Doctor, doctor my pulse is racing
Irish doctor is huge Instagram hit as she puts fun back into health
AN Irish NHS doctor and Instagram sensation is to publish her own fitness and lifestyle book in between gruelling 12-hour shifts.
Dr Hazel Wallace, a busy 26-yearold trainee doctor from Co. Louth, has become the latest Instagram health queen in her spare time.
Hazel moved to Britain six years ago to study medicine and graduated as a doctor last year.
From Cocklehill in Blackrock, Co. Louth, she attended Blackrock
‘I love wholefoods, fresh fruit, vegetables, meat’
National School before receiving her secondary education in Dundalk Grammar School.
The sudden death of her father when she was a teenager plunged her into grief and she struggled to eat. Her weight plummeted drastically as a result. However, Hazel refused to be hospitalised and decided to learn what her body needed to heal itself. She hopes to use this approach to help others.
She admits she got into typical student eating habits when she started at university in Cardiff.
She gained two dress sizes, felt lethargic and got spots while relying on sugary drinks and snacks.
While working gruelling 12-hour shifts at University College Hospital in London, Hazel amassed more than 110,000 followers on the picture-sharing site and is about to release her own book.
Hazel has also landed sponsorship deals with the women’s sports brand, Sweaty Betty, and the cosmetics company, Origins.
She credits her Instagram appeal to her more relaxed approach to eating and exercise, in contrast to the so-called ‘clean eating’ craze of 2016, which makes certain foods off limits and often uses expensive, hard-to-find ingredients.
Her Instagram posts combine simple fitness tips and short workout videos with recipes for hearty meals. She includes recipes forbidden by other social media stars, but balances this with a good diet and exercise.
As well as a medical science degree, the beauty is a qualified personal trainer and hopes to inspire people with busy jobs or lifestyles who believe they can’t fit exercise or home-cooking into their routine.
‘My philosophy is everything in moderation. I love wholefoods, fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, but I’m not the sort of person who will say no to wine or chocolate. What I promote is balance.’
Hazel, who wants to be a GP when she qualifies in two years, told The Times: ‘I like to think of myself as one of the first of a new generation of doctors. It is my mission to combine my knowledge as a doctor and personal trainer with my passion for nutrition to debunk the myths that are out there, simplify healthy eating and help people live healthier, happier, and longer lives.’
On her Facebook site, she said: ‘Weight-lifting has allowed me sculpt curves that I naturally wasn’t blessed with. It wasn’t until I worked on my body, built muscle and gained a little bit of weight that I found where I wanted to be.
‘I like that my thighs are bigger, I like that my shoulders are rounded, I like that I can actually pinch flesh on my stomach and I don’t care that I have cellulite.’
Hazel’s Instagram name is ‘Food Medic’, which is also the title of her book to be published in May.