Being a typical type A personality, I rush everything I do including eating. 9 times out of 10 I’ve gobbled up a plateful of food whilst others are not yet half way through. Or, I’ve sat at my desk working away eating my lunch but not really tasting or savouring it. I walk fast, talk fast, eat fast – it’s just the way I am. Often, I end up feeling heavy and uncomfortable. Sometimes, I feel dissatisfied: I’m still hungry and I want to eat more food. Continue reading
Category: Energy/Vitality
Why I cut out Wheat and why you might want to think about doing so too
For a long while I suspected that I had a bit of a problem with wheat. If I’d had cereal for breakfast and then a sandwich for lunch I’d notice that my stomach would feel quite uncomfortable, bloated and made some low grumbling noises in the afternoon. It was obviously not happy! Continue reading
Chargrilled Cauliflower with Chilli and Garlic
A great nutritious accompaniment to a meal!
Cauliflower is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family, known for their cancer fighting properties. High in vitamin C (one portion contains 77% of the recommended vitamin C daily amount), vitamin K and beta-carotene, cauliflower is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich. Try this simple recipe to liven up your cauliflower dishes. I used to think cauliflower was rather bland but I think, (like me) you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how simple yet yummy this dish is.
Ingredients:
- 2 heads of cauliflower
- Olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 mild red chillies
- Pepper and salt to season
- Cook the cauliflower in boiling water to blanch only (a couple of minutes). Cool it down completely by immersing in cold iced water, drain and dry completely (It mustn’t be wet).
- Once completely dry, toss in a couple of tps olive oil. Heat a griddle pan and grill the florets(in batches if necessary) on a high heat, turning them regularly so they get charred on all sides.
- In the meantime, heat 2 tbs olive oil and heat the whole garlic cloves and chillis until the garlic turns slightly golden.
- Pour them over the hot florets and toss together. Season to taste and serve!
Optional: Use broccoli instead of cauliflower or have a combination!
Variation: Add lemon slices or thinly sliced toasted almonds
The key to dropping a few kilos? Exercise less, not more!
I don’t know about you but if I had an important event looming that I wanted to look good for I’d up my exercise regime and work out fast and furious. The result?? Not what I’d expect – in fact, sometimes the scales would even show an extra pound or two! Continue reading
Goat’s Cheese, Date and Walnut Salad
2 cups of mixed salad leaves of your choice
1/2 cucumber chopped
1 cup of mini tomatoes cut in half
1 cup of dates pitted and chopped in half
2 ripe pears (peeled or skin on) and chopped
2 figs quartered
½ cup walnuts chopped
200g Goat’s cheese crumbled
Optional: Blackberries to garnish
Dressing:
¼ cup honey (pure raw honey is the best)
60 ml apple cider vinegar
Lemon rind grated
1 Tbs lemon juice
60ml extra virgin olive oil
Seasoning to taste
- Mix all the salad ingredients in a bowl
- Drizzle with the dressing
Alison Middleton
The Spring Equinox – a chance to rebalance
This week we’ve had the Spring Equinox, the annual celestial alignment between the Earth and the sun, which usually takes place on or around 21st March. It is accompanied by a change in the seasons from winter to spring in the Northern hemisphere.
The Spring Equinox occurs when the Earth is in the right place with respect to the sun. At this point in the Earth’s roughly 365-day journey, both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive almost the same amount of daylight (12 hours), meaning there are almost equal amounts of daytime and nighttime in both halves of the Earth. Hence, the word, equinox, which means “equal night” in Latin.
The Spring Equinox marks the start of longer days for the Northern Hemisphere (and shorter days for the Southern Hemisphere). It has long been celebrated as a time of rebirth with the spring festivals of Easter and Passover celebrated at this time.
It’s a perfect time to think about the balance and the ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ in our own lives. The basis of this Chinese philosophy is that all life is ruled by the interplay of these 2 dynamic forces: yin is negative, yang is positive. Seemingly opposite or contrary forces (such as night and day, darkness and light, masculine and feminine), one cannot exist without the other. The whole is greater than the parts.
