Monica

Certified Nutritional Therapist in Wimborne

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Recommendations are so important in every aspect of our lives, however it’s vital that whoever you’re looking for – whether an accountant, lawyer ….or a nutritional therapist – that you find someone who has the credentials and qualifications to back up the recommendation.

In other words, you need to find someone who’s certified, someone who has completed a well-reputed course, obtained a diploma, has insurance to cover their practice….and more!

I obtained my nutritional therapy diploma at CNM, the College of Naturopathic Medicine, in London.  And then a few years later I went back to study again and completed a one year part-time postgrad course in iridology, using it in my practice as a really useful diagnostic tool.

The original nutrition course I did covered 3 years of pretty full time ‘part time’ study.  It encompassed health areas such as biomedicine, nutrition and diseases, diagnostics and other naturopathic therapies, to name just a few.

Before I was allowed ‘out there’ I had to complete 200 clinic hours – monitored clinics with volunteer patients which were held in the clinic rooms of the college.  I was so nervous about setting up my own practice I did an additional 80 hours at the same time here in Dorset, sitting in on two different therapists’ clinics over a year, watching and learning.  And then of course there were final exams to sit.

Obtaining a diploma for me was just the start!

Joining an appropriate speciaist-related organisation is vital.  It’s the organisation which checks credentials, requires that you keep up a certain number of annual CPD hours (continued learning at, for example, seminars, talks, conferences etc).  The organisation also  offers a forum for therapists to share knowledge and, what’s important for the public, it is a directory for people to find qualified therapists.

I belong to BANT (British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy) and CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare council).

What else?  I have a website – here! – where I post health-related blogs, workshop information, recipes and the like, plus I aim to send out newsletters (not too many to annoy!)   On top of that I keep a work-related facebook page – monicasappleaday – where I post info on new research papers or controversial health articles or healthy recipes or just fab food photos…

So, if you’re looking for a certified nutritional therapist in Wimborne you can find me in all sorts of places – from the BANT directory or by googling CNM or via my website, or under monicasappleaday…. or just looking up my name, Monica Watson-Peck!

Fennel and citrus Salanova salad

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salanova-lettuce-salad Recipe

I just love this lettuce!  Salanova – sounds and looks like something you can really salivate over.  First brought onto the market in 2011 by Rijk Swaan, a Dutch global seed company, I came across these beauties on a recent trip to the Cotswolds.  “No genetic engineering, just years of meticulous breeding experiments”, according to Rijk Swaan seed company, the salanova offers about 40% more leaves than the usual lettuce.

Worth growing!

 

Serves 4-6

2 oranges, thinly sliced with skin & pith removed
6 radishes, finely sliced
⅔ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 generous handfuls Salanova lettuce (or frisee or rocket if you can’t find it)
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
⅓ cup feta cheese, crumbled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

Method

Combine the oranges, fennel, radish and dill in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice, olive oil and ¼ teaspoon salt. Marinate for about 30 minutes.

When ready to serve the salad, put the Salanova in a large bowl and add the orange, fennel and radish mixture.  Pour most of the lemon juice dressing over it all and toss to combine.

Taste and adjust with more of the dressing if you wish.

Serve topped with pine nuts and feta

Risotto Cake with Roasted Vegetables

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risotto-cake-recipe

What a success this dish had been.  It not only looks good but tastes delicious.  Originally a Jane Baxter recipe, I’ve tweaked it quite a bit to make it a little easier and more to our taste.

It definitely needs some salad greenery alongside.  Either a small bed of mixed greens as a starter, or a generous side salad if serving it as a main meal.

The recipe is not difficult and actually it’s surprisingly quick.  Risotto however is always needy as you have to stay by its side and not slip out of the kitchen to send off emails or hang out washing.   (You can however go to the oven and turn over the roasting vegetables, and remove them from the oven whilst risotto ‘ladeling’).

As it all has to cool I actually left the finished risotto and vegetables for the day – covered –  then, early evening, I spent an easy 10 minutes ‘layering’ the cooked components, then baking it for 30 minutes.
The layering part was fun, and the end result is a ‘wow’ moment.

