March's Monthly Muse: Hannah Mellsop from Real Rad Food

Your Monthly is very excited to announce Hannah Mellsop as this month’s Muse.

Hannah is the driven creative behind Real Rad Food, a company which not only provides delicious raw slices, cakes and her famous “raw balls” to local cafes in home of Tauranga but has also managed to secure stockists across New Zealand – a feat reflective of Hannah’s hard work and determination. While her business Instagram was initially created to share her work in the kitchen she has collected a following of small business babes (including yours truly) and women who are interested in health/wellness. Hannah shared a little about her period health journey with her followers and worked with Your Monthly last year to restore her monthly cycle and reap the benefits of hormone health. In this interview Hannah shares more about her period health journey, keeping well when building her own empire and bravely speaks about the danger of diet labels.

Many of the clients Your Monthly works with have special dietary requirements or dietary restrictions that come under a label. From gluten free to low fructose, vegetarian, paleo or vegan. During our work together we discussed how disordered eating can arise or hide under such labels and how announcing a dietary title can make our own intuition about food choices quieter or shameful. For example if you felt like your body was asking for seafood but you’ve announced your veganism to the world this can be a difficult choice. Can you tell us about what you’ve learnt about intuitive eating (listening to your body) and how this was for you with such a strong following on social media who identify as following a vegan diet/lifestyle?

Learning to listen to my body was one of the biggest changes & challenges I faced when on my journey to getting my period back.

For many years, my social media presence made me feel like being a ‘vegan’ defined me & was the only reason why I was where I was with my business. I felt like without veganism, I was lost and that it was the only way I could provide value to my community.

This was not the case at all. I decided that I was more than being ‘vegan’ & that my body deserved a chance to thrive off foods that for no particular reason, I had spent 4 years depriving myself of. I wanted to have my energy & a functioning body back so that I could present my best self in every aspect of my life. I had lost my passion for food & had no idea what I wanted to eat anymore.

I began to include things like seafood (salmon, prawns, snapper) & eggs into my diet.

Don’t get me wrong, I am still a huge advocate for a plant based diet & follow this diet myself. I have just widened the variety of nutrient dense foods I eat. I have never felt better &  seeing the arrival of my period every month is the cherry on the cake.

We all have core values and while it is easy to think that the way we eat, move, create or play are separate parts of who we are – however we tend to operate out of the same core values across all activities of daily living. If you could pick your 3 core values what would they be and how does that relate to how you treat your body or the food choices you make?

Authenticity. I want to add value to the lives of those around me. In order to do this, I must present my authentic self in every aspect of my life – Social media, friendships, family, colleagues. I must also be authentic in the aspect of listening to what my body and soul needs to thrive. I let go of the fear of what others thought about my food choices in order to remain authentic and true to this core value.

Work ethic. I am in a season of my life where my career is a priority. I am here to work hard and inspire others through this work. In order to have this work ethic, I need to look after my physical body with nutrient dense foods that give me sustained energy.

Gratitude. I have so much to be grateful for and expressing this gratitude both internally and to those around me is something that I make sure I do on a daily basis. Being grateful for a functioning body is something I do daily and is reinforced through what I eat at every meal.

I am sure many of your followers will agree you now, more than ever, appear to be bursting with energy and creativity! Do you think period health has an influence on your energy levels and as well as you period arriving each month can you tell us of any other benefits to your cycle regularity?

100%! I finally feel like my body is operating in the way it is designed to! I feel so much more in-tune with my hormones and how I am feeling during different times of the month. I feel like I have mental clarity and that I am operating like a well-oiled machine.

What were some of the key things you learnt from Your Monthly sessions that you want your followers to learn about?

I want my followers to understand the importance of period health. To talk about it openly & not turn a blind eye to Amenorrhea. For so long, I accepted the fact that I had no period and didn’t think any further into it. But really, it was one of my bodies only ways to tell me that something wasn’t right! Your health is your wealth & we need to take care of it. A period is not just important for when you are wanting to conceive. It is a vital part of our physical and mental health at every age. Tune in, start listening & reach out to experts like Your Monthly for guidance.