Back to the good life! NADIA'S LIFESTYLE RESET

With so much on her plate, the foodie mum had to prioritise her wellbeing. Now she's her happy self once more

- Sophie Neville

Nadia Lim will remember 2024 as the year she finally learned to put herself first. After years of “work, work, work until it pretty much breaks you”, the Kiwi food star is starting 2025 with a renewed outlook on life, and a promise to slow down to focus on what really matters.

“It really was a year of highs and lows,” says Nadia as she joins husband Carlos, 39, and sons Bodhi, eight, River, six, and Arlo, nearly two, for a family photoshoot at their home on Royalburn Station, the 485-hectare farm between Arrowtown and Cardrona that the couple took over five years ago. “It was time for a big reset and I feel happier now than I have in a long time.”

It’s a stunning summer’s day when the Weekly visits and Nadia’s tribe is in high spirits about the start of the school holidays. Family camping trips, swimming in the river and outdoor adventures on the farm await, and the My Food Bag co-founders are looking forward to a well-earned breather with their little lads.

Life on the land provides an idyllic upbringing for this trio and watching their boys thrive on their slice of rural paradise brings the couple immense pleasure.

“We don’t need to go away to places for our holidays because there’s still so much to explore here,” says Nadia, looking out to the hills that surround the property. “We’ll pack up the tent and head out for a few nights. The boys can go rabbit hunting and catch some eels. They love being outside in nature, as much as Carlos and I do.”

To say they’ve been busy would be an understatement. During the past year, Carlos spent months abroad on a prestigious Nuffield farming scholarship, leaving Nadia, 39, to hold down the fort at home – overseeing farm life, working on her many projects and raising the boys on her own. While it was Nadia who encouraged him to go, she admits she felt pushed to the limit at times.