MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Cookery author Madeleine Shaw

HEALTHY eating guru Madeleine Shaw, 27, published her first recipe book, get the glow, in 2015. She lives in london with her fiance Kieran, a restaurateur. AS A teenager, I lived on Diet Coke, low-fat yoghurt and rice cakes. I was obsessed with calories rather than nutrients.

My parents divorced and one of my best friends died, so I began controlling food as a way to control my life. I had dull skin, lank hair and painful IBS. And I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life — I didn’t excel at school.

Then, at 18, I applied to Sydney University (my parents are from New Zealand).

The Australian way of life is all about wellness. I went to see a naturopath who recognised I was eating all the wrong things.

She sent me to an organic cafe to experience the food. I ended up eating there so much, they gave me a job and taught me how to source and prepare food.

As I ate proper proteins, fats and vegetables, my skin began to glow, my IBS disappeared and my periods, which had stopped, came back. I posted pictures online as I cooked pumpkin curry and roast pork, and a friend told me to start a food blog. That was my light bulb moment. I wanted to show people how simple, delicious and nutritious food could be.

I qualified as a nutritional health coach and it was as if I had hit upon my purpose in life.

In 2015, I published my first book based on the six-week Get The Glow programme I had run.

People can sometimes look down on working in a cafe, but it was a magical place and many of my co-workers are running successful businesses. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

A YEAR Of Beautiful eating by Madeleine Shaw is published on April 20 (Orion, £20).