Melbourne mum Belle Gibson on taking the world by storm with her app The Whole Pantry, while fighting terminal brain cancer

Melbourne mum Belle Gibson on
    taking the world by storm with her
    app The Whole Pantry, while
    fighting terminal brain cancer
   3 MONTHS AGO DECEMBER 05, 2014 9:37PM

    Belle Gibson, founder of The Whole Pantry app. Picture: Brent Parker Jones Source: Supplied
    IF anyone bragged they were a game changer, odds are you’d call them up
    themselves. But coming from Belle Gibson, it’s pure truth.
    Gibson is a 26-year-old with many more labels — young mum, cancer
    survivor, wellness warrior and social media sensation having created a global
    online community with her app The Whole Pantry.
    Gibson went from being a 20-year-old in her “boring corporate world” to
    being plunged into a world of darkness when a doctor diagnosed her vision,
    memory and walking problems as brain cancer and gave her four months to
    live.
    When conventional medicine let her down, she turned to alternative therapies
    and confounded doctors. It inspired her to develop the world’s first health,
    wellness and lifestyle app in The Whole Pantry, which encourages healthy
    eating, positive thinking and a wholesome lifestyle. It’s now a book of the
    same name containing 80 new recipes and advice on how to live life to the
    full — something Gibson does every single day.

Belle Gibson at the Cosmopolitan magazine's Fun Fearless Female awards in Sydney last month. Picture: Bauer
MediaSource: Supplied
From an early age, Gibson shouldered big responsibilities. She grew up in
Brisbane not knowing her dad and taking on an early caring role for her
mum, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, and an autistic younger brother.
She says she was severely overweight in her pre-teens, overeating and
drinking sugar-packed fruit juice. At only 12 she moved out of home, first
with a classmate and then a family friend.
At 20, her current health issues began with trouble reading, walking and
remembering things. Doctors put her on antidepressants and told her to have
her eyes tested. Soon afterwards, she had a stroke at work and three weeks
later, was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer and given the grim
prognosis she had just months to live.
Living in Perth at the time, Gibson moved to Melbourne to be closer to
friends and the best medical care. On top of her health battles, she no longer
speaks to her parents.
“When I was first diagnosed, my mother fell into complete denial and fear
and I had to let go of that relationship,” she told a newspaper in September.

Belle Gibson with her award at the Cosmopolitan magazine's Fun Fearless Female awards. Source: Supplied
After two months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she gave it up
having passed out for several hours alone in a park opposite the Melbourne
hospital where she was being treated. She decided “that if all I had was
between one hour and a month to live, I was not going to spend it passed out
on the hospital lawn, knee-deep in nausea and other side effects”, and chose
to change her diet and lifestyle, including immersing herself in therapies such
as salt, vitamin and Ayurvedic treatments, oxygen therapy and colonics. Diet
wise, she’s a vegetarian who doesn’t eat dairy, gluten, preservatives, GMO
foods or sugar.
The move worked. The following year, in 2010, Gibson defied doctors again
by giving birth to her son, Olivier, now four. But two years later after losing
her second child five months into her pregnancy, she struggled to cope with
the loss. Feeling “empty and unsupported”, she turned to social media,
sharing on Instagram what she’d learnt about health and nutrition since her
diagnosis. The response was immediate, with hundreds of people contacting
her to offer advice and share their own stories.
Feeling like she’d tapped into “this whole world of unsupported,
unmotivated, uninspired people” she decided to create a health and wellness
app. With a clear vision in mind, she drew on credit cards and borrowed from
friends to make it happen.

A cute summer fun shot by Belle Gibson. Picture: Instagram Source: Instagram
In August last year, The Whole Pantry app was born. It was downloaded
200,000 times in the first month (and has been downloaded another 100,000
times since) and was voted Apple’s Best Food and Drink App of 2013. And
in a major coup, when the Apple Watch launches next year, TWP will reach
a whole new audience as one of the device’s default apps.
All recipes are lavishly photographed and tested a minimum of three times.
“Everything is given a high quality of respect,” Gibson says. “People say it’s
just an app but we take it seriously. We want content to be at an editorial
standard.”
When not travelling the globe (she’s just returned from Japan), Gibson works
from a community workspace in South Melbourne with her team of eight.
She’s looking to put three more people on.
When Gibson’s travelling, Olivier is co-parented by his dad Nathan Corbett
and Gibson’s current partner Clive Rothwell, who fathered the baby she lost.
“We’re all really close,” she explains. “Nathan is still one my best friends.
For the benefit of Oli, it’s really important.”
Gibson’s personal Instagram account under the name @Healing_Belle also
continues to grow, with more than 200,000 followers at last count. It’s in this
bio that she calls herself a game changer. Her posts range from what she had
for dinner and inspirational quotes to sharing the hard truth about her health.

