Amelia Freer was Notting Hill Gate’s nutrition secret, until her newly-slim celebrity clients let the cat out of the bag, making her a household name in healthy eating, writes Will Gore
In recent months, nutritional therapist Amelia Freer has made a name for herself as a health guru to the stars. Sam Smith and James Corden are two of the famous names she’s helped battle the bulge and, along with the celebrities, she’s supported countless numbers of other people to eat and live more healthily in the 10 years since setting up her practice. Notting Hill’s Amelia was working as a personal assistant to the Prince of Wales when she decided to take her life in a different direction. With her health suffering, she heeded the advice of a friend and took a close look at her diet. What she discovered wasn’t pretty. ‘I realised that I existed mainly on junk food and it probably wasn’t doing my health much good,’ she tells me. ‘I saw a nutritionist, made some changes to my diet and started feeling better in myself, and this spark started off a new passion.’ This passion for healthy eating led Amelia to give up her job and take on a four-year diploma course in Nutritional Therapy.
After working for a health and fitness holidays company, she struck out on her own and business is going so well that she has had to close her waiting list for new clients. It’s not surprising that Amelia’s services have been in demand, considering the endorsements she’s received from those celeb clients. Sam Smith, who occasionally pops up on Amelia’s Instagram feed, previously said his work with her has ‘completely transformed (his) relationship with food’.
MORE: AMELIA FREER’S LENTIL SALAD RECIPE
Whenever celebrities are involved in something like dieting, with all its accompanying trends and fads, it’s hard not to think a little cynically. Amelia admits that there are some people that will always believe nutritional therapy and related practices are ‘a load of rubbish’, but claims she gets results with people who are willing to give her methods a go, adding that whether she is dealing with a celebrity or not, all her clients get a bespoke service. ‘There are so many fads and people’s minds are a web of confusion about food,’ she says. ‘Everyone can take their own approach. I’ve learned that it can’t be my way or the highway with clients. Everyone has their own unique health journey.’
What does that method involve? For those not on Amelia’s packed client list, she has helpfully laid it all out in a book, Eat. Nourish. Glow., which features her ‘10 easy steps to losing weight, looking younger and feeling healthier.’ Advice in the book includes the stuff you might expect about the kind of foods that are good and bad for you, but it also includes more novel advice, such as carrying out a kitchen detox – a painful step that essentially involves chucking away all the chocolate, crisps and other marvellous reserves you’ve got hidden away in your cupboards.
Amelia does much of her work from the Notting Hill home she shares with her boyfriend and chocolate brown Labrador, Oliver. She moved to the area about five years ago and clearly loves it here. ‘I like that you can walk everywhere in Notting Hill and that there are little villagey pockets all over the place,’ she says. Having a good selection of health food shops and restaurants is another obvious plus for her and her clients. And she’s happy to recommend a few of her favourites, starting with raw food specialists, Nama. ‘It is an unusual place and the chef is very creative. I like my clients to experience Nama because it takes them out of their comfort zone,’ says Amelia. ‘Pure Taste is another great health food place which is a paleo-style restaurant. It doesn’t serve any grains; it is more about meat and fats.’ She also recommends The Shed for good healthy options and says her local pub The Ladbroke Arms does excellent food. Notting Hill is also perfect for her to practise what she preaches about the importance of taking plenty of exercise. ‘We have amazing gyms and yoga studios here, but I also love to exercise outdoors so I will always work out with a trainer or take my dog for a walk in Kensington Gardens or Holland Park.’
The rest of 2015 is shaping up to be a busy one for Amelia as she continues to promote Eat. Nourish. Glow., and starts work on a second book. Infused water and courgetti might not be everyone’s idea of a balanced diet, but if Amelia’s book sales are anything to go by, it looks like they’ll be staying on the menu for a long time to come.
Eat. Nourish. Glow. 10 easy steps for losing weight, looking younger & feeling healthier, published by Harper Collins is out now; ameliafreer.com
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