All posts tagged: Health

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 …

Five Minute Guacamole Recipe

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This is a variation of the delicious guac my old housemate Amy used to make for me (under duress), now, I don’t have her patience for carefully crafting amazing dips, I just want to eat. So I figured out how to make my own guacamole in a matter of minutes. Hers will always be best… but this is a pretty good recipe too. INGREDIENTS Large Ripe Avocado Small Red Onion (Diced) Tomato (Diced) 1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder Handful of Fresh Chopped Coriander Juice of 1 Small Lime Salt & Pepper to Season Once you’ve diced what you need to dice, peel the avocado – is that to obvious? Anyway, do peel and de-stone it. Telling if an avocado is ripe is pretty difficult, I say, if it’s soft to touch, use it, anther way to tell is to remove the brown stem at the top and if it comes away easily and is green underneath the fruit is ripe. If not and it’s brown underneath, it’s unripe… other than that you’re on your own. Anyway, …

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 …

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 …

How to Stay Fit & Healthy While Backpacking

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There’s nothing worse than travelling the world, visiting beautiful beaches and not feeling body confident. We’ve all done the emergency ‘beach body’ thing before a two-week holiday, which is mainly unsuccessful and usually way too last minute. But what if you’re always on holiday… like, for a year? Before I embarked on my travels I started a little fitness kick to make sure my body was prepared for the backpacker’s life. I didn’t want low fitness levels or lack of body confidence to hold me back from doing anything – whether that’s climbing a mountain or strutting my stuff on a beach. While I wasn’t striving for a Victoria’s Secret Angel bod, I did want to feel strong and capable. Getting fit and achieving a toned body without a gym, large budget or a well-stocked fridge is hard, I admit, but there are a few tips you can follow to keep your bod looking beach-ready while travelling. 1. Er, swim I’m always surprised by the amount of people who bake on a beach all day and never get in …

Hey Ladies, Don’t Forget Your Sports Bra!

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If this sound like the most random article ever then I’m sorry, but it’s not. This is me imparting some knowledge that will seriously improve the quality of your backpacking life. I’m totally alive with excited energy as I type this because I simply believe this is one of the greatest lessons I have learned in my, ahem, twenty-something years on this earth. Okay, a bit OTT, but read on for why you need to embrace the sports bra… THEY LOOK PRETTY GOOD THESE DAYS They’re an actual, legit fashion item now. Forget those grey elastic over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders, today’s sports bras come in myriad colours, patterns and designs and they’re really flattering on most people. This means you can wear it as a fashionable crop top as well as a bra. Score. I love a multi-tasking item. YOU CAN SWIM IN IT Speaking of multitasking, your sports bra will double as a bikini top, and you won’t look weird, I promise. In fact there are bikinis that specifically and truly double as sports bras these days …

How to Stay Hydrated in Hot Climates 

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Twice in my life I have thrown strops in airports because I was too thirsty. I may have done so many more times in a non-airport setting. I’m a chill person, but I have a massive fear of dehydration. If you’re dehydrated you feel sluggish, tired, weak, head achey and you look like sh*t too. Thirst is the last warning sign of dehydration, so if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. water filtration. At home it’s easy to have a routine and stay well-watered but if you’re o the road, how do you do it? A big concern is water-safety in foreign countries, mostly you’ll have to buy bottled water which can become very expensive, even if water is cheap. A 50p bottle of water, if you’re drinking 4 a day for a month, quickly amounts to £60 – not good for budget conscious travellers. Buy a Steripen You can buy sterilising tablets but I’m wary of any chemicals you ingest. A Steripen works like this: “UV light purifies water without harmful chemicals and without changing …