Princess Beatrice’s nutritionist Gabriela Peacock reveals how to transform your health

A society nutritionist who counts royals and A-list celebrities in her clientele has revealed her top tips for getting healthy and transforming your health within two weeks.

Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Gabriela Peacock,  41, who lives in Notting Hill with her husband and children revealed she advocates for a ‘champagne lifestyle with healthy tweaks’ for her array of high profile clients.

The Czech-born former model has a reputation for being a  no-judgement nutritionist whose clients pay £270 a session to get results while still letting their hair down. 

Now, she’s sharing her secrets in a new book-  2 Weeks to Feeling Great – advocating for the 4:3 diet – where people fast three days a week. The results speak for themselves, with her most successful client dropping 9lbs in two weeks. 

Her methods have been praised by her ‘BFF’ Princess Beatrice, as well as Jodie Kidd and Dame Joan Collins – with Tatler claiming the royal has her ‘on speed dial anytime she needs advice on looking and feeling fabulous’.

Princess Eugenie is believe to have leaned on Gabriela to slim down ahead of her nuptials and the health guru is also reported to have helped Prince Harry drop half a stone ahead of his big day.  She was a guest at both royal weddings. 

Beatrice herself said she ‘really likes the GP principles because they are effective and realistic guidelines to follow no matter what you are doing in the day’ while Dame Joan Collins added her tip of  ‘combining fruit with protein such as live yoghurt really works for me and makes me feel energised and fabulous all day.’  

Here she tells FEMAIL her top tips on feeling great and healthy… 

Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Gabriela Peacock, 41, who lives in Notting Hill with her husband and children revealed she advocates for a ‘champagne lifestyle with healthy tweaks’ for her array of high profile clients

The Czech-born former model (right) has a reputation for being a no judgement nutritionist who gets results - while still letting her clients - who pay £270 a session for her sage advice - put their hair down. Her clients include Princess Eugenie (centre). Also pictured Jack Brooksbank

The Czech-born former model (right) has a reputation for being a no judgement nutritionist who gets results – while still letting her clients – who pay £270 a session for her sage advice – put their hair down. Her clients include Princess Eugenie (centre). Also pictured Jack Brooksbank

INTERMITTENT FASTING

Gabriela advocates for intermittent fasting. Her book has two plans – the 4:3 and the 16:8.

On the 4:3 diet, women eat 500 calories three days a week and men eat 600. On three other ‘mindful days’  people reduce their normal calories intake by 20 per cent, and follow her ‘GP principles’ while one day a week is a ‘magic day’ with no rules.

The other plan – 16:8 – is a more traditional intermittent fasting plan – where people fast 16 hours a day (including sleep) and eat over eight hours.

‘I find intermittent fasting is by far the best because you don’t need to go to the shops and buy a special food or pay a lot of money or pay someone. 

‘What I love about it is just about when you’re eating and how you’re eating, and there are little tips around it. 

‘What I would say is, I would always recommend for the clients, look at my two plans, and just see which ones fits best for your lifestyle. They’re both equally great they’re both based on intermittent fasting, but one will work better for you than other. 

‘We also know intermittent fasting is a very, very healthy weight loss process.’

Her methods have been praised by her 'BFF' Princess Beatrice, as well as Jodie Kidd and Dame Joan Collins - with Tatler saying she's 'on speed dial anytime she needs advice on looking and feeling fabulous'. 2 Weeks to Feeling Great by Gabriela Peacock is published by Kyle Book, priced £20

Her methods have been praised by her ‘BFF’ Princess Beatrice, as well as Jodie Kidd and Dame Joan Collins – with Tatler saying she’s ‘on speed dial anytime she needs advice on looking and feeling fabulous’. 2 Weeks to Feeling Great by Gabriela Peacock is published by Kyle Book, priced £20

DON’T EAT FRUIT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH 

While many people grab a piece of fruit for a healthy breakfast, Gabriela says it’s not a good idea to eat it alone because it can cause a spike in blood sugar.  

‘The first step I look at with every single of my clients is their blood sugar balance,’ she said.   

‘You want to have a stable blood sugar levels throughout the day, and you don’t want to experience any spikes – which is a super rush –  you don’t want to experience at the lows. 

‘Because when you’re low, is when you feel tired and you can be grumpy’. 

‘Fruit is fantastic if add some nuts and seeds with a small yoghurt, hummus and a piece on cheese. It will be much better for you because you’re combining the person and carbohydrate.’ 

Gabriela advocates for intermittent fasting. Her book has two plans - the 4:3 and the 16:8. On the 4:3 diet, women eat 500 calories three days a week and men eat 600. On three other 'mindful days' people reduce their normal calories intake by 20 per cent, and follow her 'GP principles' while one day a week is a 'magic day' with no rules

Gabriela advocates for intermittent fasting. Her book has two plans – the 4:3 and the 16:8. On the 4:3 diet, women eat 500 calories three days a week and men eat 600. On three other ‘mindful days’ people reduce their normal calories intake by 20 per cent, and follow her ‘GP principles’ while one day a week is a ‘magic day’ with no rules

How did Czech-born former model Gabriela Peacock become the go-to nutritionist for royals and A-list celebs? 

Gabriela started modelling at 15, which was her first introduction to the myths around healthy eating. 

‘As you can imagine in the modelling industry, especially a while ago, there was a lot of myths going around how to lose weight,’ she said.

‘I remember being told that I cannot eat anything but green beans in order to lose weight.

‘I moved to London while working for the modelling agency as well, and actually started thinking about going back to school and using my brain more, to get some proper knowledge.

‘Whatever you put in your body will react a certain way, and you need the proper scientific background.’

Gabriela set up her own business after studying science at the University of Westminster.

