Tips for a healthy, happy weekend

Tips for a healthy, happy weekend

Food health and fitness

Hello Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend! 
We escaped to the Bay of Arcachon* and stayed in our small house. 
I have a soft spot for this house...It's where I broke my waters while standing on top of a ladder painting our kitchen wall (as you do!) and then I stayed there with Mila until she was old enough to keep her eyes open for the passport photo so we could head back home in the UK.  The weather was amazing like last weekend and with the beach 10 min away, it was pure bliss.

The downside for me when we are in France is that I usually binge on French baguettes, pain au chocolat, biscuits and cheeses (and God knows we have heaps in France!) but this time, I was determined to stick to my healthy diet so as soon as I arrived I went to buy a 40 euros blender and plenty of fruits and vegetables to keep on track.

Having been very ill recently, I made some drastic changes to my diet to ensure I would feed my body the right nutrients. 
As a result to the same changes I've made, I have also lost 1.8 kg in four weeks - which is a major bonus for me since I have been trying to get my pre-maternity figure back for the past 8 years :-(
When  I was pregnant, I ate for England and France together and put on 15 kilos!!  I eventually managed to lose 7 but the remaining 8 were are a real pain in the bum!
I think apart from a few lucky ones who managed to get their figures back within weeks, we've all been there. It is a frustrating, painful road paved with obstacles but I feel I'm finally turning a corner. 

I don't know if this would help anyone to know about the changes but for me the major positive trigger was starting Bikram Yoga and then completely changed my diet 

{Small changes I made to improve my diet}

- Go to yoga 3 times/week (I feel not only relaxed, stretched but cleanse inside/out and more focus). As a result, my cravings for carbs and sugar have disappeared.
- Drink 2 Lt of water. It's a pain to start with but if you always have a 50ml bottle of water on your desk, it becomes quickly a habit to take a sip every now and then.
- Replace brown toasts in the morning by low-fat, organic vanilla yogurt + fresh blueberries (never thought something like this would taste so nice!)
- Replace sandwich at lunch time by mixed salad. My favourite one is mixed salad with low-fat, organic mozzarella, one soft-boiled egg & parma ham for proteins, tomates, avocado (for my skin), cashew nuts, olive oil & balsamic vinegar (it's surprisingly filling and delicious!)
- Snack on fruits rather than biscuits
- Listen to my body (and drink first before reaching out for food)
- Always prioritise taste. I'm an emotional eater (sad, happy, bored, excited you name it, I eat!) so for me it's super important to really enjoy the food I'm eating.

You can check my Instagram for inspiration on what to eat. Have a fantastic day!
*45 min drive from Bordeaux Airport

Awesome spicy prawn salad | Healthy eating

Awesome spicy prawn salad | Healthy eating

Food health and fitness recipe

Yesterday Francois & I was styled & photographed a collection of prints for a client in my home so I made sure we had a healthy, filling salad at lunch time.
Once recipe I have been doing for a long time (long before embarking on this healthy eating journey) was the Spicy prawn salad by Michele Cranston from her Seasonal Kitchen book. 
Her book and Donna Hay's Seasons are by far my two favourite cooking books (the styling in Donna's book is amazing) and as general rule, I'm much prefer the relaxed approach of Australian Chefs than French Chefs. I'm not much of a cook and for me, cooking is all about entertaining, having friends and enjoying good foods so I like it when it's all relaxed, easy to make and super yummy.

Oh and I almost forgot!! 
Here is an example of how I use cotton bags to store Mila's things as mentioned in my post yesterday.

{Spicy Prawn Salad recipe}
20 cooked prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined
1 large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (this is too hot for me so I replace mine by Light Sweet Chili sauce in a bottle)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger*
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
a handful of coriander leaves*
2 small avocados (sliced)
Steamed couscous (I swap couscous for Bulgar Wheat)

Put the prawns in a bowl with the chili (or sweet chili sauce), cayenne pepper, cumin, ginger, Spring onion, lime juice and olive oil. Toss to coat the prawns well, then add the coriander and avocado and season to taste. Lightly toss again and serve on a bed of steamed couscous or bulgar wheat (and I'm pretty sure it would work with Quinoa too).

