J
Jessica Sepel is on a mission to
revolutionise the way we think, talk and
feel about food. The South African-born
beauty, 28, is a qualified nutritionist
whose health mantra is incredibly
simple: eat wholesome food, connect
with your body and show yourself
kindness. Sepel’s honest articulation
of these messages has garnered her
a diverse range of followers who are
now part of what she likes to call the
JSHealth community. Inspired by
her messages, these women gather at
Sepel’s events to taste her latest dishes,
experience a cooking demonstration and
hear her share her knowlegde.
I first met Sepel at one of her
wellness events in Melbourne earlier
this year. With her warm smile, bright
eyes and tousled blonde locks, she quite
literally lit up the room. And although
her outward characteristics and calm
demeanour made her personable at
first interaction, it was her willingness
to wholeheartedly share her story and
experiences that captivated her audience.
Sepel openly discussed her first-
person experience of living according
to a healthy lifestyle. From increased
energy to healthy skin and a thriving
immune system, the benefits were
certainly evident. But there was a critical
time in her life when health wasn’t such
a priority, and that’s when her journey
towards healing began.OVERCOMING TRYING TIMES
Like so many other women, Sepel has
struggled with fad dieting and a negative
body image. Despite spending her
early years eating wholesome foods and
learning how to cook, when Sepel entered
her teenage years, she became obsessed
with her weight. Sepel reports struggling
through years of dieting, calorie counting
and self-criticising.
This weight obsession continued
and when Sepel was 18, she consulted
a dietitian for advice. When the
dietitian reported a 400-gram ‘weight
gain’ and told her to ‘do better’, Sepel
suddenly realised that her way of life was
consuming her for the worst. “It made
me realise how dangerously obsessive
I had become with my weight,” recallsSepel. “I was weight conscious, not health
conscious. This scared me so much and
it still does. Being obsessive with health is
not healthy. This marked the start of my
healing journey.”SEEING THE LIGHT
Armed with the knowledge of what
an unhealthy relationship with food
can do to someone’s mind and body,
Sepel decided to draw on her personal
experiences in order to help other
women who are struggling with the
same issues. “My own personal health
struggles and negative relationship
with food sparked a further desire to
help people live a healthy life,” she says.After completing a Bachelor of Health
at Macquarie University, Sepel spent
several years working as a nutritionist,
while simultaneously growing her online
presence and releasing her first book, The
Healthy Life in 2015. Sepel’s book was an
instant success and she was inundated
with feedback from women who related
to her own journey.
“After the release of the book, I
was blown away by how many people
resonated with my story and principles,”
she says. “I learnt that people are still
struggling. I could see people felt
confused by the inundation of health
information. People are struggling to
find balance with food and health. This
is why I created my second book, Living
The Healthy Life: to help people clear the
confusion and reconnect to their unique
bodies. I wanted to help people find a
balanced approach to a healthy life,”
she says. “[I wanted] to help young girls
rebuild their relationship with food and
their bodies.”“WE NEED TO BE ABLE
TO CONNECT TO WHICH
FOODS MAKE YOU FEEL
GOOD, ENERGISED
AND SATIATED.”naturalhealthmag.com.au AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HEALTH | 23