Easily serves 6 as a starter.  It also should have managed 6 as a main – with a generous rainbow-content salad alongside.  However as three of our foursome had ‘seconds’, only a small 5th portion was left – and no 6th !
Either be cruel and say ‘no seconds’ to your six guests, or aim to serve 4 and have yummy left-overs the next day.

 

Serves 4-5-6

1 large onion, finely chopped
2 generous tbsp olive or coconut oil (for cooking)
…plus some olive for coating the vegetables, oven-ready
pinch of saffron
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds
1-2 chilli, de-seeded, finely chopped (if you like chilli, 2 were very manageable)
200g chopped tomatoes, canned (or use the whole can and a little less broth)
450g arborio (risotto) rice
1.2 litre hot vegetable stock
1 aubergine, thinly sliced, but not shaved
3 courgettes, thinly sliced, ditto
1 bunch fresh basil, torn or sliced
250g mozzarella, sliced
200g roasted red peppers (some then need peeling but some don’t – up to you!)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method:

Cook the onion in the oil over a low heat until transparent.  Add the crushed garlic, fennel seed, saffron and finely chopped fresh chilli and stir for another few minutes before adding the rice and chopped tomatoes; coat the lot well over a medium heat.

Now add the stock gradually to the rice, as one does with risotto.  One ladle at a time.  Wait for each one to be absorbed before adding the next (the 20-25 mins goes quickly and you can indeed be checking on your roasted veg at the same time).
When most of the liquid is used up check the rice – cooked but still a little ‘al dente’.  Season with some sea salt – if needed – and fresh pepper, then add the basil leaves.
Let cool.
Meanwhile, toss the aubergine and courgette slices in some olive oil and bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes, until limp and a little coloured.  Place on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil left over.  These cool quickly.

Butter or oil a loaf tin well. I used a tin which took 2litres of poured water as I can find all these tin sizes a bit wayward at times; I trust ‘content’!)
Line the base with a strip of baking paper – or if you love ‘lining’, do the whole tin.

Layer your tin as follows:
Take 1/3 cooled rice mixture and press it into the bottom – easy and fun because it has become quite sticky and pliable.  Don’t be overly generous with your 1/3 as you’ll run out of rice for the final layer as I did the first time I made this.

Top this lay with ½ your roasted vegetables and mozzarella cheese, ie. a row of courgette slices then aubergines and red/yellow peppers and then mozzarella.

Repeat with another 1/3 rice and the remaining vegetables and mozzarella, then finish with the last 1/3 of rice.  That’s it.

Bake in a 150c degree oven (or 350F or gas mark 4) for 30 minutes until golden on the top.  Run a knife around the edge of the tin, place a serving dish on top and turn it over.  If it doesn’t flip, just turn back and run your knife around the edges of the tin again.
The risotto cake has come out beautifully every time although the last time I had to re-run the knife twice!

Serve hot or room temperature with salad.

Wild garlic soup

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garlic-soup recipe

Now is the time for wild garlic soup.  Well, actually it’s a bit late as the flowers are in full bloom and the leaves’ nutrients are highest when blossoms are still tightly furled.
However the heady scent coming from today’s freshly collected leaves means nutrients and flavour abound, so I still made up this soup – an easy Mon recipe, using what I had in the fridge (no cruciferous please as these will ruin the delicate flavour).
I added just the usual vegetables you would use for a basic broth – celery, onion, carrot and a potato for thickening.  Easy.
And if you’re off potatoes, try adding another carrot.
This is such delicately fragrant soup – may even win over the staunchest of non-garlic eaters!

 

Serves about 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1large carrot, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
3 large handfuls of wild garlic leaves, torn
1 potato, roughly chopped
garlic flowers & some leaves for decorating
Enough vegetable broth/water to cover (about 1.5 litres, but add more after blitzing if too thick, and return to the stove)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper…if you must (I didn’t).


Method:

Gently sauté onion in the heated oil until translucent.  Add the water or vegetable broth (home-made or use about 1 heaped tbsp of Marigold broth powder to a litre of water), then add the vegetables and finally the leaves, leaving a few as decoration.

