All posts filed under: Health

5 Cheap, Easy and Healthy Meals To Impress Your Friends

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I love cooking at home, it’s a lot cheaper than going out to eat all the time (especially in London) and it means you know exactly what’s going into your meal. I’m no Nigella, but there are a few staple dishes that I can make really well and I thought I’d share a few of them with you… Courgetti with Pesto & Salmon If you haven’t heard of spiralizing then you’ve probably been living under a rock… either that or you have way more fun things to do than play with vegetables! However, we all gotta eat, right? And if you have to eat you may as well do it the quick and healthy way. Substituting pasta or noodles for veggies is great for people who are gluten intolerant (or pretending to be), or those of us who bloat after a good spag bol. Courgette noodles or ‘courgetti’ are probably the most popular vegetable to spiralize, you can use carrots or squash, and to do so you need to buy a spiralizer… or do you? …

In Defence of ‘Wellness’ and Healthy Eating

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There is a recent VICE article doing the rounds The Unhealthy Truth Behind ‘Wellness’ and ‘Clean Eating’ by ex Bake Off star  Ruby Tandoh that caught my attention. In the article which is definitely worth a read, Tandoh questions whether this new obession with juicing, eating gluten-free and detoxing is really healthy at all. In fact she shares a little about her own eating disorder (she suffered from anorexia) and how advocates of clean eating such as Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley sisters gave her an excuse to restrict her eating and cut out certain food groups. While a part of me agrees with her, it is only a small part, and while I also know that orthorexia (an eating disorder centered around a fixation on healthy or clean foods) is very real and I feel terrible for the people who suffer with that or any other eating disorder, when it comes to some pretty girls flogging healthy cookbooks and posting chia seeds on Instagram, I can’t help but think ‘what’s the …

Sheree’s Super Smoothie Bowl Recipe

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Since my trip to Bali where I tried my first smoothie bowl at this awesome cafe (Alchemy, check out the review here) I have been craving smoothie bowls like there’s no tomorrow. Which makes a change from craving Toffee Crisps, and is much, much healthier. So I thought I’d have a crack at making my own since they are incredibly expensive to buy here in the UK. So here is my recipe, oh and it was DELICIOUS!!!! 3 Steps To Breakfast Heaven STEP ONE: The Smoothie Base This is important because it’s the main component of your bowl, your smoothie needs to be thick, a lot thicker than a usual smoothie. So I use bananas because they thicken anything up and they’re cheap, but you can also try avocados, yoghurt (or a dairy free alternative if you’re lactose intolerant like me. Blend everything together in a Nutribullet or blender. 1 Banana Handful Frozen summer fruits Almond milk Manuka Honey STEP 2: The Fruit You can use anything here to be honest, just chop up some …

Alchemy Ubud – The Best Smoothie Bowls in Bali

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I can’t believe I found this place, it’s actually thanks to a guy I met on Tinder in Ubud who ultimately ghosted me but initially took me on a breakfast date here. I had breakfast here 5 days in a row, it’s that good. It’s also super chic and modern despite being in the middle of rice fields. You definitely need a scooter to get here but it’s so worth it. The decor, the vibe, the food of course… The build-your-own smoothie bowl is beyond delicious. My favourite combination is: the Spirulina smoothie, dragon fruit, strawberry, banana, apple cinnamon granola, lemon and turmeric dairy-free whip, bee pollen, cinnamon, lime and mint. You will glow after this. They also do a fantastic salad bar featuring everything from capers to kimchi, pumpkin seeds to pesto. There’s a huge selection of raw, vegan cakes and chocolates and lots of scrummy teas and coffees. Alongside all this glorious food you can shop organic vegan cosmetics and accessories, I picked up some virgin coconut oil for my frazzled tresses. Anyway, …

The Dreaded Delhi Belly and How it Nearly Broke Me…

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Call it hubris, cockiness or just plain stupidity but I *honestly* thought I would avoid Delhi belly while travelling. I’ve never been ill because of food, I’m the person who eats with a group who all get food poisoning and remain unscathed, my stomach is legendarily strong.   That’s not to say I wasn’t careful, I didn’t eat meat for a month while in India, avoided tap water and religiously sanitised my hands – seriously, what more can you do? And I thought I was safe, I lasted one month feeling fantastic, so on the second to last night (in an expensive western restaurant, it’s never the street food) I indulged in some chicken. On the afternoon before my flight to Bangkok I began to feel *really* sick, I was sweating, nauseous and confused and just had to go to bed. Then the vomiting started. Now, before that, the last time I vomited was 2 years ago after the Hotbox London launch party where I drank 435 free cocktails and ate a whole cow, and …

