Mum and NutriTIonist
I’m Inna Merkin; qualified nutritionist and mum of three!
I help women find out what health means to them and their families. I teach skills and strategies that focus on eating a flexible, intuitive diet and feeding your kids the same way.
But the journey here hasn’t always been easy.
Here’s my story.
What would you say if I asked you what ‘being healthy’ feels like to you?
Five years ago, I would have said that I felt healthy when the number on the scales went down. I would have told you that health was about eating exactly the ‘right’ foods.
And the answer that I probably wouldn’t have said out loud? ‘Being healthy’ felt like a constant battle inside my own head.
With a long history of chronic dieting and disordered eating, I know what it’s like to have your life revolve around food. For years, everything I ate was governed by restrictions.
From avoiding carbs like the plague to beating myself up over a ‘binge’, I categorised foods as purely ‘good’ or ‘bad’. And while I missed out the fun and ease that comes with enjoying food, the emotional damage I did was the real issue.
My diet felt like a direct reflection of whether I was good enough. All my energy was going into food - and I wasn’t getting anything back.
And most women I’ve spoken to share exactly the same story.
Struggling to maintain their ‘perfect’ weight.
Restricting themselves with rigid rules.
Focusing on all the things they could do better.
But does it really have to be that way?
What would happen if we changed the conversation around health?
What if we ditched that narrow definition of nutrition and focused on actually feeling GOOD?
My relationship with food changed the day that I stopped letting everyone else define it for me.
Instead, I started thinking about the life I wanted for myself and my family. And I knew it was one that didn’t revolve around what I ate.
So I made a change.
I threw myself into health education - the real, science-backed kind. I got clear on the fundamentals of nutrition - the simple, sustainable kind. And I tuned out all the social media noise and started tuning into my own body.
While it wasn’t always an easy process, I started to feel a real sense of freedom.
Rather than taking diet plans as gospel, I made flexible choices based on how I felt each day. I also felt so much more confident feeding my kids and dealing with fussy eating issues - because I knew how to give them all the nutrition they needed.
I didn’t feel weighed down by food anymore. Instead, it just became another part of a balanced life (or at least, the gloriously chaotic blend that comes with being a mum!)
Now, I spend my days helping women heal their own relationship with food.
And I’m just as passionate about helping them feed their kids with confidence.
As a nutritionist and a mum, I see how our relationship with food impacts our family.
Kids pick up on what we eat and how we feel about it.
And when we have the skills and strategies we need to handle picky eating in our little people, our lives become THAT much easier!
Whether you’re seeking support for your own health or navigating your children’s fussy eating, I’m here to help.
My Qualifications
I hold a Bachelor of Nutrition from Torrens University
and am a member of the Nutrition Society of Australia.