A little while back Discovery Health invited me to their flagship store in Sea Point to meet nutritionist Jessica Sepel. (While she lives in Oz, Jessica’s originally from South Africa and emigrated with her family in her early twenties.) The founder of J S Health, she’s kind of like the foodie answer to Kayla Itsine’s fitness revolution. Jessica’s also the author of several books and that’s why she was in town, to promote her most recent, Living the Healthy Life.

I had a shot taken with Jessica and it turned out horrrr-en-dous thanks to glowing demon eyes on my part so I’ll just have to torture you with yummy food shots instead. All the snacks served were made using a bunch of Jessica’s recipes and everything was delish.

After a bit of a mingle, Jessica chatted about her journey towards a healthy lifestyle after a struggle with disordered eating. She’s now the complete opposite of the girl who used to weigh herself every day, log every morsel that went into her mouth and lived on little else other than tuna, diet soda and coffee. Now, she’s all about whipping up nutrient-dense food to fuel her body and is only too happy to share what she’s learned.

I really enjoyed listening to Jessica talk. She comes across as very sincere and, having studied nutrition as well as lived on both sides of the ‘healthy eating’ fence, she knows what she’s talking about. Just a few of her tips to help improve your diet include prepping like a boss the week before so you don’t end up grabbing junk (I do this, it works!); avoiding fruit after 4pm as it spikes your sugar cravings and ditching sugar completely. (If you can’t ditch the white stuff, however, she reckons Stevia is one of the better substitutes.)

I left the launch feeling full, inspired and spoiled as we all walked off with Jessica’s lovely book as well as a few treats from Dermalogica.

I’ve really enjoyed reading her book. It’s inspired me to buy tahini (so many of her recipes include it) and there’s a choc coconut smoothie recipe in there that I’m itching to attack. (It’s inspired by Bounty bars which are one of my favourite things!) So far, I’ve tried a few of her dishes (all yummy) but the highlights include her aubergine bruchetta (my flatmate’s hooked and convinced it tastes like pizza!) and her mom’s red pepper and tomato soup recipe.

To learn more about Jessica visit her site. You can also buy her book locally (I’ve seen it in Exclusive Books as well as online over here.

Love, love

Leigh