Happy 2018 – Day 288 – If you can’t eat to lose weight, eat to feel better.

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of lifestyle and the way in which your daily habits either work for you, or against you.

As the old adage goes, “you are what you eat”.

If you eat nothing but beige food… you feel beige in mood and flat in energy. If you eat a variety of wholesome, colourful foods… you feel colourful in mood and energetic.

That’s basically what it comes down to.

So many of us – my past-self included – get this wrong. When we’re trying to be ‘healthy,’ we go on a diet. And no matter the diet we choose (lord knows there’s plenty!) we focus on restriction of foods, rather than abundance. We hunt through supermarkets looking at calories and carbs and low-fat labels and bla bla bla. And maybe we’ll feel a little better, in part because we’re losing weight. But let’s be honest, it’s always just a question of how long can we keep this up for? And when the inevitable happens and you crack; then you’re back to feeling even more fat and miserable before!

What I’ve found to be a better approach over the last few years is to focus on foods that support a good mood and energy levels. At least 80% of the time…. because life. 

Plus, losing/maintaining weight is often a side effect of having more energy and eating natural wholesome foods that haven’t been messed with.

So with that said, here’s a pic from Rachel Kelly’s fabulous book, The Happy Kitchen. This book is my kitchen bible. Seriously. Buy it! Here’s a link.

Rachel breaks down foods from the best to the very worst, based on their impact on your mood (both in your mind and gut). Below is a list of the fab (the best) to the good (just good). The book actually has a cut out of this at the back, which resides on my fridge permanently. Whenever I’m preparing dinner, I have my mood in mind.

Notice that sausage rolls, Diet Coke and Prosecco don’t make the list? That’s because they’re either on the treats list or the low mood foods category.

Not convinced? Try eating meals from these three lists over the course of a week and see how you feel.

Then buy the book.