How To Be Healthy and Control Emotional Eating

Hey everyone,

 Eating bad food can be an addiction. I used to be an emotional eater. So I Would get really low and turn to food for comfort and then get really down about bindge eating and the vicious cycle would go round and round. I would easily eat a pack of cookies and feel no way until the next morning when I woke up starving and bloated. I put on a lot of weight and at the time you don't notice until months later and you jeans don't do up! It soon became an addiction and everyday after work I would go and buy something sweet to eat for when I got into bed. Also I picked up a bad habit of having a Cappuccino and a Croissant every morning. Something had to change and I knew I was the only one in control of that. So here I am today sharing some of my tips to stop emotional eating and to become more healthy. 1 year in august it will have been since I gave up meat and stopped buying those double chocolate cookies and have become so healthy. I no longer feel the need to have food to make me feel happy instead I have food to make me feel light, energised and nourished. 

1. Replace sugary foods with natural sugars. I found these bars called Nakd. They are delicious and sweet made with only  few ingredients. They are sweet from using dates. Dates are good for you rich in nutrients, vitamins and do not contain excessive ambit of fat. The bars also contains nuts which are also good for you a healthy fat. 

2. Have a healthy breakfast. Make time in the morning to make your self a protein packed breakfast that will keep you going until lunch time. Even if you have to get up 15 minute earlier it is worth it. I like to make wholegrain oats with 1 table spoon of meridian peanut Butter and a chopped Banana or a smoothies with Kale, Spinach, Banana, Apple. These are super quick to make and will stop you from getting something on the way to work like a sugary croissant that won't fill you up.

2. Drink lots of water. Buy a 2 litre bottle of water and make sure you drink it every time you feel peckish. Water fills you up and stops your hunger and cravings. It also flushes you out and keep you hydrated and energised. 

3. Drink peppermint tea after your dinner. This curbs sweet cravings, helps with digestion and bloating. 

4. Replace starch foods with wholegrain foods. White potatoes with sweet potatoes, white rice with brown rice, pasta with wholegrain brown pasta. Starches can increase your blood sugar levels. 

5. Have 70% of the food on your plate as vegetables and salad. You can never have enough vegetables. They fill you up and keep you super healthy. They are packed with nutrients and essential vitamins. They do not have to be boring you can make them as tasty as you want by adding seasoning and herbs. 

6. Find a hobby to distract you from thinking about food. When you feel down find something else to lift you up. Try meditating to some calm music, even just breathing deeply for 5 minutes can change the way you feel. Exercise for 10 minutes when you feel down. Exercise releases serotonin the happy hormone. Dance to your favourite song.

 Just try and control your thoughts. When you notice that your feeling down say to your self I got this and I won't feel down I will do something right now to feel happy again. Don't turn to food it won't help and it will make you feel worse. It takes 21 days to form a habit. Stick to these tips for 21 days and see how much better you feel. Set yourself the challenge. Write a moon board and place it next to your bed so when you wake up you feel motivated. 

I hope I have inspired you to make that change. 

Sending you love and good vibes 

x

Garam Masala Aubergines

Ingredients

2 Aubergines

1 tbs of Garam Masala

Dozen cherry Tomatoes

1 red onion

1 red pepper

3 Spring Onions

Turmeric

Water

Vegetable Stock

Corriander

Coconut dairy free yoghurt 

Nigella seeds

Method

1. Cut Aubergines into 4 strips. Mix the Garam masala with a tsp of oil and place the oven for 25 mins.

2. Chop the red Onion, red Pepper, Ginger and half of the Garlic

Place them into a pot with 1 tsp of oil. 

Saute for a couple minutes until they have softened 

Add the rice, Turmeric and water with the vegetable stock. Stir it, bring to the boil and simmer fir around 20 mins.

3. Whilst the rice is cooking Chop the spring onions, cherry tomatoes, Garlic and coriander. Place them into bowl and mix to make a salsa.

4. When your rice is cooked add half of the salsa to the rice and mix it in. 

5. Serve the rice then add the Aubergines on top of the rice and the remains salsa. Add the Nigella seeds to the Coconut yoghurt and mix well and pour over the top. 

Crunchy Peanut Cookies

Hey Everyone

I have the worst craving for sweet things. Especially around that time of month. I try so hard to resist but the more I try not to think about it the more I do lol First world problems. I try to make sweet teats that re healthier than buying something from the shop and not many shops do nice vegan healthy treats. Last night I kept looking in my cupboards to find something. You know when you keep looking as if something will magically appear lol. All there was that I could work with was a big jar of Meridian Peanut Butter, Coconut sugar and Coconut flour so I thought, I know lets make Peanut cookies. OMD they were sooo nice my daughter literally loved them my son wasn't to keen as they weren't chocolate lol. They were so easy to make and 100% Vegan. 

Here is what you need

130g Crunchy Peanut Butter

60g of Coconut Sugar

4-5 Tablespoons of Oat Milk

150g of Oats

30 - 40ml of Maple Syrup 

1 Tbs of Vanilla Essence 

3 Tbs of Coconut Flour 

Set your oven to 180 degrees

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan on low heat and stir together thoroughly until all the ingredients melt and are well mixed.

Grease a baking tray with Coconut Oil 

Get a handful of the mixture (or less depending how big you want the cookies) and form a cookie shape then place on the baking tray and put them in the oven for 10-15 minuets. Turn half way thought and keep and eye on them so they don't burn (mine nearly did)

Once they are ready let them coo down completely and enjoy! 

Tips

Add the oat milk gradually you want to use this to bind the cookie mixture but not t make it runny

Add the maple syrup gradually as you don't want the mixture runny 

Vegan Chilli Con Carne

Hey everyone,

I have had a lot of people ask me what I eat and if I miss eating meat. The answer is no lol I have recreated most meat recipes without the meat but with the flavour still there. Its really simple when you find an alternative that works. I really fancied a chilli con carne the other day so I came up with this recipe. Its exactly how you would make a meat chilli con carne but with chickpeas. The flavour is there and the consistency. It's literally mouth watering. You can make it as hot as you like I didn't go too crazy with the chilli as my 2 kids ate this as well. I hope you like it. Comment and let me know if you tried it.

You will need

Coconut oil/ Rapeseed Oil

3 Tbs Tomato Puree

4 Garlic Cloves

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Of Paprika

1 Tsp of Chilli's

2 Cups of Baby Tomatoes

1 Can Of Chopped Tomatoes

2 Can Of Chick Peas

2 Tbs of Mustard seeds

1 Onion

Pinch of Salt

 Black Pepper

3 or 4 Sweet Potatoes

Method

Preheat oven to 180

Wash and pierce Sweet Potatoes, place on a tray. Drizzle over some oil and put in the oven for 30 mins

Add Some oil to a pan Add garlic and Onion for sauce for a minute until soft

Add seasoning and Mustard seeds and stir for another minute 

Add Tomatoes, Chopped Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Salt and Pepper and simmer for 15 minutes  

Once the Sweet Potatoes are ready add the chilli to one and serve with a side salad