Let simmer until soft then blitz in the blender, taste in case you feel it needs a touch of pepper or sea salt – but this soup has such a delicate flavour, don’t be tempted to play around with too many extras.

Serve with wild garlic flowers or finely chopped garlic leaves.  A fab healthy soup – and what a colour!

Turmeric Juice

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turmeric-juice-recipe
This may not look like the best juice – certainly not the best colour -however when I drank it I imagined a fab purple because it was indeed a juice with loads of blueberries (as well as some carrot, celery, cucumber, ginger, kale and a couple of apples). Purple until I put a teaspoon of a certain spice into it, and voila it turned to sludge. But did it taste fantastic or what! Who would’ve thought?

I’ve talked lots about cinnamon in past blogs but here’s another spice which is a firm favourite, with loads of amazing research carried out over years regarding its health benefits. Turmeric, that delicious orange powdered spice we eat in Indian curries.

Not only is it an essential curry component it does indeed support our health big-time. Known to help healthy joint function (and as I currently have tennis elbow it has landed in my daily juice), it also promotes the immune system and improves digestion. It’s a brilliant natural anti inflammatory.

And all of this is mainly due to the curcumin it contains.

This curcuminoid antioxidant is also responsible for turmeric’s yellow colour and potency (the colour in antioxidants is usually the reason for their effectiveness…think of blueberries or carrots, both so intense and both well-documented antioxidants).

What are these antioxidants anyway?

Oxidation by free radicals happens all the time in our bodies – through normal metabolic processes going on in our systems, like eating… or for that matter, breathing! Oxidation also happens through external effects – from pollution, chemicals in paints and carpets, toxins in foods – like pesticides – or growth hormones in meats, or smoking, stress… an endless list.

These free radicals damage our cells and organs and play a huge role in the ageing process; a major reason why the word antioxidant appears on everything at the moment, from processed foods to cosmetics.

Apparently the antioxidants in turmeric’s curcuminoids are 5 times stronger than vitamin E … and 3 times more powerful than grapeseed extract. These curcuminoids also support blood and liver function, one of the reasons turmeric has been considered the ‘skin food’ for thousands of years in India.

However, the more you cook it, the less power the curcuminoids will have, so if you do add it to a meal, sprinkle it in at the last minute.

This wonder spice can be found in most supermarkets however it’s best to buy spices from reputable organic sources. I buy mine from Steenbergs (online) but there are loads of other healthy websites; just have a google.

Some digestive systems don’t like potent spices, so either use small amounts or take it in capsule form if you want some joint support or immune health benefits. I use it on our poached eggs instead of salt – delicious – or add it to a juice! Just close your eyes when you drink it and imagine your favourite colour, because it really is delicious.

Mushroom Bruschetta

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mushroom-bruschetta-recipe

This is a quick and delicious recipe which you can enjoy as a starter, or have as a main dish, with a salad, rice or roasted sweet potato wedges accompanying it.

Portobello mushrooms have such a great texture, and when you remove the central stem they are just made to be filled! An excellent alternative indeed to the traditional toasted slices of ciabatta bread.

The filling is based on the classic 4-ingredient-bruschetta: tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil.
I prepared my version as a main meal and wanted a little more interest hence I added some red onion, black olives and feta.  All a matter of taste.

There are loads of different takes on this traditional recipe: added balsamic vinegar, rocket leaves, Tuscan beans, lemon, shallots…and lots more.
Personally I loved the filling without vinegar as it let the basil, garlic and tomatoes really show off their flavours.

Serve the bruschetta at room temperature – or if you prefer a warm meal, heat the filled mushroom briefly in the oven before serving.
Serves 4

4 Portobello mushrooms
4 tomatoes, diced
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 large red onion, finely chopped
12 basil leaves – more if you like!
12 black, stoned olives, chopped (optional)
Feta cheese (optional; crumbled on top just before serving)
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Mix the tomatoes, garlic, onion, olives, torn basil leaves, salt and ground pepper in a bowl and let rest at room temperature whilst you prepare and bake the mushrooms (about 30 minutes).