*items I usually don't add and it still tastes delicious

// Recipe from Michele Cranston's Seasonal Kitchen | Photography by me

Re-energising blues and whites

Re-energising blues and whites

health and fitness Inspiration

Today is my first day back at work after two weeks well dodgy. I can't tell you how happy I'm to be here. I'm still feeling a bit weak and can't stand on my legs for two long but I'm feeling bright & alert which is a massive improvement (according to Steve, last week the kitchen table was more alert than I was!)
So, following my post from yesterday about starting the first day of my new (healthier) life, this morning I started by having a glass of spirulina (and I promise you it doesn't taste as bad as it looks!). 
Spirulina is an algae full of good nutrients which will boost anyone's immune system. 
I'm also taking probiotics on my Osteopath's advice and I have already switched my usual usual toast for gluten-free and yeast-free toast this morning which I had with avocado - it was really yummy and filling! 
I  got everything from here but you should find them in any health, organic shops.

If you have any yummy, tasty salad recipes to share by all means, please do. I never seem to be able to make them as tastier as the ones I eat in restaurants and I really would like to enjoy my food on this new healthy path. 
In the meantime, I just wanted to give you some energising inspiration from these photos. I always get a lot of energy from the Atlantic and I'm glad we are going there soon. I think this Winter has been so long for everyone that a lot of us are paying the price with our health and vitality so let's kick that and have fun and lots of energy!

// 1. Image by Ditte Isager (our white ceramic bowls look very similar) | 2. VT Wonen (I love this look, may try to dip one of my baskets into white paint when I feel up to DIY again) | 3. Image from Cote Sud (I think) | Source: unknown

Today is the first day of my new life

Today is the first day of my new life

health and fitness

{It was an awful experience but one that opened up things for me}

OK this is going to be an emotional post so you are warned...
Today for the first time in the past two weeks, I feel myself again...
These last two weeks I have been ill, the first week with the flu and as I was trying for my mind to be more powerful than my body to beat this thing, I didn't go to the doctor...
The second week, my immune system was so low that I caught a viral stomach bug that literally sucked the life out of me. I could hardly stand on my two feet and spent the whole week in bed.
I've never felt so powerless, useless and lonely. 
It was an awful experience but one that opened up things for me and I never EVER want to feel like this again.

{We always take our health for granted until it's gone}

I'm lucky, I have already got a pretty healthy lifestyle. 
I don't smoke (I stopped last October when I went to see her)
I hardly drink alcohol (only when we have friends around)
I drink my 2 Lt of water a day
I gave up coke zero
I eat my 5 a day (although not necessarily organics so I may not get the right nutrients)
I used to run and now I do Bikram Yoga which has an incredible positive effect on my well-being, skin and outlook on life
But I still got ill and so weak that I couldn't stand on my two feet, be with my family, let alone holding my daughter Mila.

{Healing the natural way}

On the advice of my friend Lau who is married to an Osteopath, I went to see one on Friday. The one I saw was wonderful, she was calming and inspiring. She told me that I had a healthy spine and great joints and somehow I felt really proud of myself...
It's funny, I think a few years back, I wouldn't have considered this as an achievement but now realising how important it is we all look after our bodies and teach our kids to be healthy, I felt very proud and I want to do more, more for myself, for my family, for those I love and for my child. I want Mila to grow strong & healthy and I want to teach to be that person.

{Things to explore}

When you're ill, there is so much TV you can watch until you crave for something else. So I read a lot about health, how to give my body the nutrients, energy it needs the natural way so I can carry on doing the things I'm passionate about.

And I got a lot of amazing advices from friends on Instagram and Facebook, recipes of healthy smoothies, books to read (The Green Life by Victoria Boutenko), supplements to take like Spirulina, so at the moment I'm processing everything but I'm making some changes to my life because  I want to grow old fit and healthy. 
I want to be able to have fun for the rest of my life. 
I want to be able to have the energy to do all the things I'm passionate about around BODIE and FOU, I have a book to write, beautiful things to style. 
I want to travel more and I most definitively I want to feel more alive...

So here are a few links of people who have already inspired me, hoping that they will inspire you too to change your life.
- I love following Dani's updates on Instagram from Fitness, Food & Style, Dani is a mother of 4 (she looks amazing) and I love how she inspires people on monthly challenges,
- the Green smoothies App on iTunes
- Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram, a pioneer in the local, organic food co-operative movement and founder of the largest raw, organic produce co-operative in the U.S.. She has been 100% raw for almost 7 years (I'm not there yet, I'm not even sure this is for me but Kristina is definitively a picture of health and she is very inspiring!)