Healthy tips

I have for years been deeply facinated by what people eat and why they eat it. I've always had friends ask me how I can "eat so much and be so thin". Well, here are my top tips- they aren't for a determined body builder, but for an average person who wants to stay generally fit and healthy. If you follow this, believe me, it will save you hospital/drug bills in the long run.

- Know what you eat. That means read the label, do your research. Processed foor contains large amounts of salt, additives and sugar. Where does your meat come from? How about the milk? Has your beef/chicken/lamb been humanely treated? How are your supermarket on food that arrives by air?

- Eat smaller, more frequent meals. This is by now common knowledge, but I know so many people who start eating around 3pm, and stating that they are "soo hungry" go and grab a snickers. Don't skip a healthy breakfast. Don't wait until you are ravenous and then eat a massive meal at 10pm. Keep your blood sugar levels even, and make yourself something you LIKE in the morning so you get started.

- Stop eating ready meals. There are a million fast-and - easy type cookbooks out there. You WILL make a mess in the beginning, but there is only a matter of building up a reportoire of recipies you can do. Start off simple and build on it. Always have a few ingredients at hand so you don't end up with the frozen pizza. My boyfriend started out as an instant soup man- now he is whipping up pesto pasta, shin stew pots, mexican chicken mole and the worlds best grilled cheese sandwiches ;)

- There is no white sugar in my house. Buy unrefined sugar and agave syrup, they can be used for almost all the things you use white sugar for. Only exeptions are things like marengue, and recipes with strict whipping standards.

- I only use butter in things like brownies and cookies. Olive oil and rapeseed oil are wonderful and will recuce your intake of saturated fats.

- Cheap, fatty toppings and dressings are a big no- no. Make your own mayo if you have to use it- it's actually easy. Also, a simple salad dressing is always best, to bring out the flavour of the fresh greens. A little extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar or lemon, maybe a little mustard and a pinch of chilli. Dousing it in awful mayo based dressings will kill the flavour and you're adding hundreds of calories to your meal.

- I (almost) never eat white bread or pasta, unless it's fresh and in a lovely restaurant. Make a habit of buying and making wholegrain.

- I don't drink ANY sugary drinks. None. I want my sugar to be in lovely, flavourful, rich cakes and buns I make myself. An average sugary drink will contain more sugar than if you ate a whole cake on your own! You don't need it. After a while without when you taste it again, you won't want to drink it, because you'll find your tastebuds have rediscovered how disgustingly sweet they actually are.

All that said, as you've probably realised, I do love my snacks, cakes and wine, but I always make them myself so I know how much sugar and fat is in them, no additives, and people- EXCERSISE. I also love crisps, but I swear by brands such as Kettle Chips or Red Sky- they use no additives and slow fry good quality potatoes in sunflower oil. Again- know what you eat, don't just mindlessly chuck cheap, convenient things in your shopping cart ;)


Much love