Lightly clean or brush the outside of the mushrooms to get rid of any dirt. Place in a 150 degree oven, face down (mushroom dome up!) and coat well with olive oil. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and fill with the tomato mixture. Either serve straight away with a crumbled feta topping, or if you prefer your bruschetta warmed up, place the filled mushroom back into the hot oven for 5 minutes. Remove then add a few more fresh shredded basil leaves and the crumbled feta before serving.

Environmental toxins – reducing exposure

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Eat organic where possible – especially when it comes to meats, eggs, dairy produce and grains.  Whatever you do, wash all food well before eating or cooking.
Check out the appleaday facebook post from a couple of days ago, regarding the Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ ;  or google ‘Dirty Dozen’ and find out which foods you should really buy organic due to their very high toxic load.

Avoid processed foods, especially those with added colourings, sweeteners and flavourings… I realize most of you are well aware of this however it’s a useful reminder for all to check labels of any canned or bottled foods in the house.  And in this context of ‘clean living’, it simply must be mentioned J

Be aware of the water you’re drinking.  Possible contaminants include small amounts of pharmaceuticals, hormones, nitrates, lead….  Filter your water.  Take a look at multi-stage carbon filters or reverse osmosis filters

Reduce intake of soft-plastic-container bottled water.  Chemicals from the plastics often leach into the water – try glass bottles, or fill up a hard plastic drinking container with your home filtered water.

Avoid sipping your takeaway hot drink through the plastic lid.  And avoid using plastics in the microwave – ensure that any plastic containers you use for storage are free from bisphenol A (‘plastic’ blog will soon appear…)

Replace any Teflon cook and bake ware with uncoated glass, clay, stone or enamel versions

Minimise the use of cling wraps and aluminium foil.  A quick solution for storing left overs, but keep hard plastic storage boxes, and if you do use cling film try to avoid contact with the food it is covering in the bowl.  Best choice is to use glass or hard bisphenol A-free containers.
When baking use an oven container with a lid, or wrap the fish or chicken in baking paper or parchment paper instead of aluminium foil – works a treat.  Some origami in the kitchen, making a slightly loose parcel (ends however firmly closed to ensure no leakage)  and then using a wooden ‘skewer’ to keep it packed.

Avoid eating larger oily fish eg swordfish, tuna, marlin and shark, due to their higher levels of mercury and chemical pollutants compared to smaller fish.  The larger and older the fish, the more toxins they will have accumulated over the years.
Think ‘small fish with big eyes’, a teacher once told me as they live at greater depths (where one hopes the toxins will be more dispersed); being smaller, they will have less heavy metals, plastics etc stored in their bodies.  Wild salmon is a great choice, so keep an eye on offers at supermarkets or your fish supplier – and stock up.

When cooking avoid high temperatures – you don’t want food to be ‘smoking’ and certainly don’t want to eat burnt foods.  Bar-b-qs sadly are not on the healthy list – avoid whilst on a clean-eating, detox week – and otherwise enjoy in moderation – and eat less of those crispy charred bits…

Polyunsaturated fats should not be heated as they are more volatile than heated saturated or monounsaturated fats and therefore more prone to molecular structure changes which are now considered potentially carcinogenic.

Cooking with a monounsaturated oil is usually the advice given – although this is still a hotly discussed topic, as a lot of the beneficial nutrients in, say, virgin olive oil, a monounsaturated oil, will be cooked away (my suggestion: cook with it, and add a slurp of uncooked with your salad!  Difficult for many given the cost, so again, check out offers – there’s usually a virgin olive oil on sale at our local supermarket.  Stock up!)
Coconut oil is a saturated plant fat which, when heated, will not change its molecular structure to the detriment of your health.  There are loads of testimonials about the fantastic health benefits, and I personally love the taste of anything cooked in it;  claimed to be safer than heating animal-based saturated fats like butter however, again, there are opposing opinions on this.  Some CV doctors/nurses say all saturated fats aredetrimental to arteries and heart health – then there are in vitro studies showing massive overall health benefits including improved cholesterol.  Eat in moderation is my current recommendation.

