Chocolate and Beyond

Create your own definition of healthy eating

I just received the latest issue of the Beyond Chocolate newsletter, which talks about losing the mentality that 'healthy eating' has anything to do with weight loss. It took me some time to gather that having a jacket potato with lettuce and low-fat cottage cheese for lunch on a regular basis did not exactly equate with healthy eating (and this is something I barely eat now - in fact, I NEVER buy low-fat cottage cheese anymore and haven't done for about 3 years).

The idea that "low-fat = healthy" again was something that I needed to change my perception of, having come to learn that women who spend years cutting fat out of their diets are likely to suffer any number of health problems, such as increased cancer risk, because of it. So, I did especially like the latest newsletter because it really helps to clarify this concept:

"What exactly is healthy eating? What is a healthy diet? How do we make sense of the mountain of information, evidence and guidelines? Before we can begin to have a healthy diet we need to be clear on exactly what it means. Defining what it means to you is the first step.

First and foremost, take weight loss out of the equation. Does your approach to weight loss impact your diet? Does it shift the focus from good health to the number on the scales? Defining healthy eating for yourself means being willing to stop thinking in terms of pounds and inches lost and to start thinking in terms of nourishment and health gained. By shifting your attention to the quality and quantity of food you are eating and by exploring your relationship with food you are likely not only to have a healthier more nourishing diet but to reach a healthy body size that's right for you without trying.

Create your own definition

Whether you believe in eating five a day, eating less of certain foods, or including protein in every meal... the important thing is that you know what it means to you to have healthy diet. Getting caught up in the fug of 'I need to be healthier' often leads to desperately clutching at the latest fad. Experiment and do some research. Decide what makes sense to you or find people who you trust who have done the research for you. There is no absolute right or wrong, nobody really knows.

For every health food claim that's made, sooner or later another will emerge claiming the opposite! Gather information, evaluate it to the best of your ability and sprinkle liberally with several pinches of salt (given most research and subsequent health claims are funded by organizations with a vested interest). Your definition of healthy eating may look nothing like ours. The important thing is that you work out a definition that makes sense to you, is doable and feels good. As you live it, it may well change, evolve and shift as your needs and lifestyle changes."

Britain launches new national celebration - of licorice!

Licorice - do you like it? I'm not certain, and it does have a reputation as a snack that is loved or loathed, but its fans include kids, mums, and even pandas and rabbits – so Panda licorice (love the website) decided to name a day especially in its honour.

Tomorrow, the 16 April 2009, will be the first ever Love Licorice Day when everyone across the UK is to be encouraged to try licorice again. Many people associate it with heavy, sticky sweets but apparently Panda would like everyone to try it again and see what they think –

I suppose it's considered a bit like Marmite as to whether it floats your boat or not, but apart from tasting great (to those who enjoy), licorice is also well known (believe it or not) to help reduce the pains associated with menstruation. Other health benefits are reputed to include being a relaxant and helping long term stress and anxiety and aiding digestion.

Licorice lovers can visit www.landoflicorice.co.uk for more information and become a fan on Facebook by searching for The Land of Licorice.

Coffee with cream and never margarine

If you have been practising intuitive eating for some time, it can occasionally hit you with just how, um, intuitive it has all become!

I haven't bought any kind of low-fat spread for over 2 and a half years now, and though I don't drink coffee an awful lot, whenever I do I have it, I have it with cream. It occurred to me that I no longer question this, whereas I used to feel guilty if I had a spread of butter even in once in a month!

I pile my shopping trolley without ever thinking about fat content. After trying full-fat milk for a while, I reverted back to semi as I hate overly milky-tasting tea, but that was purely about taste and not about fat content and that to me says it all!

I've spent the last 2 and a half years eating what I want (within reason, as I do have health problems with some foods and I need to take care with them), and yet I haven't gained weight - in the LONG-TERM! I could have been dieting those last couple of years and the chances are I'd have been the same, but with the mental torture added to it.

Honestly - please give up the ghost of dieting and take a new approach to your life. It will be worth it in the end.

New Beyond Chocolate workshops coming up in April

For the readers of my blog who are interested in taking the principles of Beyond Chocolate further into their lives, you might be interested to know that the two sisters behind Beyond Chocolate have launched 2 new workshops, one running April 4th and one running April 5th.

I just thought I'd provide the details of them here, if you fancied joining up for one of them (and more details can be found on the  Beyond Chocolate website):

What I've been busy with is Wren Elite Travel!

Yes, I did manage a new year post (yippee) but I thought it was time to announce on my Chocolate and Beyond site what it is that I've been busy with, which is my new internet-based travel agency, Wren Elite Travel.

