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The benefits of healthy eating and the importance of a nutritionally dense diet is fast becoming a mainstream topic as more and more data is reported expressing the correlation between diet and increasing health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and cancers.

The Food Hospital on Channel 4 is doing much to raise awareness of these issues and help educate the population on ways to combat common health concerns through dietary changes instead of the typical route involving long term pharmaceutical drugs.

One such company doing the same is local Richmond and Twickenham business me organic, which set up at the beginning of this year. Owners Leigh Rogers and Togo Keynes have created a health and wellness business focused on coaching their clients every step of the way to feel their best and function at an optimum, through lifestyle changes including, nutrition plans, exercise programmes, stress management, cooking classes, etc. 

We met with Leigh Rogers to find out more:

Tell me a little bit about me organic?

We recently moved back to London after 3.5 years in NYC where the health and wellness industry is so much further ahead than here in the UK. We wanted to use our experience and training from the US to create a business where people could learn about everything related to health and wellness under one roof, while still having fun. What started out as simple nutrition coaching, quickly evolved into a holistic health business which incorporates a number of different services concentrated around making client's health goals easy and achievable. We do this through a range of different programmes lasting between 1 month and  6, plus half day intense programmes, grocery shopping tours, pantry cleanouts, gluten and dairy free products and exercise activities.  Our objective is to be as hands on as possible, whether it's in the kitchen demonstrating new recipes or out in the park offering tips to new cyclists. We work with both clients who have existing  health issues and those who are looking for preventative measures through lifestyle improvements. 

Why do you think people are becoming more aware of their diet and what they eat?

As you see on Food Hospital, the number of preventable  illnesses and diseases are growing at an alarming rate due to poor eating habits. Obesity itself is the precursor to so many potentially fatal illnesses and a number of these can be reduced or eliminated through lifestyle changes. The UK is the 'fattest' country in Europe. The number of obese adults is forecast to rise by 73% over the next 20 years from 15 million to 26 million people, resulting in more than a million extra cases of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.¹  It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 5 adults in the UK is overweight, and approximately one in every 15 is obese. This is frightening stuff given in most cases it's something we have control over. Finally, we have also seen an increase in the organic and buy local movement as people become more aware of the environmental impact processed foods are having. If you haven't already, watch Food Inc for some eye opening viewing.

How are you different from other nutritionists:

We don't just offer a standard diet and send people away to integrate it themselves. Instead we create a supportive and customised holistic programme working together to achieve our client's goals. First and foremost it's educating them on how to eat a healthier diet. So many people come to us suffering from certain complaints and they don't know why as they eat a "healthy" diet. However, once we start digging into the details, their definition of healthy is not where it should be. It all comes down to education and changing habits that have, in most cases, built up over many years. That's where we come in. 

 We work to create a personalised and sustainable lifestyle not a short lived diet. We take a holistic approach and offer practical support in all areas including educating our clients around the minefield of grocery stores, providing healthy and easy cooking lessons, great recipes and tips to save time in the kitchen and tailored nutritional advice and mentoring. We not only coach them to eat the right foods for their own body (bio individuality) but how to  interpret their body's signals. We create bespoke exercise plans addressing clients specific goals including weight management, muscle tone or increased fitness levels, while our group activities include cycling, touch rugby, and circuit training in the park.

We also provide clients with loads of free samples so they can start implementing the changes as soon as possible. Our approach is not a restrictive and limiting diet plan but rather one of balance, free from guilt and denial.

I am sure most people have yo-yo dieted in one way or another before, how do you ensure they will not fall off track once their programme is finished?

This is not a diet, we stress it's a lifestyle change. We make adjustments to your current eating and exercise plan slowly so that it becomes a habit and not a drastic change that you only manage for a few months. We also provide practical tips and advice to ensure this becomes a way of life. It's all about finding the balance and understanding what fuels your body most effectively. It's also knowing how to deal with cravings and how to "cheat" with the fewest consequences. We are only human and in order for this to be a long term plan you need to know that chocolate and alcohol can still be part of your life- just in the best way possible. 

Can the whole family benefit from your programmes? 

Absolutely, while there may be certain tweaks that you need to apply to individuals, a change across a few main areas will definitely benefit everyone. We find this a particularly large focus as children are learning their eating habits from their parents. The more educated the adults are the better armed they are to help give their children the best start in life.  

How do your programmes fit into people's busy lifestyles?

This is a big one for a number of our clients. The biggest resistance we hear is time, or lack thereof. That's why we have made that such a focus in our programmes so that everyone can benefit from them. We meet every two weeks for 50 minutes, ideally in person but again we also do skype or phone consultations to make it more accessible. If  you can't cook a nutritious meal in under 30 minutes, we won't recommend the recipe, if our standard programme is too long we will work with you to fast track you through. We want as many people to benefit from these changes as possible so we can tailor our sessions to fit into any schedule. 

What benefits do your clients typically experience?

Not only do our clients get a better overall sense of health and wellbeing but they feel specific improvements such as natural weight loss, increased energy, reduced stress levels and as we start to balance blood sugar levels, clients often report a reduction in cravings and sugar/caffeine addictions. Finally they have a greater sense of  empowerment as they become better educated about food allowing them to make healthier choices for themselves and their families. 

If you are interested in seeing how your diet and lifestyle can be improved, me organic are currently offering a FREE 50 minute health assessment. To schedule your appointment and see how they can help you reach your optimum, click here. Or to get started right now, download their  top ten tips and recipes for creating a healthier lifestyle or follow them on facebook and twitter.

1. UK fat alert: 26 million will be obese by 2030 - Jeremy Laurance, published August 26, 2011