LIFESTYLE

Zoe Bingley-Pullin: ‘I want Christmas to last for a month’

11 December, 2023 . 0

Zoe Bingley-Pullin is looking forward to a festive extravaganza with all the trimmings, inspired by her dad’s perfect recipe for a flavoursome life.

A self-confessed “Christmas crazy person”, nutritionist Zoe Bingley-Pullin is making it her mission to capture the season’s spirit in every way.

“It’s probably halfway through the year (that) I start planning what’s happening on Christmas Day — it’s a big lead-up,” The House of Wellness TV co-presenter says with a laugh.

“I get so excited, I think I drive my family crazy. I basically want Christmas to last for a month. That would be the ideal day for me!”

From starting on the gift lists to choosing whose family house to visit and delegating tasks, orchestrating the festive day is no simple feat for Zoe.

Occasionally she will even find herself throwing an extra party in November or early December for her dad, who lives between Australia and America.

Zoe Bingley-Pullin’s family Christmas tradition

One thing is for certain about this year — she isn’t going to let go of a fun new family tradition.

“Every year for the last couple of years, we’ve done this funny thing where we’ll take photos at different (Christmas) trees,” Zoe says.

“So, we’ll take one in Noosa and one in Sydney and then I’ll send that as my Christmas email — us doing a funny thing or just smiling.”

While Zoe loves Australia for its summery festive offerings, she is looking forward to one day sharing a white Christmas with her husband Michael and nine-year-old daughter Emily.

“My family’s all English, so it would be nice for Emily to experience having that colder-climate Christmas,” Zoe says.

“We used to have every second Christmas with my family in England and it’s a very special Christmas — very different.”

Zoe Bingley-Pullin shares her tips for a festive feast

Zoe plans to spice up this year’s festive celebration with fresh seafood on the table, garnished with fragrant Australian native herbs.

Despite the cost-of-living pressures facing many Australians, Zoe says that with careful planning there are still ways to enjoy quality seafood and produce.

“When you’re buying a whole side of trout or salmon, it’s actually cheaper than buying it per slice,” she advises.

She also recommends keeping things simple.

“I think a lot of the time we might overcomplicate the actual dishes, where really we can just do a good-quality protein and we can put lots of beautiful sauces with it.

“That really tricks the flavour up and it makes it really tasty as well.”

Finding what’s healthy for the body is important to Zoe, who has spent the past year creating recipes inspired by her clients and for the Get Nourished segments for The House of Wellness TV, alongside personal trainer Luke Hines.

“I’ll go away and research what it is they’re asking for and what they’re talking about and often it keeps me up to date with what people are actually really wanting as well,” she says.

“And then I try to display that in a recipe so people can get the most amount of nutrition from the food that they’re eating.”

Get some of Zoe Bingley-Pullin’s favourite healthy Christmas recipes

Zoe’s inspiration for learning

Her passion for educating others on the power of food as medicine stemmed from her long journey with fertility issues and IVF.

She underwent six cycles of IVF before falling pregnant with Emily.

“We have such little knowledge about our hormones,” says Zoe, who is writing her third book, which is about women’s health and hormones.

“It’s not just women who are going through these hormonal pivots in their life. I think it’s really important that we just normalise the dialogue and ask, ‘What’s going on?’ We need information — we have such little knowledge about our hormones.”

Her quest to continue learning and become an advocate for female health is also fuelled by the values instilled in her at a young age by her dad, who raised her to be a hard worker.

“If you’ve been given a job, you do it to the best of your capacity and you say ‘thank you’ at the end, even if you hated it, because that’s just being respectful to everyone around you,” Zoe says, citing one of her dad’s many valuable teachings.

She adds her 86-year-old dad has an “incredible zest for life” and she is inspired by the way he doesn’t believe we should be pigeonholed because of our age.

“I think that’s the thing I’ve probably taken the most out of life — be curious, be excited by what’s around the corner.

“And be forgiving to yourself,” she says.

The importance of family time

Being an author among many other roles has not been without its struggles for the busy mum, who notes it’s taken some time to find a flow that works for her and her family.

“I’m at this new stage of my life, which is very much about being that beautiful, supportive role to my child and husband, friends and to myself, and learning about what this older female version of me looks like,” she says.

“Having a nine-year-old who’s now her own human being, it’s a lot easier to talk to her about why I’ve got to do these things (such as work commitments) and have her understand.”

How 2024 is looking for Zoe Bingley-Pullin

As for her plans for 2024, Zoe says she’s looking forward to travelling, learning French and maintaining her exercise routine, including regular hill runs.

“Four mornings a week, I’ll do a 20-minute hill run. So I do about three hills and it’s fantastic — it’s so quick,” she says.

“The good thing about that timeframe is it’s never an excuse for me not to do it.”

But for now, Zoe is wrapping up the year with much gratitude and self-reflection.

“I’m a 45-year-old person and still in an industry that I love and am so passionate about,” she notes.

“The level of gratitude I have is probably even more than it has been before.”

More festive recipes:

Written by Melissa Hong.