I did launch late last year, but it is now that I feel that the foundations are in place and I'm truly ready to roll. It's very exciting: Wren Elite Travel specialises in luxury holidays and tailor-made travel, adventure and activity, weddings abroad and honeymoons, and escorted treks and tours.

I provide a more comprehensive service than online holiday booking engines can provide, yet without the overheads of a high street shop, can be competitive in price. As well, if you already have a quote you'd like to see if I can better, and if not by price then with some extras - just let me know the details (such as who your current quote is with, on what dates and for how long, and at what price).

If you read Chocolate and Beyond and would like to enquire about a holiday, quote 'Chocolate' when you speak to me or email, and I will ensure to send you a chocolate treat when you confirm your booking!

Wren Elite Travel website: www.wrenelitetravel.co.uk
Telephone: 0845 475 0342
Email: enquiries@wrenelitetravel.co.uk

Happy New Year - and still not dieting!

It's been a while, I know, but life has been busy and nowadays I have pretty much settled into an existence without diets (hence I feel less need to post). If you have only just stumbled upon this site (and I know it gets a lot of readers still), then I will let you know that in September 2006, I stopped dieting, and never looked back.

Okay - it hasn't been an easy ride - but it was a decision that liberated me more than I could ever imagine. And it's definitely taken this long to conquer the demons that have tried to tempt me back on the diet treadmill. But now I feel that my eating is more 'normal' than ever - and when people talk about 'cravings' and a lack of control around food (thereby avoiding it, rather than 'risking' being around it), I struggle to remember what that was like.

Don't get me wrong - I still have to work at things - but those occasions are fewer and generally, I find myself eating all the things I used to avoid like the plague, and I'm still the same weight as I was before I gave up diets. It's not my ideal weight, I will admit (on the larger side of size 12), but I'd rather be this weight than struggle on a daily basis to be one size smaller, miserable while eating lettuce and low-fat cottage cheese.

To be honest, I don't even remember what that crap tasted like! I have had butter in my fridge for the past 2 years, and while I went back to semi-skimmed over full fat milk only because I prefer the taste, I no longer know what it is like to choose 'low-fat' or diet versions of food over the real stuff. My dieting friends must panic when they come to my house and all I have is butter to spread on their toast - for them a rare treat, for me a daily occurrence.

So, I'm just popping in again to let you know that I'm still here, fighting fit, and a living a diet-free life is better than ever! No New Year diet resolution just after Christmas, even though like most normal human beings, of course I put on weight - but I no longer feel the need to panic it away. I'll just get back to normal and everything will be fine!

PUDZ Amateur pudding chef 2008 has been found!

You might remember that I posted some time ago (back in summer!) about the PUDZ competition that was taking place in Manchester?

Well, it seems they have found their top pudding maker, and Sam Greaves (19) from Bishopston, Bristol has been crowned PUDZ Amateur Pudding Chef 2008. PUDZ has been searching all year for the best amateur pudding chefs in the UK. Heats took place across the country and the top chefs from each area were chosen to compete for the overall title, judged by arguably one of the UK’s best dessert chefs, Mich Turner.

The five fantastic regional finalists came from all walks of life and baked, chopped, piped & drizzled their way through the heats, beating off stiff competition from their region to the final in London. Each prepared their dessert one final time for Mich Turner and a judging panel of food journalists.

The Weigh Forward

I thought readers of Chocolate & Beyond might be interested in my latest feature for Spirit & Destiny magazine, which appears in the September issue as 'The Diet from Beyond' - but please let me emphasise, the title wasn't mine! (Unfortunately I had no control over that bit!).

To write this feature, I attended a Weigh Forward workshop in London, run and developed by Sky TV psychic Jules Williams. Jules is very 'anti-diet' (therefore neither would be interested in such a title as was given to the feature!) and has been working with women with weight issues for around 15 years.

At last! Some leafy green my son will eat!

As a health journalist I'm incredibly aware of the value of green, leafy vegetables in my diet, yet as a parent, I'm extremely aware of the lack of them in my teenage son's diet! But now I have discovered, in Asda's Extra Special range (of all places), young pea shoots. And while my 16 year doesn't think they are the best thing since being free to head into Manchester on his own, he will eat them as part of meal.

I suppose I can't complain or worry too much, he is a big fan of avocado, which is probably one of the best green growing things you can eat. But other than that, green peppers, cabbage, broccoli, rocket, watercress and so on, are all off the menu.

From sausages to smoothies (again)

'Trust your body' is the mantra of any intuitive eater, but how can one woman go from eating sausages for breakfast day in, day out, for what seemed like about 6 months - back to fruit smoothies everyday?

I don't know. I'm just going with it - but I can barely look at a sausage now that I seem to have worked my way through every single type that exists on more or less a daily basis for about the past half a year (yes, the road to enlightenment and a diet free existence does actually seem to take this long).