How to work out what a ‘healthy diet’ means for you

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If you’re anything like me and you have a slight interest in keeping healthy, you would have done your fair share of reading things about how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You may even have made some changes to your diet as a result of this… Carbs are the devil sound familiar to anyone?

I’ve spent a lot of time (and in some cases money) following trends, fads, lifestyles in the past… and yes, I’ve seen results. Me and my inner cave girl loved the lean feeling from the Paleo diet for example – you cut out all grains, dairy, starches and legumes, and basically live off the natural protein and vegetables that cavemen would have (the argument being that this type of nutritional approach appeals to our natural genetic makeup). It’s fairly similar to the Harcombe diet which says that sugar is the absolute spawn of Satan and that (good) fat is the way forward (so again, basically, just eat meat and veg). And there are hundreds of other ‘ways of life’ (as in ‘oh hell no, this ain’t another diet, this is a way of life man!’) that undoubtedly have the right kind of reactions and suit an awful lot of people. But not me.

My problem with these different lifestyles is that I just couldn’t make them stick – the extremist in me just couldn’t make it work. So I’d follow the rules religiously for a few months, lose weight and feel good…. but then it would all come crashing down around my feet (my arse that is), as I couldn’t sustain it. There are a number of reasons why, and they all sound like excuses:

• I didn’t have the time or desire to bake my own healthy paleo snacks that didn’t really taste like the things I was actually longing for
• I was doing it on my own with little support except for the online community I’d found
• There were RULES man, RULES. And lots of them. Who wants to follow rules?!
• PMS vs paleo…. PMS wins. Hands down.

I could go on, but you get my drift. And for everyone of my friends who have had some amazing success with other ways of life, man like WeightWatchers, Slimming World and all that jazz, there are other friends who have given up all hope in a point-counting whirlpool of frustration. So I’m guessing I’m not alone.

When I started this nutrition course, I was faced with the Eatwell Plate. The actual nemesis of someone like Dr Zoe Harcombe. It says we should EAT CARBS *GASP*! And, not only that, it makes allowances for foods high in FAT and SUGAR *DOUBLE GASP*!!!! I can’t tell you how this screwed with my mind… I was genuinely torn. I’d just committed to doing a course that went against everything I’ve spent the last few years of my life believing.

But then as I carried on with the course, I think I got it. You only need to watch programmes on TV like Secret Eaters to realise that the majority of the population are incredibly naive when it comes to understanding the basics of healthy eating. And who can blame them, with there being 1,001 uber confusing messages out there. To me, the Eatwell Plate is a classic representation of everything in moderation… it’s a guide. Something to help people understand what moderation looks like, to get people thinking about what ‘healthy’ might mean for them. It’s not asking you to give up entire chunks of your diet. It’s letting you know how much of those chunks is a good/bad thing. For people who can and are able to commit to a more intensive way of life, then that’s great – if it’s working for you and you can stick to it, that’s awesome. But for others who find it difficult to wade through the sea of conflicting messages, moderation is healthier than doing nothing.

Juicy, juicier, juiciest…

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, seems to be jumping on the juice-tastic bandwagon in their January-month-of-detoxing-and-healthiness-festival. When I say ‘juice’, I’m talking about any type of squishing, bashing, squeezing, lumping and pummeling of otherwise solid foods into a liquid state. Call it juicing, call it smoothie-making… call it creating the happy tears of fruit and veggies… people are doing it with a vengeance!

And naturally, I am a part of that bandwagon. Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? But I’m a simple soul with not much cash to splash on fancy kitchen equipment (never mind the space to actually keep it!) so in November I bought me a little Kenwood blender for the princely sum of £25. Seemed to be a good investment given that I had recently rediscovered my passion for fresh smoothies, thanks to the lovely folk at Crussh. Man, oh man, those cheerful little taste-makers know how to smooth up a smoothie. And a juice. And porridge. And healthy pots of salady goodness. And soup. And… ARGH. Enough! They’re just awesome, okay?! But sadly, they have to make a living and charge the usual prices for London lunches. So I thought I’d save myself the money in the long run by making the odd smoothie at home. And, let me tell you, it’s been a DELIGHT.