And she said her success is down to understanding her clients’ busy lifestyle and her flexible approach.   

‘You don’t have to turn your life upside down,’ Gabriela explained.

‘Focus on small changes that people can actually achieve.

‘I think that’s the reason why I have a great client list, because I don’t judge anyone. 

‘I let my clients do pretty much what they want. I obviously negotiate heavily because, because that’s what I’ve been trained to do. But it’s not good, just to have a knowledge and push it on people too much. You just need to assess as a nutritionist how far you can push someone, and I think understanding that we all want to live life. 

‘We all want to have fun, and my clients definitely do. 

‘I have a very few clients who have super clean lifestyle and I don’t either.’

Eat protein every few hours  

‘Combining carbohydrates and proteins is really important. A lot of people just eat up carbohydrates, and they don’t think about the protein. 

‘My practice is focused on protein with every single meal, even your snack. 

‘As well as your protein, think about what kind of carbohydrates you’re eating.

‘Are you eating processed white bread or really nice rye bread or white rice or dark rice? 

Balance your plate 

Gabriela said that she always asks clients about portion sizes, but doesn’t want them to be ‘obsessive’. 

‘People need to relax a little bit, and it’s all about the little bit of a common sense,’ she said. 

‘Once you start thinking about eating too much, you could get obsessive and then you go the other way. You’re scared to eat everything, because it “may not be good for me”.’

She added that rather than obsessing over what’s good and bad, she advises focusing on the proportions of what’s on the plate. 

‘Roughly, I’d recommend one quarter of your plate should be a good portion of protein – an animal source such as  meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or a plant source such as  beans soya bean chickpeas, lentils pulses,’ she said. 

‘Then I would do another quarter of your plate, starchy vegetables or grains starchy vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes or a grain. Then half of your plate is vegetables.’ 

Don’t cut out carbs 

Gabriela wants her clients to be healthy, but flexible.

‘I’ve very much tried to teach my clients that it’s all about the common sense. I don’t want anyone to do calorie counting, I don’t want anyone to hang up too much on, you know how much carbohydrates they’re eating or if they should do a carb- free day.

‘It’s really not just about that. You know you should be able to eat carbohydrates that are incredibly important for you.

‘It’s about getting good quality carbohydrates.’ 

 

Gabriela wants her clients to be healthy, but flexible, and says that it's 'all about common sense'

Gabriela wants her clients to be healthy, but flexible, and says that it’s ‘all about common sense’

Don’t worry if your weight fluctuates throughout the year 

‘It’s absolutely fine if you fluctuate with your weight throughout the year,’ Gabriela said. 

She said that she sees people being ‘scared’ and judging themselves after losing some weight and then putting on one or two kilos.  

‘I always tell my patients, you need to live your life, you can’t be perfect and you’ll be stressed and end up miserable,’ she said. 

‘If you want to go for the summer if you want to eat as much as pasta as you want and drink some rosé on the beach, that’s absolutely fine. But then we come back in September and we can go back on the plan’.    

Gabriela is pictured with her husband David (back) as well as James Blunt and his wife Sophie (front) at St George's Chapel in Windsor ahead of Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle

Gabriela is pictured with her husband David (back) as well as James Blunt and his wife Sophie (front) at St George’s Chapel in Windsor ahead of Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle

Gabriela’s low carb pad thai recipe 

 gluten free, dairy free

serves 2

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 egg, beaten

1 large garlic clove, crushed

2cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced

2 carrots, spiralised

2 courgettes, spiralised

40g (1½oz) bean sprouts

200g (7oz) raw peeled prawns

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon fish sauce

to garnish

a small handful of fresh coriander or Thai basil (about 10g/¼oz), torn or chopped

1 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts

 

METHOD 

This is a healthy alternative to the traditional Thai favourite. It contains plenty of fibre and nutrients from the vegetables, and is satisfyingly filling while still being low in calories. Once the ingredients have been prepped, it cooks in a flash.

Place a wok over a high heat and, when hot, add the sesame oil.

Quickly stir-fry the egg, garlic, ginger and chilli, constantly keeping things moving until the egg is scrambled (this will literally be a matter of seconds, so keep an eye on it – things can incinerate at speed in a wok).

Add the spiralised carrots and courgettes, and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or so.

Add the bean sprouts and prawns and cook for a further 2 minutes until the prawns have turned pale pink. Make sure any liquid from the vegetables has cooked away.

Squeeze over the lime juice and add the fish sauce. Serve immediately garnished with the coriander or Thai basil and the cashew nuts.

 

Gabriela’s tricolore eggs recipe

The Mediterranean diet is fantastically healthy for the heart and cardiovascular system, because it’s based on the simple, fresh ingredients traditionally used throughout Italy, Greece and Spain. This quick recipe is so easy to throw together – the eggs and mozzarella provide the protein element, while the tomatoes, basil and spinach are packed with phytonutrients.

serves 2

a squeeze of lemon juice

2 eggs

3 large handfuls of spinach (about 220g/8oz), chopped

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

50g (1¾oz) mozzarella, torn

 l handful of fresh basil (about 15g/½oz), torn

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper

 METHOD

Heat a saucepan of water over a medium heat until gently simmering, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and crack in the eggs. Poach for 4 minutes.

While the eggs are cooking, place the spinach in a saucepan over a medium heat, add a splash of water and let it wilt. Drain, squeezing out as much of the excess water as possible, and divide between 2 plates.

Mix the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil together in a bowl and coat with the oil and vinegar. Season and mix everything together again well. Spoon on top of the spinach.

Serve each plate with a poached egg on top.

2 Weeks to Feeling Great by Gabriela Peacock is published by Kyle Book, priced £20