Eating well

What does ‘eating well’ mean?

Eating well means eating food that gives you sustained energy, nourishes your body and mind and is as close to its natural state as possible.

The NHS has guidelines for eating a healthy, balanced diet.

It’s widely acknowledged by health experts around the world that the Mediterranean diet is probably the healthiest diet you can follow.

What is food that is as close to its natural state as possible?

You might’ve heard people say that if they can’t pronounce what’s on an ingredients label, they won’t eat it. Ideally, most of the food you eat should be without labels, as in, single ingredient food like fruit, vegetables, nuts, meat, poultry and fish.

If you buy meat, buy it in its simplest state (chicken fillets, or diced beef for example) and add bits and bobs like seasoning, sauces etc. rather than buying the same item pre-marinaded or seasoned. Not only can you decide more precisely on the flavours and seasonings, but you’ll also be much more aware of the ingredients you’re adding in.

That sounds expensive

I get it, but it doesn’t have to be.

You can spend on organic fruits and vegetables, but actually there are a lot of conflicting research and opinions as to whether or not organic produce is actually better.

Buying fruit and veg that are in season now will be cheaper and kinder to the environment than buying fruit that’s been imported from thousands of miles away.

There’s a fab new company called Oddbox which sells boxes of wonky fruit and veg, these are also often cheaper in supermarkets that sell wonky food.

Chopping and cooking takes too much time

Your digestive system kicks into action when you start food prep. It realises that food will be on the way soon and prepares to receive and digest it.

When you eat fast food or ready meals, you deprive your digestive system from the vital pre-eating preparation it needs to do in order to utilise what you’re about to eat.

It’ll be more expensive, but you can buy pre-chopped carrots or broccoli. If you’re really pushed for time, these can save you a few minutes here and there. These are also DEFINITELY better options to use over putting a ready meal into the microwave.

You can use the multi timers app (you’ll find the link to it in the ‘health‘ section of the site) to save you time cooking. You can set different timers for different cooking times, so you won’t have to keep poking and checking.

OK I get it now. But the food I eat is unhealthy, where do I start?

You can start with just one meal that you make from scratch. It could be something like grilled salmon, green beans and roast potatoes. I eat really plain food and this is a fairly typical example of something I’d eat. But you can go more adventurous and add different foods, or flavourings, it’s just an idea of something super simple that you can make easily and pretty quickly.

Your brain doesn’t like change, so that resistance you may notice (I don’t want to, this is boring, I want McDonald’s etc.) is your brain trying to persuade you to stick wtih what it’s used to. Don’t let it. Just notice this resistance, and concentrate on the task of preparing your meal.

Eating healthy can be a really enjoyable experience, and once you’ve started you’ll find the food you’re cooking tastes nicer than cardboard microwave meals and you’ll want more of it. You just need to start.

Here are some ways you can make eating healthily a bit easier on yourself