New Year, Newly Nourished You

Changing my relationship with food was my first step in becoming more resilient, says nutritional expert Sarah Bayliss.

Do Books
Do Book Company
Published in
5 min readDec 20, 2024

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Photo © Schmick

An early career in the fast-paced marketing world left me burned out, dealing with poor health and on the slippery path of neglecting my body’s needs. It was tough being in an industry that expected me to work long hours, to exceed client expectations at every turn and had relentless social demands. I was living with disrupted routines, overdoing everything. My eating was erratic and I was always jumping from one fad diet to the next. The environment wasn’t just draining my energy, it was robbing me of my health. I found myself feeling overwhelmed, unable to focus and think clearly and I struggled to make decisions.

Sleepless nights, persistent digestive distress, including bloating and discomfort, low mood, self-doubt and loss of motivation became my normal.

My appetite fluctuated wildly and ongoing mental and physical fatigue set in, resulting in persistent cravings for sugar and caffeine in an attempt to feel better and lift my mood. I was worn out and knew I had to do something.

Eventually a move to Bristol and a change in job allowed me to re-evaluate my lifestyle choices. So, I began by making some simple changes: to my food and my sleep, and I set some boundaries around work and life. I couldn’t believe that within a few months I had changed: my symptoms disappeared, my physiology improved and I had increased energy and focus. I felt more relaxed and far healthier.

This journey taught me that modern life often leads us to prioritise external pressures over our own needs. We develop coping mechanisms to manage the stress and the more we rely on them, the more ingrained they become. However, these self-protective behaviours are ultimately unsustainable. No matter how effective they might be in the short term, reality always catches up. Our bodies and minds can only endure so much before something inevitably gives way. The truth is, ignoring our fundamental needs and pushing ourselves beyond our limits will always have consequences, regardless of how well we think we are managing. Sooner or later, our health will force us to confront the reality we’ve been avoiding.

Many of the symptoms I experienced was my body telling me that something was wrong and at the time I wasn’t listening. Being severely dyslexic, my strategy was to outwork and outperform everyone around me; thinking that if I achieved more, no one would suspect my perceived deficiencies. Maintaining that constant hustle, the people-pleasing and masking my struggles was utterly exhausting. It drained me of vital energy until my reserves were depleted. The saddest part was that I couldn’t see how unhealthy these behaviours were.

Nutrition became my unexpected teacher. Changing my food helped me to listen to my body and intuition and to trust my gut (and look after it too). For the first time I could see how important it was to take care of myself.

Photo Schmick

Realising its power, I enrolled to study nutritional therapy to understand how nutrition and lifestyle behaviours impact health and performance. Having experienced the benefits first-hand and been empowered to help close friends and family, I became passionate about sharing this knowledge to help others achieve their own transformations.

My story is about slowing down and learning to look after yourself. When you do, you have the energy to pursue what really matters. Your sense of purpose increases. You become more resilient.

So many of us associate resilience with grit, determination and not giving up. And yes, working hard is part of the picture, but real, lasting resilience must be built from the ground up. We must understand the nutritional basics to give our bodies and brains the right resources to see and think clearly. To feel full and satisfied, so that ultimately you have the energy you need to sustain a busy lifestyle. But it’s more than that. It’s also strength and faster recovery; it means you have resources to bounce back quicker when things get tough.

And when you fuel from this place of resilience, magic happens. You have a far better understanding of what matters; you see a clear path forward. And with that clarity you have the power to focus and to take actions that change your circumstances for the better. You feel motivated, you start to believe that you can achieve your dreams and become the person you want to become.

At the heart of resilience lies metabolic health — it’s the very foundation of how your body functions and thrives.

Metabolic health is the sum of many interconnected systems serving vital organs. It’s your body’s ability to convert food into energy efficiently, regulate blood sugar and manage hormones like insulin. When your metabolism is humming along, it provides your cells with good, efficient energy; the very fuel of resilience.

Think of it this way: when your cells receive poor energy, they can’t carry out their functions properly. That’s when disease risk increases, symptoms occur and your health takes a hit. But with good metabolic health, your cells are bathed in quality energy. This energy is the cornerstone of healthy ageing and robust resilience. It ensures a balanced and effective system in which organs and tissues are sufficiently fuelled to work seamlessly together, supporting not just your life, but your ability to bounce back, to push forward and to thrive.

In essence, metabolic health is about building a resilient body from the inside out; one that can weather storms, recover quickly and give you the vitality to pursue what truly matters.

In turn, how you live your life, the food you choose to eat, how you think about your food, your lifestyle and your life exposures control your metabolic resilience.

When it comes to your metabolic health there are seven key factors that influence how well it works:

  • Nutrition
  • Sleep
  • Stress
  • Gut health and your microbiome
  • Environmental toxins
  • Movement
  • Natural light and dark

I believe nutrition stands out as the most important and influential factor impacting health resilience. Food holds immense power — it serves as a tool that we can use to change our health and vitality, as well as how we think and feel.

Extract from Do Nourish: How to eat for resilience by Sarah Bayliss. Copyright © Sarah Bayliss 2025. Published by Do Books.

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