I would  welcome hearing of results of large-scale research studies, preferably in vivo, on coconut oil so do please share any information on this 🙂

Environmental considerations:

Avoid pesticides or herbicides in your home or garden

Avoid aluminium-containing antiperspirants and antacids – huge links to breast cancer.

Have second-thoughts about water proofing or flame proofing furniture coverings and clothes – you can have severe reactions.

Check out natural carpets or hardwoods instead of the standard carpeting which is treated with chemicals

Hair products and skin care:  look for those without added alcohol, sodium lauryl sulphate, phthalates, parabens or other petrochemicals – look at www.essential-care.co.uk or numerous other natural beauty product sites

Use paints labelled low or no VOC. Various finishes and paints release low-level toxic emissions into the air even years after application – these VOCs (volatile organic compounds) may have short and long-term adverse health effects

Control the dust, mould and bacteria in your home.  Wet wipe, check out home air filters or ionisers…and adopt some indoor plants!

Go natural with cleaning products – make your own (I’ll post some tips about this later as a facebook blog and sometime next week on another website blog) Green People and Ecover are very good but there are now lots of fab choices to be made.www.naturalcollection.com is good to look around

Avoid heavy traffic for long periods of time – yes of course this is NOT always easy to control, however if you can pick your time to travel, avoid work/school traffic times…and if you go for a walk,  stride across fields, parks or small lanes, rather than walking on busier roads and breathing in car fumes. Another addition to your toxic load.

Avoid smoking and smokers….apologies if this sounds trite!  Such a huge subject in a mere sentence however it is too well known to labour the point.  We all know the facts, we’ve seen the packaging change from outdoorsie Malboro man to health warning signs and plain labelling. Smoking is a highly addictive habit and hence difficult for many to just drop.  There are lots of books to google, tapes to buy.  Hypnotherapy and psychotherapy can both be fabulous.
But in the end, it’s up to the smoker ….and those in the vicinity, inhaling a smoker’s puffs!

Electromagnetic fields are shown now to affect more and more people, not just very sensitive allergic individuals.
Restrict mobile phone use (turn off inbetween – it also limits how many ‘quick’ texts you send which can actually wait until later).   Turn off other electrical equipment when not in use and certainly limit the amount of electrical equipment in the bedroom.  T.V.s may be great company but apart from the electrical aspect of sleeping in a room full of equipment (computer, phones, electric alarms…what else?), all those little red and green lights can disturb sleepzzzzzzz.

Easter cleanse

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For those of us who may have indulged in an Easter Chocathon,  appleaday is running a repeat of the spring clean-eating week.
This is another Detoxathon 🙂  a 5-day online event.  All about cleaner eating and healthier lifestyle choices to do as a group from 19th-23rd May (or you can join the event, get all the information, recipes, daily email health blogs for that week, but do it at a later date to suit your diary).

What’s it all about?

Five days of gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, stimulant-free foods – with new yummy recipes, and no hunger pangs.  Please note that there are two new recipes to add to the March Detoxathon, but otherwise it is the same event.

What does the Detoxathon include?  

Lead- in sheets explaining the foods to gradually decrease, and those to increase; what to stock up on, what to let go of, what lifestyle tweaks you can be making, what juicer to try out;  all sorts of useful info which will stand you in good stead for the future.

These are emailed 1-2 weeks BEFORE the event so you won’t suffer coffee headaches or alcohol-free scratchy moods.

Also included, and emailed before commencement:  a daily eating plan, delicious recipes for the week, a food shopping list to make life easy for working people…. and daily information about digestive and liver health, emailed by nutritional therapist me (Monica), with relevant questions answered at the end of each day of the 5 day cleanse.

What’s the benefit of doing a ‘group’ event?

Based on past Detoxathons, it has been a real positive being part of a group, sharing the daily thoughts on how you feel, how easy or difficult it is, what you think of the recipes and ‘new’ foods, reading about the highs and lows being experienced…

A group event also helps you to keep on track…

By the last day you can share your newly found energy and those lost pounds…and for those who didn’t do the 1-2 week lead-in… you can talk about the headache you finally got rid of.

