Frances Carroll

I grew up in a household where food and love were closely linked. My mother cooked ‘meat and two veg’ every day for our family. There was usually a pudding too but that was less important than the main meal. Rice was a pudding, pasta was a vegetable and the likes of quinoa, cous-cous and polenta were ‘yet to be invented’. Her staple dishes were casseroles, stews, soups, homemade soda bread and homemade apple pie. Little did I know at the time how lucky I was to have such healthy fayre. Take-aways were a rare event. They were usually chicken and chips from an independent, rather than the sort you get nowadays from fast-food chains. Indeed I was fortunate.

When I left school I took a summer job in a bakery on Portobello Road, London W.11. Back then the doughnuts were made on the premises and made daily. I know because I had to put the jam in them.

After that I had a brief fling with self-employment in a catering company baking celebration cakes but then went on to pursue a ‘proper’ career first in banking and then in travel technology.

When my grandmother died at the turn of the century I made the decision to change my career to help others with their health. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do but a visit to a Nutritional Therapist hugely inspired me and I decided to become qualified.

First, though, I had a 10 month holiday in India and Nepal.

My mother was 'diagnosed' with Alzheimer’s in 2002. Because of this I was determined to get my qualification and understand how food and health are intertwined.

I feel very privileged to have been able to do the nutrition degree course and to have the skills to help people achieve their health goals. I know that my personal background has made me more understanding of how serious ill-health impacts the quality of life and the dynamics of a family and how complicated it can all be.

Now I want to take people to new heights of wellness and help them achieve not only their health goals but their fitness goals too.

LIGHTER FITTER HEALTHIER