10 Healthy Recipes to get you motivated!

After the excesses of Christmas there is always much talk of diets, detox and New Year’s resolutions.

I’m not really a fan of any of these things especially the term diet.

To me diets were invented to sell books, classes etc and the problem with them is that as soon as people come off these diets they seem to put the weight back on.

I remember a former colleague at work was voted Dieter of the Year many years ago by some large diet organisation, the following year she reverted back to her heavier weight when she came off the diet.

So to my mind it’s all about eating healthily with the occasional treat as well as keeping active (we weren’t designed to sit behind a desk all day)!

There is no such thing as a bad food but there is such a thing as a bad diet. Everything in moderation is my motto.

However this motto does go out of the window at times eg Christmas so that’s why in January I like to make an extra effort to eat healthily as I must admit to a weakness for both chocolates and marzipan.

So what is healthy eating?

Well to me it means cutting down on things like processed foods, sugar, and red meat and eating more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, pulses, nuts, fish and poultry.

The more colours on your plate the more likely you’ll be getting a broad spectrum of nutrients.

I also believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day as skipping it will just lead to low blood sugar and then you’re more likely to over eat at lunch time.

Eating small healthy snacks throughout the day is far better for you than eating two or three big meals.

Why? Well because our metabolism uses calories to digest our food so firing up this process more often uses up more calories.

Keeping a supply of fruits, nuts, seeds or dried fruits to hand is a great way to keep your blood sugar level throughout the day instead of reaching out for a biscuit (which is laden with calories and devoid of essential vitamins and minerals).

Healthy Recipe Ideas

• Healthy Hot Chocolate Breakfast Smoothies from Ren Behan
• Greener Colada – Pineapple, Coconut & Spinach Smoothie from Fuss Free Flavours
• Sweet Potato & Fresh Ginger Protein Balls from Veggie Desserts
• Chocolate Covered Peanut Protein Bars (Vegan) from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
• Carrot & Coriander Soup from Fab Food 4 All
• Kale Roasted Cranberry & Smoked Almond Salad from How to Cook Good Food
• Beetroot Salad with Freekeh Whole Grains from Maison Cupcake
• Chicken Tikka Kebabs – Hungry Healthy Happy
• La Quiche sans Pate from Croque Maman
• Vegan Mint Chocolate Mouse from Blue Kitchen Bakes

I shall certainly be trying out these healthy recipes and I do hope you’ve been inspired too!

What are your favourite healthy dishes? Do let me know in the comments below!

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