people and to be apart of this next journey as we start leaving a real legacy behind.

I am so grateful for the support of the Bunbury Farmers Market. Their passion and love of community is the reason I am able to do what I do. They are like family to me, supporting the same values that started the journey.

What do I see this looking like? Healthier food options that are tasty and exciting sold in our school canteens and local sporting events; opportunities for kids to have a voice about what will support them in making healthier choices; opportunities for competitive and non-competitive fitness that fosters an environment of fun and enjoyment for all ability and interest levels; more connection between our schools and communities and opportunities for kids to apply health knowledge in practical ways; breaking some of the barriers that exist in making healthy choices and creating a more equal opportunity in all schools to access their most basic right of health;  collaborating with community support networks that enhance student, staff, and family wellbeing. These are just a few of the goals I have across the pillars of health. I dream big, but I work hard and I always, always do it with love as my biggest motivating factor.

I ask you to watch this space, to engage with it and be our cheerleaders on the sidelines for positive change. We’re working towards a healthier future, a generational shift that sees health lessons become as important as language and mathematics, because I believe it is this shift that will filter through every aspect of our education system and into society as we know it. A generation of youth who are empowered with the same values that a health focused mindset has instilled in me. A generation that has the capacity to love big and make big positive changes because they are aware that choosing to love yourself by nourishing your body from the inside out, is where health meets potential.

Nan and Pop: For teaching me the values that have shaped who I’ve become. For encouraging me to always follow my heart, do everything with love and believe in the best version of myself. My heart is full of gratitude for the mentors who have enriched my life. I hope that I can continue to be a mentor to others with the Happywhenfit programs.