Rhian Stephenson, the nutrition and supplements powerhouse and founder of ARTAH, kick-starts our Januaries.
GM: Hi Rhian! Happy New Year! What did you do on 31st December? Are you a bed at 10pm or a dance until dawn New Year’s Eve-er?
RS: Definitely bed at 10pm! I have an 18 month old and a 3 year old, so my last few New Year's Eves have been pretty low key.
GM: ARTAH is our go-to for supplements and nutrition programmes. We loved reading your pointers on how to stay healthy over the festive period. How are you feeling coming into January?
RS: I always have a little low-grade fatigue because my kids don't sleep through the night, so that's a challenge for me, but all things considered I feel great. Since having my kids I've found it easier to prioritise my health - I know that's probably not the most common feeling, but when I don't do this it's so much harder to manage parenting and running a business! So for me it's really helped me become really clear on my non-negotiables.
GM: Any tips for us to begin our health journeys in 2024? We need all the help we can get!
RS: I always start my year with one of our nutrition plans and a supplement stack to help me feel energised and in control of my metabolism. This year I'm doing our Metabolic Reset, which is a 21 day plan to help improve metabolic flexibility and jumpstart energy. I love the structure of a plan because I don't need to think, so even if when I feel healthy, I still do something (we have plans that range from 7 days to 3 months) because it helps me get into a great routine.
GM: As a successful businesswoman and mother of two, do you manage to carve out any time for yourself? How important is this?
RS: I haven't been very good at this, and it's something I'd like to focus on this year. To be honest, I've barely had any time to myself since 2020 - so I'm really looking forward to prioritising this. I've still made time for exercise and my family, but have had very little time with friends and almost no holiday - I don't recommend it! I think it's incredibly important, but I also think it's important not to get too down about it if you're in a phase where it's more difficult. I have so many people ask me about how I create balance, but the truth is we can't always have balance. I've had two babies and launched a business in the last three years, so to expect to have lots of me time, social connection, and lovely holidays is an expectation that is too difficult to meet. Equally, it's important not to let it go on for too long, so now that the business is thriving and I'm not breastfeeding, I can start to do more. Next week I'm going to Italy with my best friend and I can't wait. We're doing three days of skiing and snow-shoeing and definitely going to hit the spa, and I know I will massively appreciate it because it's been so long.
GM: What are the supplements you’re most excited about this year?
RS: Last year we won awards for our probiotic complex, Enhanced Synbiotic, and gut health is an area I absolutely love, so we're expanding our gut range and I'm really excited about it. We've just launched Biome Restore, an advanced biotic complex with 50bn CFU of clinically proven live bacteria, which also has my favourite nootropic - Lion's Mane. Lion's Mane is a fantastic mushroom; it's been shown to improve mood, reduce pathogenic bacteria in the gut, boost focus and mental clarity, and reduce stress. Biome Restore also has Ginger, which promotes gut motility, and Boswelia, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. It's already risen to one of our best sellers and I'm really excited that people can now try it after months of development.
GM: Are supplements as important as exercise and eating well? What's your regime?
RS: No, food, movement and sleep are all incredibly important. But, supplements can give you a massive advantage because we know that we aren't meeting our nutritional needs from food, and additionally, we're demanding more from our bodies than ever with our modern lifestyle; whether it be travelling, our work hours, stress, alcohol, poor food quality, lack of sleep, exposure to environmental pollutants, or even training. Supplements can help us combat the challenges that our lifestyle presents and help us thrive even when we can't be perfect.
My nutrition is what I focus on most; so I'm diligent about what I'm eating and its quality. My diet is predominantly vegetables, protein (fish, meat, some organic tofu, lentils), and fruit. My main starchy carbs are rice and potatoes, and I avoid gluten and most grains because I find that they make me feel tired and puffy. The next most important thing I do is take supplements - in an ideal world, I would be able to control my sleep and the amount I exercise more, but with the toddlers and a business, I'm definitely not able to focus on these! So, supplements help me combat the effects of lack of sleep and stress. I take Metabolic Fix religiously; when we don't sleep enough, we become more insulin resistant, our blood sugar is erratic, and it's far more difficult to control appetite, so these keep me on track. I also take Essential D3 and Biome Restore, and I love our electrolyte powder Cellular Hydration. I use this when I workout, if I'm doing IF, or if I'm just low on energy in the afternoon.
When it comes to exercise, my ideal routine is three strength sessions and three runs. I don't always manage this, so when I can't I literally just do a 15 minute strength workout at home; I call them strength snacks. Is it ideal? No. But it's much better than nothing!
GM: Your personalised plans are so brilliant, how big is your team at ARTAH? So much work clearly goes into the customer journey on your site.
RS: Our core team is small, there are five of us, but then we also work with super talented freelancers. For example our chef, Philippa, helps write all of our incredible recipes. She's a private chef and always cooks for us on retreat, so we consider her a part of the team. We also work with brilliant PR and are starting to collaborate with some great writers to help with content.
GM: A New Year’s Resolution sounds transitory. How do we make goals that we stick to?
RS: I still love a good resolution and I think that a lot of people have felt discouraged to set new goals with all of the backlash on resolutions over the last few years. The key is making them actionable, impactful, and holistic - rather than just pulling big bold goals out of the air without a purpose or plan. For example, I still think it's completely fine to make goals around our health and weight, but we may want to be more reflective about what those goals are. So, if your goal is to lose 10kg, you should focus on a few things. Firstly, the WHY. What will this give you that you don't already have? For me, it's having the energy and positivity to show up in a certain way for my young kids and my business, so my health is intrinsically linked to this. WHEN. When can you make the change by? Is it a realistic timeline? We also need to set really small goals, so rather than focusing on the outcome, focus on the behaviour, and then you can feel some positive momentum right away even if the outcome is still in the future. HOW. Again, what are the practical, actionable steps you can take to be able to drive consistency? WHAT. What has been holding you back? When it comes to weight, I find that it's often linked to something more emotional, like stress. If you get so stressed that you binge eat at 10pm at night then maybe the goal needs to focus on stress reduction, because this is the habit that is actually the barrier to your success.
GM: And finally, what are you most looking forward to both professionally and personally?
RS: I'm really excited about cultivating a little more balance in my personal life. Before I had kids, I did a big physical challenge in nature every year; it's something I absolutely love, so I'm making it a goal to do something again this year. I'm also getting into a much better place as a mother. When I was breastfeeding my second and my first was still two, everything felt so hard and I felt like I was treading water. Now that we're in a new stage, I'm enjoying the time far more. And then professionally, we have two incredibly exciting launches this year, which I think will be really impactful, so I think it will be a great year.
January, 2024
