Meet Hebe
I'm Hebe (she/her), pronounced (He-be), a Nutritionist (RNutr) registered with the association of Nutrition, trainee counsellor and yoga teacher.
Education & trainings
As a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr), I am registered with the Association for Nutrition (AFN), which means I have a degree from a university that has to meet their criteria. It also means I am held accountable to an ethical code and the highest standard of evidence-based practice. I am also HAES-aligned, meaning my work respects body diversity, values an individuals lived experiences and considers the overall health of an individual outside of weight.
I completed my Nutrition degree in 2018, after 3 years at King's College London. Prior to going to university, it was my utmost passion to be a chef, and I had spent most of my free time working in kitchens and restaurants to get as much experience as I could. This passion continued throughout university, where I worked multiple part-time roles both back and front of house as well as an excellent 4 months during one summer working at a food grocery start-up with a recipe developer cooking, styling and creating recipes.
While at university, I explored lots of different aspects of nutrition, and in my final year, writing a dissertation on the links between cooking skills and attitudes and their relationship to food insecurity.
Qualifications & Further training:
BSc (Hons) Nutrition, Kings College London
Intuitive Eating (LCIE)
Introduction to Counselling skills
Level 2 intermediate certificate in counselling skills
Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies
Diploma in counselling and psychotherapy (in progress)
Recipe analysis training
Body image training: The missing piece of whole-body healing (Marci RD Nutrition & Fiona Sutherland)
ACT for beginners
CBT-E (in progress)
Yoga teacher training (200hrs)
Training in inclusivity, trauma, yoga nidra and restorative yoga
Why am I passionate about this work?
A few years before I decided to study nutrition was what can be described as the 'boom' of health bloggers. Suddenly we were being encouraged to 'eat clean' and forego whole food groups to make us healthier. I tried it, as did many people at the time, and it killed my love of food. Suddenly the gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free versions of things weren't as interesting as the regular ones. A year into my degree I was more aware of this than ever, and also slowly becoming conscious that food and health are, well, complicated.
During my degree, it also became clear that there was a distinct lack of focus on the 'why' around our relationship to food and health. To me, this seemed to be potentially the most important aspect of Nutrition. Since graduating, I've spent much of my time doing extra training in areas such as intuitive eating and nutrition counselling to explore and understand these areas more. My understanding of Nutrition has evolved since that first day on campus and subsequently, I help others to break down food rules, learn and understand their own hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues and have some freedom from food obsession and guilt.
Additionally, I’ve worked within the food industry working on projects such as building nutrition strategies, recipe development, nutritional analysis and product re-formulation. This work has also involved the development of nutritional training materials and delivery of evidenced-based nutritional advice through seminars, talks and workshops. My work in the hospitality industry earned me an Acorn award in May 2020.
Outside of Nutrition
In 2018 I also qualified as a 200 hours registered yoga teacher. I am passionate about making yoga inclusive and incorporating mindfulness throughout. Prior to qualifying, I’d been practising yoga for years alongside my mum who, without me realising was teaching me basic element of pranayama when I was stressed, and gentle flow sequences to help my movement at times when I needed it most.
When I moved to London, I found the yoga scene a little overwhelming and always had a sense that I never really fit in. I wasn’t wearing the right clothes, wasn’t slim enough, tall enough or bendy enough. My time in India taught me more than anything that yoga isn’t about any of that. It doesn’t care what you look like, or how flexible you are. Turning up on the mat and committing to your practice with an open heart is, at the end of the day, all yoga really cares about.
I currently teach in Peckham alongside my work as a Nutritionist. You can find details of my classes on Instagram.