Dr. Hazel Wallace is the founder of The Food Medic. She is a qualified medical doctor, best-selling author, and health writer. She is also a qualified personal trainer and is currently pursuing a masters in clinical nutrition and public health. She started ‘The Food Medic’ blog in 2012, as a medical student, in a bid to bridge the gap between conventional medical advice and the latest thoughts and developments in nutrition and other areas of lifestyle medicine. The blog has now extended to various other platforms and publications including social media, books, and a podcast.
Location
London, UK.
What’s your favorite vegetable?
Broccoli.
What’s your motto?
Failure is not final.
What’s your favorite book?
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay.
What’s your favorite exercise?
The Squat Clean.
What’s your favorite way to center?
Escaping to the countryside.
Patricia’s Daily Routine:
- 6:00 AM Wake up, make bed 10 mins meditation, 5-10 mins journal (to-do list)
- 6:30 AM Respond to emails and social media
- 7:00 AM Workout, shower, breakfast
- 9:00 AM Work.
What gets you out of bed every morning?
My job.
What is the most important part of your daily routine?
Exercise.
What about your “O” do you think is unique or special?
It’s not unique, but I ensure to make my bed before I do anything else. It’s a very small, but little win to start the day with.
Whose “O” would you most love to see?
Gary Vaynerchuk.
What is your #1 wellness habit?
To move every day.
What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received?
More sleep, not less, is the secret to success. This is something I massively misunderstood as a med student.
What is your favorite part of living a healthy lifestyle?
Having energy and stamina to do what I love.
Describe your sleep ritual. What time do you go to bed?
At about 10:00 pm, I like to read for about 20-30 minutes in a dimly lit room and drink a cup of herbal tea. I also like to take a bath if I have time.
What’s your biggest wellness challenge? How do you address it?
My biggest wellness challenge would be my phone and technology. I require my phone for work so it’s hard to reduce the time I spend on social media, but I do monitor my screen time and actively try to spend as much time offline as possible. I try to put my phone on airplane mode in meetings, at the gym and while studying.
Tell us about a time you were stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you got out of it. What was the main inspiration for positive change?
While obtaining my first degree, I consumed too many ciders, too many takeaways and did not exercise enough. I just gave myself a 6-week study period to kickstart my “healthy lifestyle”. Weight loss was the initial goal all those years ago, but I fell in love with weight lifting and cooking and I haven’t stopped. (this was 7-8 years ago)
If you could give one piece of health advice to the next generation, what would it be?
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” – Michael Pollan
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Dr. Hazel Wallace, MBBCh is an author, medical doctor, and health influencer. Check out Hazel’s work on her website, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.