With a nutrition philosophy focused on helping people access high-quality, nutritional foods that are convenient, easy and delicious, Jess Blair is a naturopath and clinical nutritionist and is now an ambassador for Tasti’s new Raw Snacking range. Raising her family with a healthy lifestyle, she wants to help others do the same. Growing up on a farm, she developed healthy eating habits from a young age.
“I grew up on a farm, so we are really well, as you can imagine we didn’t have takeaways and we were always made to eat what was in front of us, meat and veggies. We ate mostly off the land, and I loved that. Our food was simple, and we didn’t over complicate it,” said Blair.
From her upbringing on a farm, Blair had always been into health and wellbeing and was an active child. Wanting to use her passions and what came naturally to her – health and an active lifestyle, to help others in a career, she found inspiration to start towards becoming a nutritionist and naturopath.
“From playing sports when I was younger and growing up on a farm, to doing a lot of reading on health topics. I have always loved helping people too, so I knew that I wanted to do something with that. It wasn’t necessarily what I thought I would be doing but I am so glad that my passion became my career.”
Blair describes her typical day of food as a good egg omelette or a nutritious smoothie for breakfast, salads, quiche, or a curry for lunch and protein, fats and vegetables such as fish, for dinner. Keeping it healthy and simple during the week, on the weekends Blair’s diet relaxes a bit with the family often enjoying a nice pizza or some kumara fries.
“We are pretty strict throughout the week and try to stick to our meals as much as possible. On the weekends, we do tend to relax a little. We don’t have anything that might tempt us or the children in the cupboards or the fridge either, so if they’re hungry, they have to eat what’s in the fridge or pantry.”
Between meals, she encourages a healthy snack to boost energy levels if you are hungry. Having a snack that is filled with good fats and proteins can help get you through to dinner without making bad food decisions out of hunger. Aside from Tasti’s new Raw Snacking range, Blair recommends berries, nuts, bananas, eggs, and avocados as her favourite superfoods to eat to improve energy levels throughout the day.
To fight off that sugar craving between meals, Blair said a top-tip is to keep fluids up and drink a healthy amount of water and encourages eating nuts as well.
“Honestly, nuts are a game changer for me and my clients. Most clients I see need to increase their intake of healthy fats, so an array of nuts are a great source of good fats and can help with sugar cravings. I’ve been recommending Tasti’s Raw Snacking snack packs – they’re great for a number of reasons, plus they’re in great portion control packs.”
As a clinical nutritionist, a consultation with Blair includes an in-depth discussion including finding out about sleep patterns, stress and diet, as well as previous health history. From this information, she gets the whole health picture and writes a treatment plan that is specific and unique. From her work, Blair notes the healthy habits many people need to start incorporating into their everyday lives as not stressing and over complicating foods or eating habits.
“Drink enough water, get enough sleep and be kind to yourself and each other.”
Blair also has some top pieces of advice for those wanting to make a healthy change or lose weight.
“One thing I would scream from the rooftops to stop is soft drinks. Drink enough water, don’t over complicate food. Focus on health – not weight. Practice gratitude and find an exercise regime that you love and stick to it.”
