posted 25th November 2025
A client texted me yesterday so excited saying: "I absolutely smashed my meeting just now and the feedback from my boss was insane. I can't believe how much has changed!"
I had to smile because I remembered our first conversation three months ago. She was brilliant - everyone could see that but she couldn't access that brilliance when it mattered. Words wouldn't come in meetings. Strategic thinking felt foggy. She was surviving her role, rather than leading it.
Yesterday, she stepped into the leader she's always been.
So what changed?
The multi-layered truth!
Here's what I told her when she asked: it's multi-layered. It's the structure we put in place. The accountability. The results from her mineral analysis showing exactlywhat her body needed and on a day-to-day basis, it's her choices around lunch.
This is the part people often want to oversimplify. They want one thing - the supplement, the meal plan, the magic bullet but transformation doesn't work like that.
Your body is a complex system. Your leadership capacity requires multiple foundations working together.
Let me show you what I mean.
The before picture
When I first met her, she was grabbing tuna baguettes at 1pm - white bread spiking and crashing her blood sugar. By 3pm, strategy meetings where brilliant ideas stayed trapped because her brain was running on stress hormones instead of glucose. Home by 7pm too depleted to be present for her family.
She thought this was just what high-level leadership felt like. Exhausting. Depleting. Surviving.
What was actually happening
That tuna baguette was flooding her system with glucose, then dropping it rapidly. Her body compensated by producing cortisol to stabilise her. By 3pm, her brain wasn't running on sustained glucose. It was running on emergency fuel.
But here's what we discovered through her mineral analysis: she was also depleted in magnesium (required for ATP production), her potassium was low (essential for cellular energy), and her copper-to-zinc ratio showed she'd been running on stress hormones for so long her body was struggling to produce adequate neurotransmitters.
The food choice at 1pm wasn't just affecting her 3pm meeting. It was compounding an already depleted system and her boundaries!?! She didn't have any. She was saying yes to everythingbecause her nervous system was in constant threat mode. When you're depleted, every request feels like a test of your value.
The transformation
We worked on multiple layers simultaneously:
Structure: Clear boundaries around her workload. She learned to say "I don't have capacity for that right now" without guilt.
Minerals:Addressing the specific deficiencies her HTMA showed. Giving her cells what they needed for sustained energy production.
Being her own best friend:She stopped the brutal self-talk and started treating herself with the kindness she'd show her best friend.
Daily choices:Learning the framework for food that supports her brain when it matters most.
Yesterday looked completely different. At 1pm, she chose chicken salad with hummus and veg from Pret. Real protein. Complex carbs. Fibre. By 3pm, she articulated the entire transformation vision clearly. Her boss leaned in. The room shifted. By 7pm, she was home with actual energy, present for her family.
This is what leading from resource feels like.
The framework for sustained leadership energy goes something like this:
1. The great-grandma test
Before you choose lunch, ask: "Would my great-grandma recognise this as food?"
My client now chooses chicken salad (yes), hummus (chickpeas - yes), mixed vegetables (yes). Three months ago, she was choosing processed tuna paste in white bread with unrecognisable preservatives.
Real food provides everything your cells need for sustained energy. Processed food provides calories but leaves you depleted at a cellular level.
2. Lean protein at every meal
Your brain needs consistent amino acids for neurotransmitter production. When you're leading at capacity, you cannot afford to skip this.
Good options: grilled chicken, wild salmon, eggs, tofu, lentils with quinoa, Greek yoghurt.
3. Colourful vegetables
The colour signals antioxidants that protect your mitochondria. Your cells need this protection when you're operating at high performance levels.
Aim for variety: dark leafy greens, red peppers, purple cabbage, orange sweet potato.
4. Complex carbs, not simple carbs
Sweet potato, quinoa, lentils, brown rice - these release glucose gradually. Your prefrontal cortex stays online. Strategic thinking remains accessible.
White bread, pasta, pastries spike and crash. Your executive function goes with it.
5. The "one simple carb a day" rule
Bagel at breakfast means protein and veg at lunch. Croissant at morning meeting means chicken salad for lunch, not sandwich.
This keeps your blood sugar stable so you can access your full cognitive capacity when it matters.
What to actually order
At Pret: Chicken and avocado salad, falafel and hummus salad, tuna Niçoise (hold the baguette, add veg), egg and spinach pot with oatcakes.
At Leon: Mediterranean meze box, grilled chicken with rice and vegetables, love burger with sweet potato fries.
At Itsu: Chicken teriyaki rice bowl, miso salmon with brown rice, vegetable gyoza with edamame.
At local market stalls: Fresh salad boxes with visible ingredients, grilled protein with vegetables.
The boundaries piece
Here's what my client learned: you cannot maintain boundaries when your nervous system is in threat mode.
When you're depleted - blood sugar unstable, minerals low, running on cortisol - every request triggers your amygdala. Survival response. Saying no feels dangerous but when you're resourced - sustained glucose, minerals replenished, nervous system regulated - boundaries become natural. You can say "I don't have capacity" without guilt because your brain can access the clarity needed for conscious choice. The food supports the boundaries. The boundaries protect the energy. They work together.
The "being your best friend" shift
Three months ago, my client's self-talk sounded like this:
"Why can't I just get it together?"
"Everyone else manages this, why can't I?"
"I should be able to handle this better."
Yesterday, after smashing that meeting, her text said: "I can't believe how much has changed!"
Not "I finally got it together." Not "I'm doing better now."
She was celebrating herself.
Acknowledging the transformation.
Being her own biggest supporter.
This shift matters. When you treat yourself with kindness, you make better choices. You prioritise your wellbeing because you're worth it, not because you're trying to fix what's broken.
The mineral analysis piece
This is where we get specific to YOUR body.
My client's HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) showed:
Low magnesium (explaining the afternoon energy crashes)
Low potassium (explaining the brain fog)
Copper/zinc imbalance (explaining the anxiety and depleted feeling)
Slow metabolic rate (explaining why she couldn't seem to create sustained energy)
We addressed these specifically. Not with generic supplements, but with targeted support based on what her body actually needed.
Within two weeks, she noticed: "I'm not crashing at 3pm anymore."
Within one month: "That constant anxiety feeling has lifted."
Within three months: "I absolutely smashed my meeting."
What becomes possible
My client's text yesterday continued: "For the first time in months, I'm not just surviving meetings. I'm actually leading the change I came here to create and I can't thank you enough!"
This is what's available when you address the multiple layers:
Clear strategic thinking when it matters most. Not fighting through brain fog. Not forcing yourself to focus. Just naturally sharp.
Natural boundariesthat don't require willpower. You can say no because your nervous system feels safe enough to make conscious choices.
Sustainable energythat lasts until 7pm. Not collapsing. Not surviving. Actually present for your life.
The leader you've always beenfinally with the biology and boundaries to express it fully. Not becoming someone new. Just removing the blocks to who you already are.
Your next step
Start with lunch tomorrow.
Ask yourself: would my great-grandma recognise this as food?
Choose the chicken salad instead of the baguette. Notice how your 3pm transforms.
And if you're ready for the multi-layered approach - the mineral analysis, the accountability, the structure, the support to close the gap between the leader you are and the transformational leader you're capable of being - let's talk.
Book a discovery call and we'll map out exactly what YOUR body needs. Not generic advice. Specific support based on your unique biochemistry and leadership context.
Because the leader you're meant to be isn't someone else.
She's you - with energy that matches your brilliance, boundaries that protect your capacity, and the biological foundations to lead the change you came here to create.
Book your discovery call here. I can't wait to hear from you,
Stefanie x
