PRACTITIONER INTERVIEW - Holistic Lifestyle Consultant
Q. Can you explain the key features of your practice?
What I do is all about practical measures people can take to improve their overall experience of life. So rather than radical short-term fixes in isolated areas, I focus on working with clients to slowly restore balance between their work and personal lives, to increase good habits – so nutritional consultation is a key part – and to integrate the right exercise into their routines.
Q. What supplements have been most useful for you and your clients?
I have yet to come across a client who didn’t need a good multi-vitamin. So always Multimax. Even individuals with good diets – I think our food just isn’t as nutrient rich as it once was. Daily Greens follows for that same reason. Then, because many of my clients eat far too many Omega-6 fats, so they need Flax Seed to boost their Omega-3s. The NutriVital L-Glutamine is really important for many of my clients as they embark on physical exercise programs, to improve recovery and prevent catabolization. Making sure that lean mass stays put is really vital for anyone looking to lose weight. I’ve found it also helps people with gut problems and poor absorption. This is great as it means double results – initially from the Glutamine, then from their diet as well.
Finally a really special supplement I use is the NutriVital B-Complex. It’s the best Vitamin B supplement I’ve used. It makes such a difference: when people come to me, they are stressed and this helps. They have low energy – this helps. And, again, it helps with performance and recovery for their new exercise programs.
Q. How did you get a handle on the world of supplements?
I was trained in sports nutrition so I knew a lot about the role of diet and supplements for athletes. Extending and expanding that to get the best results for “regular people” has been a learning curve. For any person or case, there’s a multitude of different approaches you can take so it’s hard to know what will have the greatest effect. Since I buy from NutriVital, I know I can call and speak to one of their consultants if I ever need any support or advice. After I spoke with Hazel about 6 weeks ago, I even started using herbal remedies – particularly Ginseng and Galium. I’ve been getting fantastic results with them. It would have never crossed my mind before. That ongoing support and availability of expertise is really unique – it’s been invaluable to me.
Q. Is that why you use NutriVital supplements?
It’s one of the reasons. There are a few companies out there offering good supplements, and I’ve used them before. But just to be able to call and speak to practitioners with so much experience is such a help. Also, their supply methods suit me perfectly. I know they have a few different arrangements to suit practitioners. I’m mobile – most of the consultancy I do is at people’s homes so I don’t want to carry around cases of supplements and limit myself according to what I have with me. Nor do I want clients to go and throw money away on high street products. So I call in and order any supplements at the end of a session, and NutriVital charge it to my account and deliver them to my client the next day. For repeat orders, there’s no admin at all for me because my client calls NutriVital directly to place and pay for the order. But of course, since they are my client, the order is associated with my NutriVital account so I get the retailer’s mark-up credited to my account. It’s a brilliant arrangement. It’s also saved me a fortune in stock.
Q. Do you have any tips for practitioners who prescribe supplements?
I’d say the overall most positive thing is just to build a good relationship with your supplier. That’s what’s happened with NutriVital and me. And it’s paying dividends. I’m getting better results, cutting costs and my business is running really well. Rather than picking a supplier who just sends you boxes, find a supplier that wants to work with you to bring the best service to you and your clients and everyone will benefit.