My two current favourites, although I’m always open to experimentation, are:

LURGY-FIXER-AND-PREVENTORER (aka The Green Smoothie)

Ram-packed with goodness, it really does taste like you’re drinking HEALTH. Yes, despite it looking a little like snot. People use a variety of different ingredients and no doubt have their own preferences. Here’s mine:

• 1 large handful spinach
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 green apple
• 1 kiwi fruit
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• slug in coconut milk (I use KoKo) until it’s the consistency you like

And because I’m aiming to make things as simple as possible, I’ve taken to chopping up the fruit and veg (squirt of lemon juice to keep the apples going brown) and storing it ready in the fridge the night before. Then it’s just a case of chucking it in the blender, zjhuuzzjing (you know, that thing that the blender does), and pouring it into a bottle to take on my commute. BEAUT.

PRETTY-IN-PINK: Antioxidant boosting berry smoothie

Now most of the shop-bought varieties of berry smoothies are sugar-playgrounds. Not just the fructose type of sugar, but they normally add a heap too. I prefer mine a little more wholesome (do I get my sugar-free halo yet?!):

• frozen mixed berries: usually blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and other berry beauties that they chuck in!
• around 200g of natural Greek yoghurt. full-fat or low fat, it gives a nice dose of hefty protein.
• around 40g of rolled oats for a carb-boost
• a tbsp of milled nuts/seeds for some of the good fats
• slug of coconut milk as before.

Now this might not be sweet enough for some. If you want to, add in a tsp or so of honey or agave nectar. Or, rely on the berries own sweetness and get in the queue with me for the sugar-free halo!

Something that I’ve learnt with these luscious delights is that they are actually full MEALS. Just because they’re in liquid form does NOT mean that you can attempt to down them in one. Tummies don’t like it much when we do that. Sip and slurp is the order of the day. Give yourself time to enjoy it. And you’ll feel all the more better for it.

So, those are two of my faves – and I KNOW that you folk are going to have a few gorgeous treats up your sleeves… Share the love?

Food: the elixir of life?

I have a birthday coming up. It’s not a big one, but it’s the biggest one I’ve had so far. And I’m reaching that stage where I’m suddenly starting to notice things getting a little less young looking. I’m slightly more creased than I used to be. And am prone to looking a bit like I’ve had a rough night – which is particularly disconcerting when I’ve had a full 8 hours sleep. If we really are what we eat, then I need to start eating something to pump the youth back into me. So I’ve been having a little meander through the wealth of information on t’internet to see what food can do for our skin, hair, eyes and general well being… And because I’m more generous in my old age, I thought I’d share it with you!

It goes without saying that a diet packed full of veg and fruit (more veg than fruit!) is the best all round fix. But there are other things that I think most people might overlook. So here’s my top 3 things to turn us into sprightly young things of youthly youngfulness*
(*NB – I may be prone to slight exaggeration.)

• Embrace the fats: but make sure they’re the right kind of fats. Avocado and salmon (the natural monounsaturated fats) = yes. Am particularly obsessed with coconut oil at the moment too – from cooking with it, to rubbing it on my skin direct from the jar… it’s a lush-smelling pot of love! These types of natural fats pour a world of good into your body, and do wonders for the skin. Fast food and margarine (transfats) = no. The bad fats clog your arteries and take away elasticity from the skin.
• Sugar is the devil. Yes, I know, it’s also oh-so-tasty and (according to Mary Poppins) ‘makes the medicine go down’… But I’m sure we’ve all had the odd spotty outbreak after gorging on chocolate. Sugar makes it more difficult for our bodies to heal. And it depletes collagen in our blood which is what keeps our skin nice and tight. So basically sugar = wrinkles. Luckily, there are a whole heap of natural sugar replacements – I use agave nectar (great on porridge) and stevia (sugar-free baking here you come!).
• Drink plenty from the fountain of youth: sadly it doesn’t overflow with wine, sugary squash or fizzy stuff. Now, you’ll have a tough time prising a glass of wine from my hand, but in my defense, I do also try to drink a bucket load of water. Not out of a bucket though. That would attract some strange looks. And, in a nostalgic glance back to my African roots, I am a huge fan of rooibos (red bush) tea which is packed full of antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory and is a great caffeine free cuppa. Bliss.

Obviously that’s just skimming the surface – there’s plenty else that can be done to help slow the inevitable aging process. I’d love to hear your top three tips… And I plan to be more rigorous with putting mine into practice… just as soon as the birthday is out of the way. Well, it would be rude not to… 😉