After studying history at Leeds<\/a>, where she started a food blog, Petersen, now 29, took a law conversion course and won a two-year training contract with a city law firm. \u201cThose sort of courses are like gold dust, and it was always my plan to be a lawyer, earn loads of money and retire early,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n But achieving that six-figure salary required sacrifices. Fitness fan Petersen, who has completed Ironman Triathlons, says: \u201cSuddenly I had no time to cook, was living off Deliveroo, and didn\u2019t have time to train. I started to get depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n The job itself was manageable, but the truth was Petersen couldn\u2019t let her \u201csocial media baby\u201d go. \u201cI burnt out because I was juggling being a lawyer with a social media influencer and ended up doing both badly. So I quit the day I qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Petersen has 813,000 followers on her Instagram account, and she\u2019s following up her Sunday Times bestselling debut cookbook (2025\u2019s Healthyish) with her second offering: Healthyish High Protein<\/a>. It\u2019s all about hitting your daily protein and fibre targets naturally with easy meal preps and nutrient counts.<\/p>\n She suggests the current craze for adding protein to everyday foods isn\u2019t always necessary, saying: \u201cI\u2019m not anti-protein powder<\/a> but we should just cook properly. There\u2019s protein in everything from eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, lentils and tofu\u2026 to meat, fish and dairy.\u201d Petersen adds that her recipes<\/a> use \u201ceveryday ingredients in clever ways\u201d, making for a \u201cmore natural way\u201d to add protein to your diet.<\/p>\n She points out everyone benefits from more protein and fibre, whether they train or not. \u201cProtein helps repair and rebuild muscles and cells, and fibre slows digestion and helps you feel fuller,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n Londoner Petersen, who has just moved to the countryside with her fiance Matthew and is in the process of renovating an 170-year-old cottage, shares her top tips on how to make healthy food exciting\u2026<\/p>\n 1. Max out on more<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been taught that eating healthily means eating less \u2013 less carbs, less fat, less calories, less sugar. But Petersen says: \u201cA more mentally healthy way would be to add to it to make it more balanced.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a slice of toast with a smear of butter on it, you\u2019ll be hungry an hour later. But a slice of toast with chia jam and peanut butter gives you healthy fats and carbs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about taking away \u2013 it\u2019s adding things that make it a well-rounded meal.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Build your breakfast<\/p>\n Petersen makes her own granola every week. \u201cMy recipe for vanilla cardamom and apricot granola can be substituted with whatever store cupboard ingredients you have. No apricots? Use raisins.\u201d<\/p>\n And she explains how easy it is to get your daily nutrition requirement. \u201cThe granola has seven grams of protein, and with yogurt and other bits, you\u2019ve got a high protein breakfast.<\/p>\n \u201cIt also has five grams of fibre \u2013 a fifth of your daily intake \u2013 and that\u2019s before adding fresh fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Get stuffed at lunch<\/p>\n Petersen is all about easy lunches, particularly sandwiches and pitas you can stuff with an array of fillings.<\/p>\n Her favourite filling \u2013 and a recipe that features in her latest cookbook, is \u201ca chicken salad with yummy pickles and dill, which are all chopped together so it\u2019s spoonable. You can make a big bowl of the filling and keep it in the fridge.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if you want to make your own carbs from scratch, I have a two-ingredient bagel recipe \u2013 just yogurt and self-raising flour.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Make healthy food tasty<\/p>\n As a massive lifelong foodie, Petersen is on a mission to make healthy food taste good.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one\u2019s gonna get excited about a plate of plain steamed vegetables,\u201d she says. \u201cBut if you roast them until they\u2019re crispy and then add seasoning, feta and something crunchy like in my cookbook, you\u2019ll eat the whole tray!\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Leave room for the \u2018ish\u2019<\/p>\n Not everything we eat needs to be nutritionally perfect. \u201cIf you\u2019re craving pasta \u2013 eat pasta. Don\u2019t try and feed yourself a salad,\u201d says Petersen. She suggests making your pasta a bit more balanced and satisfying.<\/p>\n \u201dStart with what you love rather than overhauling the way that you eat, and then build it from there. Try to be healthy but leave room for the \u2018ish\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n 6. Guilt\u2019s out, happy\u2019s in<\/p>\n Everything in moderation, especially moderation. Petersen believes \u201cit\u2019s just about finding that middle ground between food that makes you feel good, and food that makes you feel good eating it\u201d.<\/p>\n She says, \u201cDon\u2019t feel guilty and think, \u2018Oh I need to start again tomorrow.\u2019 If you had a Mars Bar and it made you happy \u2013 success. It might not have fuelled you, but you must have enjoyable things.\u201d<\/p>\n And she takes her own advice. \u201cHey, look, what did we do on our first night in the cottage? Did I cook from scratch? No, I got a Chinese takeaway!\u201d<\/p>\n Brothy Thai chicken and rice<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what I make when I want comfort food that still feels bright and fresh,\u201d says Petersen. \u201cThe broth is gingery and fragrant, and the rice soaks up every bit of that flavour. A simple, 30-minute high-protein meal that never fails to hit the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n Serves: 2<\/p>\n Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes<\/p>\n Ingredients:<\/p>\n 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs<\/p>\n 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste<\/p>\n 1 garlic clove, minced<\/p>\n 2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated<\/p>\n 300ml chicken stock<\/p>\n 100ml oat or soy milk<\/p>\n 1 tsp soy sauce (GF: tamari) or \u00bd tsp fish sauce<\/p>\n 1 x 250g pouch cooked jasmine rice<\/p>\n \u00bc red onion, thinly sliced<\/p>\n 1 red chilli, thinly sliced<\/p>\n Handful of fresh coriander<\/p>\n 1 tbsp cashews, chopped<\/p>\n Salt and pepper<\/p>\n![\"\u2018Healthyish](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11090217-1bce6342-b26c-44f6-915a-bc0fde2c59da.jpg\")
\u2018Healthyish High Protein\u2019 is Petersen\u2019s follow-up to her bestselling debut cookbook (Pavilion)<\/p>\n![\"Petersen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11114549-ec095c7f-1242-453e-89e3-619d7bd05ecd.jpg\")
Petersen wants healthy eating to feel satisfying rather than restrictive (Lucy Richards)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/brothy-thai-chicken-and-rice.jpeg\")
A fragrant, 30-minute chicken and rice bowl with plenty of protein and comfort (Lucy Richards)<\/p>\n
![\"Crispy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tofu-doner.jpeg\")
Crispy tofu ribbons turn the takeaway favourite into a plant-powered fakeaway (Lucy Richards)<\/p>\n![\"Matcha,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/matcha-and-strawberry-chia-pudding.jpeg\")
Matcha, chia and strawberries make this an easy make-ahead breakfast with a caffeine kick (Lucy Richards)<\/p>\n