Eat. Sleep. Work. Repeat. It’s a cycle that many of us can identify with, particularly bestselling author, Melissa Ambrosini, who has built her empire around helping people escape the daily grind.
Melissa has helped thousands of women and men around the world change their lives through her motivational blog, books and workshops. We connected with the Sydney based beauty and chatted about her health philosophy, favourite foods and the importance of choosing love over fear in all areas of your life.
What is your health philosophy? Has it changed in recent years?
I believe that how we treat our bodies is a direct reflection of how we feel about ourselves. Someone who’s passionate about their work, is surrounded by people they love and who has a high sense of self-worth is going to treat their body very differently to someone who hates their job, eats fast food, is surrounded by energy zappers, and is constantly beating themselves up.
My health philosophy has absolutely changed since I hit rock bottom in my early twenties. When I think back, my food choices said a lot about my internal state. I wanted quick, easy, cheap and fast options — I didn’t believe I was worth anything more than that. Now, however, I choose foods that are local, organic, fresh, wholesome and nourishing. Everything that enters my mouth is of the highest quality and purest form. Looking after myself in this way has actually become one of my greatest pleasures in life.
Photo: provided
What is your daily fitness routine?
I usually start my day with 10-15 minutes of yoga on my bedroom or lounge room floor just to open up my body. I also love doing Pilates reformer, going to a yin yoga class or hiking in nature. When I am in Sydney I also aim to do one high intensity class per week.
What I do changes each day, I tune in to how I am feeling and let my body decide how it wants to move. Gone are the days where I would slog it out for hours at the gym and pushing my body to look like a Victoria’s Secret model. Now I take a more gentler approach, one where my body’s intuition leads the way. It’s so much nicer that way.
Photo: provided
What do you eat on a general day?
Upon rising I have a big class of room temperature, clean, filtered water with lemon or apple cider vinegar to kick start my digestion.
Breakfast (like all my food) is always changing but at the moment I am enjoying my fatty latte (see below) which is a recipe from my book The Glow Kitchen. The fatty latte is full of good quality saturated fats which are great for brain cognition and keeps you fuller for longer which is why I don’t need a mid morning snack.
Lunch is usually a massive plate of salad and veggies with some protein and good fats like olive oil or avocado. I also have a spoonful of fermented veggies to help feed the good gut bacteria.
For afternoon tea I might have a cup of bone broth, an Orchard Street green juice, a matcha latte or some blueberries. Whatever my body feels like and sometimes that’s nothing. I always make sure I tune into my body and make sure I actually want something and I am not just eating out of habit, boredom or to fill an emotional void.
Dinner is very similar to lunch, loads of veggies, salad, protein and fermented veg. My favourite dinner is organic slow cooked lamb. Yum yum!
Fatty Latte Recipe
Photo: provided
Ingredients
1 tbsp raw grass fed butter or ghee
1 tbsp coconut oil or MCT oil
1 tsp cinnamon
3 drops of liquid stevia or ¼ tsp green stevia powder
½ to 3/4 cup hot filtered water (or a brew of tea such as Yerba Mate)
2 tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin (red package)
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch vanilla bean powder
1 tsp matcha green tea powder
1 tsp passion flower powder (optional)
Method: Place all ingredients into blender and mix on high until creamy. Pour into a mug or glass and garnish with cinnamon.
What’s your food splurge?
To be honest I no longer look at food with guilt. Over the years I have really worked on healing my relationship with my body and food and I no longer see food as a form of reward or punishment. If I want to eat something, I eat it and I eat it with love and joy in my heart. I don’t beat myself up and I allow myself to enjoy every single bite. I am conscious and mindful whilst I eat it. I stop, take three deep belly breaths, I smell it, and really taste every bite. Food is there to be shared and enjoyed not to be used as a form of reward or punishment.
What upcoming projects are you working on?
I have just birthed my book Mastering Your Mean Girl out into the world and I have started researching for my next book which is very exciting. I also have loads of Goddess Groups coming up. But I am working on a top secret project at the moment which I can’t say too much about just yet, but stay tuned!
Photo: provided
Is there a motto that you live by?
What you appreciate, appreciates.
I deeply believe in gratitude and when you adopt an attitude of gratitude life flows a whole lot more effortlessly.
What gives you the greatest joy — in your business and also in life and what are the most challenging aspects?
Connecting with others. Helping, supporting and inspiring others to rise up and be the very best versions of themselves brings me the most joy in both my business and life. The most challenging thing for me right now is feeling like I am not doing enough. I want to help billions of people and sometimes I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.
If you could give one piece of advice to young women (or men) what would it be?
Choose love over fear in every moment, in every second of every day. When you do life starts to rock!
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