MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson
RosemaRy FeRguson, 43, was a model before training as a nutritionist. she lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, the artist Jake Chapman, and their three daughters. I LOVE a takeaway and I’ve got quite a sweet tooth. But I also like nutritious food.
I come from a background in complementary medicine. My stepdad’s a homeopath, my mum’s a kinesiologist (an alternative therapist who looks at the body’s movement) and my gran owned a health food shop, so it felt natural for me to want to try to heal the body with food.
When I was younger, modelling and going out drinking, I’d think: ‘If I eat really well, it’s all fine.’ It was like balancing the books. My friends said I should write a book called Getting Away With It.
Then, as my career as a model was getting quieter, the catalyst for training as a nutritionist was having children. Suddenly, you realise: ‘I’m responsible for what goes in their mouths.’
So I did a three-year course at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London, then started my clinic, Health kick: a trio of nutritious juices from Rosemary’s range seeing clients on Harley Street. I would put patients on 30-day plans to get them feeling more energised. But people would tell me: ‘I can’t do more than a week!’ They wanted their weekends free and didn’t want to cook.
So I thought: ‘Right, I’ll make the food and deliver it to you.’
That was my light bulb moment for The 5 Day Plan. For five days, we deliver a box filled with your breakfast, lunch, dinner, juices and supplements. It includes no eggs, dairy, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, wheat or deadly nightshades (such as tomatoes or white potatoes).
Suddenly, I had a business that wasn’t just about nutrition, but logistics, too. We offer the plan for one week, once a month, because people commit to those five days and that’s why it works.
I used to do all the deliveries myself. Now, we use a delivery service. There’s only been one disaster, when a soup pot split and went over everything.
I started with four clients when we launched a year ago; today, we have more than 100 clients a month and are planning to expand.
To anyone considering doing something of their own, I’d say just start — taking that first step is the thing that’s terrifying.
You don’t know what you’re doing — but you find out. the5dayplan.co.uk