Belle Gibson and son Olivier at the market. Source: Supplied

In July, she revealed via Instagram that her cancer had returned. “I have
cancer in my blood, spleen, brain, uterus and liver. I am hurting … I wanted
to respectfully let you each know, and hand some of the energy over to the
greater community, my team and @thewholepantry … Please don’t carry my
pain. I’ve got this.” That post alone attracted nearly 9000 likes and a few
thousand messages of support (Gibson is waiting on further test results).
She tires easily and is understandably a homebody when her health and
schedule dictate. Wednesdays are non-negotiable days off when she spends
time with her son — riding their bikes along the beach near their Elwood
home, playing Lego and just treasuring moments together — with phone and
emails off.
Gibson’s day usually starts at 5am with Olivier “crash tackling me on the
bed,” she says. “I’ll get what he calls a kiss attack where he kisses me all
over from my feet to my head. We’ll sit in bed and have a plate of fruit and
nuts and a cup of tea and get up when the sun is looking like it exists.”
With Olivier off to school, Gibson addresses whatever’s most pressing on her
to-do list — meeting with recipe testers or overseeing the book’s launch into
the American and British markets in the new year. Her next project is the
mammoth task of relaunching the app and tripling its content.
She switches off at least an hour before bed time — to wind down, detach
from emails and work, shower, have a cup of tea and meditate.
“It’s important to have structure around the start of your day and the end of
your day,” she says.

Gibson might be facing a renewed battle, but as ever she’ll tackle it head on
with the infectious grace, determination and spirit that’s endeared her to her
thousands of loyal followers. A game changer indeed.
The Whole Pantry (Lantern/Penguin, $35) is out now

Try these delicious and healthy mushroom burgers. Source: Supplied
MUSHROOM BURGERS
There’s no need to miss out on burgers if you are vegetarian. These are just
as “meaty” and filling as their beef counterparts, plus they’re delicious and so
good for you.
Serves 4
Gluten and dairy-free, vegan
● 8 large flat mushrooms (about 10cm diameter)
● ½ cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
● sea salt and ground black pepper
● 1 tbsp thyme leaves
● 2 large roma (plum) tomatoes, thickly sliced
● 1 large (320g) beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated
● ¼ cup (60ml) apple cider vinegar
● 2 avocados, stones removed, flesh diced
● small handful mint leaves, chopped
● 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, seeded and coarsely grated
Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced). Line 3 baking trays with non-stick
baking paper. Brush each mushroom cap with oil and place, stem side up, on
2 of the lined trays. Season the stem sides of the mushrooms with salt and

pepper. Sprinkle over the thyme leaves and drizzle over half the remaining
oil. Bake for 25-30 min or until the mushrooms are cooked through and still
holding their shape. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on the remaining
lined tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the remaining oil.
Place in the oven when the mushrooms have been cooking for 15 min. Roast
for 10-12 min or until softened. Meanwhile, place the beetroot in a glass or
ceramic bowl. Stir through the vinegar and set aside for 10 min. Drain in a
fine-meshed sieve, squeezing out the excess vinegar. Set aside until ready to
serve. Place the avocado and mint in a bowl and lightly mash using the back
of a fork. Season with salt and pepper then stir in the cucumber. Set aside. To
assemble, place a mushroom, stem side up, on each serving plate. Use a wide
spatula to carefully top each mushroom with 2 slices of tomato. Sprinkle over
the grated beetroot, then top with a dollop of the avocado mixture and mint
leaves. Finish with the remaining mushrooms, cap side up.

Try Belle’s express chocolate mousse - you won’t stop at one. Source: Supplied
EXPRESS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Serves 4
Gluten and dairy-free, vegan, raw
● 4 large, ripe bananas
● 1 ripe avocado
● ½ cup (50g) raw cacao powder
● 1 tsp ground cinnamon
● 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
● fresh berries, chopped cacao nibs
● lightly toasted nuts or fresh edible flowers, to serve

Place the banana, avocado, cacao powder, cinnamon and maple syrup in a
blender or food processor, add
1 tbsp water and blend for 30 seconds or until smooth and well combined.
Divide among small serving bowls and top with berries, cacao nibs, nuts or
flowers.
Tips: To make a jaffa version, replace the water with 1 tbsp orange juice and
mix through 2 tbsp finely grated orange zest.
To make a chocolate chilli version, stir through ¼ tsp dried red chilli flakes.

BELLE’S BEAUTY TIPS
Your skin is your body’s largest organ. It is the looking glass into your health
so always be aware of it. It can tell you about mineral deficiencies, allergies,
food intolerances, medication and vaccine reactions, and even exhausted
organs that may need attention or repair. As well as your skin, your hair and
nails can become dry and brittle, or change texture when you’re mineral-
deficient or under stress.
● Drink at least 2 litres of filtered water a day.
● Start the day with two glasses of water, one with lemon juice. Even better,
add ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar.
● De-stress: try yoga, meditation, walking or standing on the beach or grass
with no shoes on.
● Get plenty of sleep.
● Eat healthy fats.
● Dry body brushing. A third of your body’s toxins are excreted through the
skin. Dry brushing helps unclog pores and excrete those toxins. If you do it
regularly, you’ll notice smoother, softer skin with less cellulite and fewer
signs of ageing.
● Avoid drinking with your meals as this dilutes digestive enzymes.
● Reduce acidity in the body by eating more alkaline-forming foods,
including green, leafy vegetables, lemons, wheatgrass, chia seeds, radishes,
beets, carrots and avocados.
● Avoid refined sugar which is damaging to the skin, as the sugar in your
bloodstream can attach to collagen molecules, causing stiffness and
inflexibility.
● Reduce your exposure to chemicals — back to basics with lemon and
vinegar for cleaning.
● Add probiotics and fermented foods to your diet. Most people with
unhealthy skin, hair or nails usually have an imbalance of good-to-bad
bacteria.

● Exercise daily — great for lowering inflammation markers, building
collagen in the skin and repairing connective tissue.