Book Launch + Press Week

Book launch photos by @jonpaynephoto

In case you have missed me shouting from the roof tops THE FOOD MEDIC book officially hit the shelves last week and shot straight to number 1 on the Amazon bestselling book chart on the day of release! I dreamed of making it into the top 10 so hitting number 1 has really been the absolute icing to the cake. I have also just found out that, despite entering the charts mid-way through the week,  The Food Medic is number 1 in Ireland and number 3 in the UK!!! 

Seeing my book and my recipes tagged on your social media accounts is an incredible feeling.

Everyone sounds so excited and inspired to get stuck in and start making the recipes and trying out the workouts at home.

The weekend of the launch was jam packed with travel and book promotion. On Saturday I had the honour of cooking live at the BBC Good Food Show in Harrogate alongside some world renowned chefs such as Marcel and Antonio Carluccio. I have to admit, I thought I would feel like a fish out of water next to such big names but they really took me under their wing and made me feel right at home. I’m so excited for my next appearance at The BBC Good Food Show on June 17th now!

From Harrogate, Leeds, I flew to Dublin for another cookery demo – but this one on live TV!

I was invited by TV3 Ireland AM to have a chat about my new book and cook some of the recipes. I had a blast on set and the presenters Anna and Laura were a total dream to work with – I almost forgot I was on telly at all!

In case you missed it, you can watch it on catch up here.

Next stop after TV3 was Wellfest, Irelands first and only wellness festival! I was on the ‘Well Talks’ stage discussing ‘Training and Mindset’, followed by Q&A, and a book signing. The talk was completely packed and so many people showed up to the book signing that we completely sold out of books!

The Launch Party

The night before publication I hosted a launch party at the Hoxton, Holborn, and it was genuinely one of the best nights of my life. The love and support from those who attended was what really made it for me. The room was filled with press, friends and family, other bloggers and authors, and a handful of followers who I managed to save some tickets to giveaway on my social media prior to the event!

I do a lot of public speaking but I have never been so nervous than I was when I stood in front of all those people to do my speech. Writing this book has been a dream come true for me and a lot of love, energy, and tears have gone into it. Releasing it to the world makes me anxious but more so excited and the response that I’ve received from it has been totally overwhelming.

I wish I could have had all of you there on the night to celebrate it with me, but your messages and notes of love were all received and very much appreciated. I wanted to share my speech here for those who were not at the event and to once again thank everyone who made this book possible!

More pictures from the party here…

“Hello everyone and thank you all so much for coming here tonight to celebrate the launch of my book The Food Medic with me and a big thank you to Aimee and the Hoxton for hosting us for the night!

I want to start by thanking the whole team at Yellow Kite for all your hard work, talent, and passion which went into creating this book. Thank you to Liz, my publisher, for first believing in the food medic and fully embracing my vision. I will never forget our first meeting and how much the fit felt right. I went home that day and stuck your business card on my wall, hoping that Yellow Kite would want me as their author much as I wanted them as my publisher.

Thank you to my editor Tamsin. It was been a pleasure working with a fellow Irish lass. You made the job easy on me and although you said I would dread your emails by the end of the book writing, I promise I never did!

Thank you to my publicist Becca who is a total girl boss and somehow managed to get my face on the cover of two major magazines and every newspaper under the sun..including the sun!

To Caitriona, the marketing guru. I always feel a sense of calm around you! Thank you for all the amazing work you have done with promoting the book and getting it on the shelves.

Thank you to my incredible shoot team – Susan my photographer, thank you for being totally cool when things got crazy on set and always making me laugh. Thank you to Nikki for designing the entire book – it is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! To Frankie and Olivia, you girls made my recipes look unbelievable and I picked up so many tips from you too.

Thank you to my agent Jonny – I know I like to wind you up, but I couldn’t have asked for a better man to be looking after The Food Medic. You seen potential in me when I was a young medical student with big dreams and I’m so happy you found me.

Laura, my manager, I don’t know where to start. You’re like my sister now. You have the biggest heart and you always put me first. I also wouldn’t be here right now if you didn’t show Jonny my Instagram page all those years ago.

Carly, the sassiest woman I have ever met. You are an inspiration to me and a role model. I could not have written this book without you, and that is not a lie. I will say, however, that I dreaded receiving my drafts back from you after you had gone through it with a red pen for the 3rd or 4th time. Thankfully you didn’t lose your patience with me and in the end, we worked as a pretty awesome team.

To Fab, the newest addition to The Food Medic family – the work you have put in recently has been indispensable to me. You have done incredible work with The Food Medic, and I am totally grateful for having you in my life – even if it is just for our Sunday tea and laptop sessions.

To my family – Emma, my sister, and her husband Neil, and my other sister Marcella who could not be here tonight. Thank you for being my number one supporters. I know our family has shrunk a little over the past few years but I feel like we have only grown closer and stronger. To my mum who has flown all the way over tonight to celebrate with us. I can’t thank you enough. You have never doubted me and you have always supported me. You’re the bravest, strongest woman I know. Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Finally, I want to mention my dad. As some of you may know, I lost my dad when I was 15 years old. He is the reason I wrote this book. From his death, I learnt about the depth of sadness and the brutality of grief, but I also learnt about hope and strength. I learnt that in the face of any challenge, you can find meaning and purpose. I will never fully get over the grief, but I firmly believe that it was he who put me on this path. I now know who I am and what my purpose in life is. I know that my own personal experience through illness and health, and my training as a doctor, is invaluable and has given me the opportunity to help a lot of people. So I ask you all to please raise a glass to the man who inspired this book – To Dad.”