Freer - Eat. Nourish. Glow. Summer

After struggling through the long, wet winter, I welcome spring with open arms. It nudges us out of our hibernation and subtly offers us a glimpse of whats to come. Our mood lifts when we see a clear blue sky, a sunny day or blossom on a tree. Arent changing seasons just amazing? And each with its own unique nutritional offerings.

Spring also reminds us that summer is just around the corner, and my clients always want to look and feel their best in the summer they want to be strong, energetic, fun and vibrant. And as spring and summer arrive, so does a whole new array of deliciously healthy nourishment in the form of succulent strawberries and juicy asparagus, proving that Mother Nature really does know best. However, we can sometimes lose our way a little when the sun comes out. On the one hand we are bombarded with an endless stream of Get a bikini body in two weeks! diets. Yet on the other, our health goals get packed away with our winter jumpers as we embark on hedonistic spells of eating what we like and drinking too much alcohol on long hot days.

So heres a quick tip. Make a start to eat, nourish and glow in springtime and then you wont have to worry about bikini body diets in the summer. You wont need to start a silly weight loss diet that leaves you tired, hungry and craving treats. Just start making small, doable changes now and you will look and feel amazing by the time summer rolls around.

While its tempting to just worry about how food affects the way we look, its also worth remembering the way it makes us feel and how it can protect our health. An increasing body of research is showing us that some foods naturally contain disease-fighting, anti-ageing, health-promoting properties, while other foods have been shown to hinder our health.

My goal is always health first, yet most faddy diets completely ignore this. Counting calories or worrying about fat content doesnt always lead us to select the healthiest and most nourishing food. After all, half an avocado contains more fat and calories than a handful of marshmallows. But whereas the marshmallows will leave you tired, groggy and craving more sweet food, the avocado will nourish you, boost your heart health and immunity, help speed up your metabolism and even help your skin to glow. So never think calories!

When new clients come to me because they want to lose weight, I steer them towards changing their thought processes so they are striving for better health and not a flatter stomach (although they will get a flatter stomach when they become healthier!).

My own personal journey has been driven by health and that guides how and what I eat. Im not focused on being a particular weight or dress size instead I focus on being healthy and feeling good, and not having any unpleasant symptoms or pain. It isnt normal to feel bloated or uncomfortable after eating yet so many of us think it is and continue to eat foods that fail to nourish. To wake up feeling alert, fresh and able to embrace the day is a wonderful feeling and it motivates how I choose to eat every day. So make health your goal and not the scales.

Exercise plays a part too. However, you cant out-train a bad diet. So often is the assumption that exercise cancels out bad food choices. It doesnt. I have met many clients who work out three times a week and think it excuses the daily doughnuts, lattes and wine. Sadly this just isnt true trust me Ive tried! Nutrition comes first and then, once eating a natural and healthy diet is established, embracing exercise comes next. I realise this book is titled Eat, Nourish, Glow but as a nutritional therapist, I will never focus on food alone. To be truly healthy you have to look at the whole picture. So to be glowingly healthy, we have to look at lifestyle too, and a sedentary one simply wont do!

On a functional medical course a few years ago, the doctor who was lecturing spoke about peoples fears of exercise. The word itself even made her clients shudder and come up with millions of excuses. I dont have time and I cant afford a gym membership being the most popular sound familiar? So she replaced the word exercise with gentle movement therapy, which I love and now use daily. Im not claiming to be an expert in exercise I know all of the excuses and I use them regularly, but the wealth of information on the benefits it brings simply cant be ignored. Paired with healthy nutrition, exercise is the most powerful and constructive way to optimise our health. But just like the word diet conjures up images of lettuce leaves, the word exercise conjures up images of boring hours spent pounding away on the treadmill. These stereotypes are wrong healthy eating can be delicious and exercise can be fun and quick, so switch your mindset and feel your motivation soar.

Exercise just like healthy eating should also be seen as more than a way to lose weight. Its now considered to play a role in preventing Alzheimers and diabetes, boosting immunity, stress relief, mood regulation and increased energy levels. If exercise came in pill form, it would be expensive and in demand. Quite seriously, exercise needs to be thought of as medication, just like good food, and summer provides the perfect platform for movement regardless of your starting point.

No matter what your fitness levels are like, the key is to keep challenging yourself, so if you are sedentary, then its time to start moving in a way that your body allows. Even if its just one to two minutes a day of stretching, or walking to the shops instead of driving, or taking the stairs instead of the lift. Start small and keep it up you will be amazed how quickly your body gets used to it. If you are already moving regularly, are you challenging yourself or staying in your comfort zone? For example, if you go to a weekly exercise class, thats great, but why not try a new class? Why not add in a weekly swim, run or yoga class? Keep mixing it up. This helps to increase your fitness levels and, crucially, makes it more fun. Find ways to move that you enjoy, like exercising with a friend or setting yourself a goal like a 5k fun run. And do something daily make movement a part of your healthy lifestyle, and fit it in wherever you can. Even a quick bike ride counts.

Okay, lecture over, Ill return to food now I always endorse the enjoyment of it. I dont want you to associate healthy eating with deprivation because good food is anything but. Long hazy summer days lend themselves perfectly to sharing delicious food with friends and loved ones in the social summer whirl of parties, weddings, buffets, picnics and barbecues. You can relish the social enjoyment of food while still continuing to pick healthy, delicious meals that nourish your body and mind.

Eating a rainbow of colours is an easy way to do this, and in summer its hard not to. Picking lots of different colours for your plate comes with a whole heap of health benefits, so indulge in summer produce and create your meals around asparagus, peas, green beans, broad beans, fennel, watercress, spinach, salad leaves, strawberries, radishes, rhubarb, raspberries and blueberries. Just look at some of the rainbow of foods our English summer provides:

Im not a total raw foodie but I certainly encourage that we eat many of our vegetables raw, and summer is the perfect time to indulge in as much raw food as possible we dont need the warmth from cooked foods like in winter. So shift your focus to salads, dips and freshly blended smoothies.

Cooked food in summer can often come straight from the barbecue, which is delicious and fun but just a word of caution dont overcook, char or burn foods. Oils, such as olive oil, become carcinogenic when heated to the point of burning so when any food is cooked at a high temperature and becomes charred or blackened, it increases the formation of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products). This leads to oxidative stress in the body, which means inflammation, which is ageing and opens up the potential to develop disease. Olive oil is best kept for cold use, so dont add it to the frying pan instead drizzle it on salads or use it as a marinade. Coconut oil is a far better oil to cook with and has incredible health-boosting properties. If you are barbecuing I suggest you marinate steak, fish, poultry and vegetables in olive or coconut oil, lemon juice, fresh herbs and garlic. Flip often and cook them as little as possible (apart from the chicken and fish, which should be cooked right through, just not burnt) and enjoy.