How I Ate Myself Healthy

We all started 2017 saying ‘This is going to be MY year!’ and I more than anyone sat waiting for the stroke of midnight on January 1st. But sadly the start of my 2017 hasn’t been the best with a string of infections, hospital visits and the flu…it’s been a bit of a disaster!

After weeks of super strong anti-biotics making me feel even worse while they fight off my infections I was left incredibly weak and determined to beat this sickness once and for all. So I did some research and took a long hard look at my diet, turns out, it wasn’t that great! While I wasn’t exactly eating Mcdonalds for every meal, most of the food I was putting into my body was pretty ‘beige’ and not overly nutritious so I realised it was time for a bit of an overhaul!

Just over a month ago Philips got in touch and challenged me to take on their Healthy Habit Swap and introduce juicing into my lifestyle. You can read all about my experience here, but this was pretty much the catalyst for my healthy lifestyle overhaul and I can’t rave about it enough! I’ve been juicing ever since putting loads of vegetables and fruit into my diet and the difference has been unbelievable. My blog explains in more detail, but I cannot recommend juicing enough, I really enjoy trying out new recipes, I feel great for it and it’s such an easy to way to get in your five (or isn’t it now supposed to be ten!) a day.

I’ve also started taking supplements to make sure I’m getting all the vitamins and minerals I need in my diet. I asked my doctor after my last set of anti-biotics and he recommended a standard multivitamin (I get a chewy one because I hate taking too many pills and they taste nice!), added zinc and said that echinacea might also be a good one to test out. I’ve been trying out some probiotics to help build up good bacteria again after killing it all off with my treatments and I feel like it’s been helping. There is a lot of debate about drinks like Actimel actually doing anything at all, but I invested in some chewable tablets from Holland and Barratt and have been feeling great. Whether they’re just a placebo or not they make me feel better and I’ve also been feeling a lot less bloated which I’m putting down to a healthier gut!

With the rest of my diet I haven’t changed too much except just adding in more ‘goodness’. So instead of simple eggs on toast for breakfast, I’ll add some mushrooms or spinach, or throw in some steamed brocolli with my lunchtime sweet potato and tuna. For dinner I’m adding more fresh fish, vegetables and lean meats – less salt and fat. But if I want to have a cheat meal then I go for it! If I want chocolate I eat it. I don’t deny myself anything I want but I do try to make healthier more nutritious choices most of the time because it just makes me feel good.

I’ve started to see food as a health aid and not just something that ‘fills a hole’. And with my exercise, I use it to tone up and get stronger not to lose weight, meaning that the food I eat around the gym fuels me rather ‘than takes away the good work I’ve done’ burning calories on a treadmill which is often how I used to feel when I was simply focusing on that number on the scales. I feel so calm about my weight and my body image these days with my new diet and lifestyle, it’s the healthiest mindset I’ve ever been in and I’m loving it.

Last but not least I’ve drastically upped my water intake. I got sent a Hidrate Spark Smart Water Bottle which measure how much you drink in a day and it’s been a real eye opener. I thought I was doing well but it turns out I wasn’t drinking as much as I thought and at the weekends? Well, it pretty much drops off a cliff! I aim for 2.5 litres a day and since I’ve actively been putting more water into my body I feel as if I have more energy, my sleep patterns are better and my skin is loving it! I also feel less inclined to snack (also down to the juicing) and I think I generally look and feel brighter. It’s one of the most simple things you can do to help your body, who knew! (Well, everyone but hardly any of us actually do it…get drinking!)

Touch wood my infections seem to have disappeared for the time being and I’m honestly feeling in the best health I’ve felt in years. There really is something to be said for looking at what you’re putting into your body as a health aid rather than seeing food as ‘the enemy’ to lose weight or just something we have to do to survive. My diet is so much tastier, brighter and more fun since I started adding in all those veggies and vitamins – I’m a total convert because quite frankly it’s so easy and makes such a big difference.

Taking a look at what we’re putting into our bodies and making more nutritious choices – along with de-stressing, moving more and taking life a little less seriously – is the key to a happy body I feel. Throw in a bit of sunshine and you’ve got the full package!

Flu? What flu?

xax