The table below gives some characteristics of Yin and Yang:
Ying | Yang | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The yin yang symbol (see below) is a wonderful expression of the interplay between the two forces. The black colour represents the yin and the white colour represents the yang. There is a black dot that looks like an eye of the white fish. Similarly, there is a white dot as if an eye of the black fish. If you were to walk through the diameter of the circle, you would not experience pure black or pure white. There is always some black and some white. This reflects that the yin and yang are rooted in one another. You find yin in yang, and yang in yin reflecting the reality of life: there are seeds of sadness in happiness and opportunities in every risk.
The roundedness of the symbol gives the sense of continual movement and interaction of the two energies. Yin can turn into yang and yang turns into yin, causing a new state of yin-yang relationship to establish. The aim is to balance them as far as possible for without balance there is discord and disharmony in our worlds.
A challenge for us in life is to balance the yin and yang in things we do. The better we are in finding the equilibrium, the more effective we can be.
I’d like you to think about:
- The yin and yang aspects of your life. Are your mood and energy more aligned to yin or yang at this point in time?
- Where you have been focusing your time and efforts. Have you been focussed on work rather than family, fitness or self-care?
- The aspects of your life you have been neglecting. Do you need to reconsider your priorities to stay balanced?
If you have been giving to others you need to take the time to receive for yourself. There are many ways to find your way back to balance. Here is a handful of suggestions below:
- To counteract the long time spent sitting at your desk during the week, go out and enjoy a run or hike, sit outside or sign up for a fitness or yoga class
- We all need a respite from social interactions. Take time out to just ‘be’. Immerse yourself in a good book, meditate or enjoy an hour in a flotation tank
- Whenever possible, ditch your smart clothes for casual attire. Spend a day with no makeup, relaxed and free in tracksuit bottoms!
- If you’re feeling grumpy or dissatisfied, take a moment to reflect on all the good things you have in life and what you have to be grateful for
- Whenever possible, take a break from your hectic routine. Plan regular holidays or long weekends to relax and do things you enjoy
- If you find you’ve been eating unhealthily, try to balance the junk with nutrient-dense food such as healthy vegetables, a salad, or one of my go-to recipes here
The chart below may help you see where you can make choices to rebalance your diet:
Yin Foods: “Yoga Foods”
Makes you light and happy Can make you spacey and scattered |
Yang Foods: “Weight-lifter Foods”
Makes you grounded and focused Can make you aggressive and forceful |
Raw | Cooked |
Fruits | Chicken and eggs and meat |
sweeteners | salt |
alcohol | |
Balanced Foods: Whole grains (brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats Dark leafy greens Vegetables: squash, carrots, onions, broccoli, mushrooms Beans and legumes
|
So, I’d love to hear your thoughts around the areas you are going to focus on to rebalance, ready to shrug off that winter blanket and leap into spring with vitality and energy.
Alison Middleton
Roast Veg
This makes a nice change to boiling or steaming vegetables. Great as a side dish accompaniment to a roast or just on their own.
Choose any combination of all or some of the following (whatever you have to hand):
- 4 cups of cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and/or broccoli
- 2 carrots
- ½ squash
- 6 parsnips
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 2 purple onions (cut into quarters) or 8 shallots
- 2 courgettes
- 1 red, orange or yellow pepper or a mixture
- 1 large beet
- 1 large garlic bulb, broken up into cloves and peeled (see trick above)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- black pepper to taste
- 2 to 3 tsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
- couple of sprigs of rosemary (optional)
- Preheat oven to 400F or 200C
- Chop all the vegetables (except the parsnips – you can leave them as they are) in similar size chunks. If using cauliflower, break it up into florets or if using Brussel sprouts cut stems off and cut in half
- Toss all vegetables and whole garlic cloves with seasonings and oil
- Place vegetables on large sheet pan (Tip: cover the pan with parchment paper to make it easy for clean-up)
- Roast vegetables for 20 mins and stir, then roast for another 15 mins or until vegetables are golden brown on the edges.
Grain Free Pancakes
Grain and guilt-free pancakes that are a wonderful weekend treat and they take less than 10 minutes to make! Continue reading
Golden Tea
This is drunk a lot in Asia and is it known as ‘liquid gold’. A great comforting drink for the winter and especially if you feel you are ‘coming down with something’. I love a cup of this as part of my wind-down bed routine too. Continue reading
Tired of making New Year’s Resolutions? Try this instead…
I don’t know about you but setting New Year Resolutions can be setting yourself up for disappointment and a feeling of failure when you don’t stick to them. Continue reading
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