6 Alternatives to a ‘Beach Body’

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The term ‘beach body’ has had a lot of bad press recently. It all started last summer with Protein World’s bikini-clad campaign and culminated in Women’s Health banning the phrase. Now, I don’t know why that particular ad started the backlash, because it’s something anyone who has ever bought any women’s magazine ever will have seen a million times before. In and of itself, the saying ‘beach body’ is not offensive at all, but the expectation that all us mere mortals should be 5’10”, beach blonde, long-legged, big-titted, with an ass like Kim Kardashian, abs like Jessica Alba and Jennifer Aniston arms is so overwhelmingly unachievable. Not to mention we all need to have completely hairless bodies, with no excess fat (except on the aforementioned ass and tits) the colour of molten gold that don’t sweat… enough already. Lets’s look our bests, yes, but in an inclusive, mentally healthy way. With that in mind, here are my six alternatives to that impossible ‘beach body’. 1. A HUGE F*CKING SMILE This is so cliché and I …

Backpacker Beauty: The Ultimate Edit

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We must first discard any wild notions of looking like Kim Kardashian on the beach. This is impractical and will not happen. You will look more like Helena Bonham Carter in Harry Potter (or indeed Helena Bonham Carter in anything). And that’s okay, come to terms with that. While accepting a more low-key look is important, obviously there are a few beauty tips and tricks to ensure you make the most of your natural beauty while travelling… MY FAILSAFE KIT You only need a small, teeny makeup kit I have detailed every single product right HERE. As for the rest take multitasking products and lots of sunscreen. Other amazing products are: Eucerin Sun Creme SPF 50 Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream Glossier Balm Dotcom Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream Le Labo Santal 33 Solid Perfume THINK SKINCARE NOT MAKEUP Again, makeup in 40 degree heat is as much use as an ashtray on a speedboat. That shiz is gonna slide off your face like oil so focus of healthy glowing skin. You get good skin by …

Pre-Travel Health Check for Girls

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What a yawn-a-thon life can be at times, even planning a RTW, once in a lifetime, trip comes with its fair share of boring tasks. One thing you should never neglect is your health, no matter how dull a trip to the doctors may seem. Here’s your checklist of things you need to do before you set foot on that plane: Sort out your contraception The last thing you want while you’re travelling is to fall preggers… literal nightmare. Hot, sweaty, with child. Not the ideal scenario. I mean OF COURSE you’ll be using condoms during any sexual encounter but accidents do happen. So if you’re taking the pill, stock up, if you have an injection, you’ll need to switch to something else for long term travel. Personally I favour the implant as it just stays in there, and requires zero effort from moi. Also it stops me menstruating which is BRILLIANT! I hate periods, especially on holiday. Not having them saves me money and room in my luggage bar the emergency tampon or two. …

Asthma and Long Term Travel

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If I could change one thing about myself I would magically remove my asthma, I’m not sure how that would work but that’s what I would do. Ordinarily it’s a bit of a pain, even when I’m at home I have to make sure I take steroid inhalers every morning and night, make sure I have a Ventolin with me everywhere I go (and a spare) and be careful not to get stressed, inhale too much dust, stroke cats or get too cold. So how hard is it going to be when I’m on the road for a year with only a backpack for company? Many people would say ‘don’t go’ but I don’t want my illness to hold me back. It rarely has before and with so many people suffering from asthma to some degree, I thought I’d share my findings… Tell people you have asthma Many people don’t even know that I have asthma because I’ve always been embarrassed about having it – in the media it’s portrayed as something the fat, geeky …

Skin Safety 101

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If you’re travelling, chances are at some point or another (or most of the time in my case) you’ll be subject to some pretty epic heat. Sunshine and travel go hand in hand and while a dose of the yellow stuff is great, too much can be dangerous. So in the interests of health, happiness and comfort, here are some tips to keep you safe in the sun. Wear Sunscreen Baz Luhrman was right about this, wear sunscreen, every day. I am mixed race and have pretty dark skin that tans at the mere thought of sunlight but even I wear the highest factor I can at all times. It’s a common misconception that SPF stops you tanning, it doesn’t, it just increases the time you can spend in the sun. Use a good quality SPF on your face of factor 30 or higher. This will stop you burning and most importantly prevent your peachy skin wrinkling up like an old prune. A Few Sunscreen Tips… I’ve already told you to wear sunscreen but here’s …