Wellness, for Frida Redknapp, is not a rigid routine or a punishing list of rules. It is something softer, more instinctive and unmistakably Scandinavian. “I make it more simplified,” she says, settling into her London kitchen. “I don’t want it to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Growing up in Sweden, Frida’s sense of health was baked in from childhood; less about wellness trends and more about a quiet, steady way of living. Forests five minutes from the front door. Summers spent fishing on lakes in remote cabins with no electricity, food kept cold in an earth cellar dug into the ground. A childhood built on fresh air, movement, and simplicity. “It’s so calming to be in nature,” she says. “That’s something I really miss giving to my kids.”
Morning rituals worth stealing
Frida’s mornings are a masterclass in gentle consistency and breakfast is a complete non-negotiable. “I can’t do the whole fasting thing,” she says firmly. “I need food in the morning.” Before anything else, she reaches for a glass of warm water with ginger, lemon, and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. “It just settles your gut and hydrates you nicely,” she explains. Then comes what she calls the family smoothie; organic kefir blended with frozen berries, Manuka honey, and soaked chia seeds, poured into four or five glasses and left on the counter for the whole household to grab.
Breakfast itself is almost always pancakes or waffles, but don’t mistake these for a treat, Frida loads them with cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, eggs, soaked chia seeds, lemon zest, vanilla, almond flour, and gluten-free oat flour, plus a glug of extra virgin olive oil. “You’re literally getting your 30 a day,” she laughs. Coffee follows; dairy-free milk, often blended into a protein coffee and then the day begins.
The Swedish approach to food as medicine
Swedish food culture is not about deprivation, it’s about nourishment with flavour. Frida’s cooking reflects this completely. She is passionate about olive oil, chia seeds, and fibre-rich ingredients, and has a habit of sneaking extra goodness into everything she makes. Her go-to snacks are entirely homemade: four or five times a week she bakes a batch of fibre cookies packed with milled flaxseeds, chia seeds, mixed nuts, her own nut flour blend, and olive oil. They disappear fast, one of her sons can eat ten in a sitting, but she makes them without guilt because she knows exactly what’s in them.
Even her comfort food; a deeply satisfying bowl of pasta with plenty of parmesan, feels intentional, not guilty. And her beloved Swedish cookbook, a well-worn volume she has owned since she was 15, sits at the heart of it all. Known in Swedish as the Rutiga Kokboken — the Checkered Cookbook — it contains every classic Swedish recipe imaginable and is, she says, a staple in most Swedish households. “If you open it, it has all the basic Swedish recipes. I used it so much it is trashed,” she laughs, then corrects herself: “Well worn.” It’s the book she returns to again and again, always adding her own healthy twist: swapping plain flour, skipping refined sugar, finding a way to make it just a little more nourishing.
Her Swedish heritage also means an early dinner is non-negotiable. “I try to have dinner early because I don’t think having dinner too late is good for you. It’s also quite Swedish, I think.” Evenings wind down with herbal tea, a shower, sometimes a sauna session, and crucially, the phone put firmly in another room at least two hours before bed.
Family first, always
Ask Frida what wellness really means to her and, eventually, the conversation always comes back to family. Since becoming a mother at 24, her motivation for looking after herself has been fundamentally about them. “It’s not about you anymore,” she says. “You need to have energy and feel great for yourself, but you also have to give a lot to your kids. I need to make sure I treat my body well so I can show up for my kids and for myself, in the best possible way each day.”
Practically, this shapes her whole day. She tries to do every school run, blocks out the afternoon pick-up wherever she can, and aims to finish work by five so that the evening belongs to the family. Dinner together is the goal, even if teenage sports schedules and A-level revision sometimes get in the way. “There’s always food on the stove,” she says. “There’s always food ready. I try to keep the fridge packed.”
She has also built her entire business from home; no office, meetings held at the kitchen table, so her children have watched her work from day one. And she believes, deeply, that children absorb far more than they are told. “Monkey see, monkey do, literally,” she says. “How I live my life, how I handle situations, how I handle stress, what I eat, how I train. Even if I’m not loud about it in front of my kids, they just see me take care of myself. And they watch.”
It is a point that is quietly, perfectly illustrated mid-interview, when one of her daughters wanders into the kitchen, entirely unbothered by the recording equipment, and calmly begins making herself an acai bowl. No prompting, no fuss. Just a teenager who has grown up watching her mother prioritise nourishing food and doing exactly the same.
Nature as a non-negotiable (even in London)
London’s parks offer some solace; Holland Park and Hyde Park are close, and she values them but Frida is candid that it’s not the same as growing up surrounded by Swedish forest. She dreams of taking her children on a food-inspired trip to Sweden: camping, foraging, living close to the land the way she once did. “I would love to do an almost food-related trip to Sweden,” she says. “It’s perfect for camping.” In the meantime, her sauna at home has become an important ritual. “It’s really great for you,” she says simply, in true Swedish fashion, no further justification required.
Wellness as a moving target
Perhaps the most Swedish thing about Frida’s approach to health is its lack of dogma. She adapts constantly; to her energy levels, her schedule, her children’s needs. Some days that means Lagree Pilates at full intensity. Others it means a 25-minute session at home because that’s all there is. “As long as you do something,” she says. That pragmatic, unpressured approach to wellness, one that moves with life rather than fighting it, might just be the most powerful health habit of all.