Basically, it’s about group support when trying out something which may be totally new to some of you, but perhaps too something you’ve always wanted to try.  With a qualified nutritional  therapist playing mum!

You can of course not share, and just keep to yourself during the whole event 🙂

What does it cost?

£10 per person.  This is a ridiculously low cost born from last year’s personal wish to do a detox with friends so that I would keep on the straight and narrow and not cheat.
It was fun, but a lot of work hence the cost can only be kept low if the group is a minimum of 30.
That way, too, the comments, feedback and daily interaction will naturally be more interesting than doing it, say, with 3 others….

If the Detoxthon does not reach 30 it will be postponed 🙁 So do please share this blog if you have like-minded friends.
The more the merrier.

How do you join?

Anytime from now until 12th May, please email or write on this website’s comment sheet, or facebook ‘monicasappleaday’ and tell me you’d like to take part.
I will then email you payment details together with the lead-in sheets – and you’re away!

The food shopping list and recipes will be emailed to you well in advance so you can stock up if necessary.

The ingredients are mainly vegetable-based, hence not expensive, however if you want to continue eating fish and organic chicken, that is your choice and also fine.
A juicer is a necessary part of it, however a blender would work too.  Note:  this is NOT a juicing-only event.

No red meat, no gluten or dairy, alcohol or sugars will form part of these five days.
A great challenge which happens to be healthy.

The sooner you begin, the easier you’ll find these dietary tweaks, additions and exclusions.

And if it’s weight loss you’re after, then you will lose more lbs if you start as soon as possible, making gradual small changes (do please check out the testimonials on my events & workshops page for more insights).

If you have any questions just email me.  It’s early days but so far we are eleven 🙂

Detoxathon time again

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detox-heartAppleaday is running another Detoxathon starting March 24th.    There’s still time to do the guided lead-in to prepare you for the five days of clean-eating.

This is about  discovering the nutrients which support a healthy liver and body detoxification, and about dropping some old habits which are doing your health no favours.  During the event there will be daily emails and facebook postings about specific food benefits and lifestyle tips to make your cleanse successful.

The Detoxothon is not about fasting, nor is it a juice-only ‘diet’, although juices do figure daily in the menu plan, either as snacks or as a breakfast option.

A menu plan, recipes and a shopping list are all provided to make it easier.   There will also be alternative suggestions for some of the daily meal recipes, with a check list of ‘allowable’ foods (new this time to the Detoxathon), in case you want to replace some of the ingredients to suit your palette and diet.

The lead-in sheets are sent prior to the event; they offer a greater store of information than last year’s event, namely how to track your progress using your BMI and Waist:Hip ratio as well as a symptom questionnaire and ‘journaling’;  also in the lead-in are the lists of foods to gradually reduce and increase before the event; some useful online stores to obtain some of the new ingredients as well as recommendations regarding juicers, water filters and ‘greener’ home products…lots of ideas to make the Detoxathon easy and enjoyable.

In order to keep this an affordable, community event the cost is £10 for the 5 days.  For anyone unable to do the full five days (away on holiday…or just too busy at the moment) you can still do the event, receive the emails and see the facebook  posts – but do it when you have 5 clear days.

Joining is easy.  Just email (or call on the mobile below), and I’ll send you the registration form, payment details and lead-in sheets. The menu plan for the days you’ve signed up for, plus the shopping list, can be sent soon after so that you can buy your fresh vegetables, spices and pulses!

There will be daily group emails (plus info on the appleaday facebook page), with health information relevant to a detox, which will also provide a platform for you to share experiences and ideas.

The detoxathon last year had great feedback – weight loss, increased energy levels and less dependence on the daily caffeine and sugar hits!  I’m looking forward to another inspiring group of participants.

Email:  ; mobile 0777 846 5222.  Or leave a comment showing your interest on the appleaday facebook page:  www.facebook.com/monicasappleaday.