Tagged: food

Serve up Love for you

What is the best possible love you can give to yourself? How can you invest in you?

I am beginning to think that the most radical form of self love is in what we put in our mouths. When I hold myself accountable to my future self, the food choices I make are infinitely better than when I go with ‘a bit of what I fancy’.

We know that choosing food when we are hungry makes us far more likely to choose instant fix, dopamine boosting easy foods. There are studies which show that when we pre-plan our meals, we make much healthier choices than when we buy hungry. And, if you’ve ever had to squeeze in a supermarket trip before lunch you’ll know that you come back with very different things to usual! Different’s not always a bad thing but in this instance, it usually is!

Lucy’s Saturday lunch

My lunch yesterday looked like this and today, it was pretty similar just with brown rice and lentils rather than Mortadella.

I know that when I eat like this, my energy is better, that I am contributing to my health in all the forms it’s possible. I have green veg and artichoke for my liver, tahini for calcium for my bones, beetroot and olives for my cardiovascular system, chick peas and butter beans for protein, raw fermented kimchi and raw garlic for my digestive system, avocado and olives for a lot of tastiness and good fats…

That was a power plate. And when I look to my future, I want to be in the best possible health. I want to be around for my daughter in a supportive state (if she wants it!)

I believe I am contributing towards a positive future. We all have much longer life spans than our ancestors but what about a long health span? I intend to be as fit as I can for as long as I can. And then I can enjoy my life for longer, I won’t be a burden on anyone. If we all ate well, it would change so much about our health! And, just think how much more resource the NHS could funnel into other areas of health if it weren’t overburdened by lifestyle diseases.

I belive that food is fundamental to all of this. It isn’t the only factor as we also need to get good sleep, take herbs to address health issues, truly relax so that our nervous systems can replenish and exercise to faciliate and keep mobility.

Start by serving yourself a plate of self-love this Valentine’s.

Food Plate

Working with my patients on their health, I always look at their food choices. I say that the herbs are like your dominant hand – really effective on its own at getting things done all day long – but when you bring your other hand (food!) along to the party then that’s when we really make a difference to your health. And, those differences are the ones you are empowered to continue by yourself.

What we think we eat and what we actually eat are often quite different. We also tend to think we eat pretty healthily but once we examine it, the things we’ve put in our mouths e.g. after temptation (shop tills, TV adverts), stress and comfort eating and so on have come our way, it can turn out to be quite different to the things we have intentionally put in our mouths.

5-A-DAY? It’s just not enough. And, many of us don’t even achieve that. Aim for 8-10 instead with only two of those being sweet fruits.

My favourite way of thinking about what to eat is based on rainbows! Eating a daily rainbow of fruit and vegetable colours is a great way to get a good variety of the nutrients we need. The BHF talk about it here but mostly we don’t eat 5-a-day let alone the much more ideal 8/10-a-day. If counting portions isn’t your thing, imagine your lunch and dinner plates are 50% covered by colourful veg. Then you will hit that target. It doesn’t have to be 50% steamed veg, it includes pulses, beans and a whole heap of fun, tasty and exciting ways to eat veg like in warm or cold salads.

In my opinion, the NHS eatwell plate is not the best balanced version. I much prefer the Alliance for Natural Health plate instead (there is a different one for children under 6 years old). Look at how differently it is balanced with a strong emphasis on vegetables, low emphasis on fruit and only gluten-free grains, plenty of protein and fats and a good wallop of spices and herbs thrown in for good measure.

A wobbly screen shot of the ANH food plate!

Just think of all the wonderful meals you could eat and feed your family with if you ate like this! Does your diet look like this?

HOW I DO IT: Currently, most of my fruit eating goes on my breakfast with stewed apples (sweetened with cinnamon), some berries or dates if we’ve neither of those in the house. Lunch is often a big salad with a slice of homemade brown Spelt bread with seeds and a protein – tuna & beans, smoked salmon, occasional mortadella/salami/ham etc. We have been experimenting with recipe boxes and the veg portions in our evening meals are generally too few but as I get to know the recipes better, I will be padding them out with more veg or beans.