I'm writing this post having demolished an unusual amount of food today, I've had my main meals, I've snacked, I swapped my roast veggies lunch for a sandwich and crisps and I know exactly the reason why; I'm stressed.

I'm sure being stressed is a feeling that we can all relate to in some way, shape or form but we might not know exactly what the science is behind stress and why it can make us feel the way it does. Over the years I've become very familiar with the physical symptoms of stress for me, I start to feel 'run-down' which is very similar to the feeling you get a day or two before you're hit with a bad cold. My skin flares up and one or two angry zits are definitely not uncommon, I suffer with occasional mouth ulcers and just generally looking worn out and tired constantly, despite getting maybe 7/8 hours sleep each night.

One of the most prominent symptoms of stress for me personally though is a change in my appetite. I can eat anything and everything when I feel stressed or anxious for a long period of time and that's what I wanted to discuss in today's post.

Why does stress affect our appetite?

You might be familiar with the term 'flight or fight' - that's the mode our bodies go into when we're stressed. Our brain's take the wheel when we're in this mode and it decides what we need to do next in order to survive - imagine back in the day our ancestors way back when would be hunting for their dinner and a hyena or big cat would appear. Our brains send a message to our adrenal glands to pump out adrenalin which is intended to kick our butts into gear.

This whole process that our bodies do for us can put our appetite on hold - and rightly so - if you're faced by a lion then using up energy on normal bodily functions such as digestion go on hold and energy is used elsewhere to either fight the threat or run.

Now, when we continue to be stressed and it's not just a one-off situation - or our bodies at least think we are stressed - then something slightly different happens. The same adrenal glands as before now pump out a hormone called cortisol and cortisol increases our appetite and the motivation to eat.

It's this unfortunate connection between stress & our appetites which can lead to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes - as increased cortisol levels also spur on an increase in our insulin production & glucose which ultimately can raise our blood sugar levels.

Why do we rarely crave a salad or plate of veggies when we're stressed?

I know there might be some exceptions to this rule BUT I for one definitely don't want to reach for particularly healthy foods when I've been feeling stressed for a while. For me, I want bread, chocolate and crisps. Living the dream!

It's good old cortisol again that's to blame for the cravings some of us experience when we're stressed. High sugar, fatty foods give our bodies energy and that's exactly what it thinks we need when we're in 'fight or flight' mode so that's the signals it sends to our brain.

So how can we tackle overeating when we're stressed?

The best thing to do would be to make sure our stress levels never get so high that we put our bodies into 'fight or flight' mode but that is so much easier than done and sometimes life throws things at us that we can't see coming.

Try to stay mindful of what triggers your stress and be wary of the signs your body may be giving you ahead of time, if you're starting to feel run-down, burnt out or on edge then begin to take some extra measures in self-care and looking after yourself.

 Keeping some healthier (notice I didn't say healthy) snacks on hand when you're going through a particularly rough time can be a good idea. For example, today I should have thought about the way i was feeling and made myself a lunch that was maybe a little more appealing like a nice bowl of pasta or a homemade sandwich or wrap.  I brought my bowl of leftover veggies to work with the best intentions! Some chocolate rice cakes, trail mix or apple slices & peanut butter are all comforting treats that will hopefully satisfy your cravings.

Above all, don't be hard on yourself. You're already feeling stressed so don't add to that by worrying too much about what you're eating in the short term, if your feelings of stress persist and your eating habits change more long-term then always speak to your GP or a specialist.

The 'Good', The 'Bad' & The Ugly of Diet Culture Language

There's a lot to think about and consider when it comes to health, fitness and well-being. Everyday we're faced with a hundred choices, guidelines, 'rules' etc and we're left to just sift through it and try and make sense of it!

A lot of these choices we can use our own common sense for and filter through the BS to find the truth but sometimes we can be poorly led by influencers and creators down a long and winding round to an unhealthy mindset.

A little story about something which actually inspired this post; yesterday I purchased a bundle of eBooks online which was being touted by a few health and fitness influencers, you could get 90 books for the price of 2 or 3 - what a deal! The content of these books which were written by influencers (most of whom are no different to you and I and no more qualified to make claims about food/diets) and were based on subjects such as food and recipes, a vegan/plant-based diet, sustainable fashion and minimal living to name a few.

As soon as I began to flick through the eBooks I slowly became disappointed with the content. As the books are written by creators and individuals there was a lof of personal information, views and opinions rather than science or facts to back up any claims made about fitness, food and a healthy lifestyle. 

That's why i wanted to highlight some of these concerns in the hope that together we can begin to decipher the many, many messages and posts that we come across on a daily basis and how we can all make small changes in the way we talk about food to benefit ourselves and those around us. 

Food can be an emotional trigger for a lot of people, in particular those who have experienced eating disorders and disordered eating patterns or habits and with words flying around like 'clean', 'detox', 'good', 'bad' and 'cheat' it can be very confusing and misleading to know what we should and shouldn't be putting in our bodies. 

The end goal for all of us - regardless of how we get there - is to have a healthy relationship with food but I appreciate that's easier said than done and for a lot of people that's a long journey which can take a lot of hard work. One small way we can begin this healthier relationship with food is to see it for what it is; nourishment for our bodies and yes, that means all food, not just a salad or a celery juice drink in the morning. 

What about cheat meals and good vs bad foods?

So you get up each morning, you have maybe a bowl of porridge oats with some honey and fruit for breakfast, you have chicken and couscous and some roasted veg for lunch and then hey, it's Friday night so you order a takeaway pizza for dinner. Some would call this a 'cheat meal' but erm...who or what are you cheating on exactly and what makes the pizza you had 'bad' versus the chicken and couscous for lunch that you might label as 'good'? Nothing makes it good or bad except us and our language, not doctors, not nutritionists and not dieticians (not the good ones anyway!)

Ditch the 'detox diet' ASAP!

Another gem that the internet has created and one which cropped up in the eBook bundle I purchased yesterday was 'detox' your body with food and drink. Firstly, let's get our science hats on, we have two A* organs that do this for us, they're called our kidneys and liver. They don't work part time and they certainly don't accept bribes in the form of celery juice or lemon water to wake them up in the morning or make them work any faster. They work consistently 24/7 and eating a healthy, balanced diet can of course keep them in tip top shape but you definitely don't need to have a lemon slice in hot water every morning to wake up your system, just enjoy it if you think it tastes yummy and makes you feel good!

Clean eating is just eating unless your food needs washing first...

Another term that 'diet culture' has created is 'clean eating'. I have been 100% guilty of using this term (along with a lot of the others at some point in time too) but what does it even mean? It translates loosely to eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods but that's just what we should be aiming for anyway. It doesn't need to be labelled as 'clean' eating as that would suggest anytime we have a slice of cake or pizza it's 'dirty' eating? Unless our vegetables and leaves need a quick spritz under the tap before we use them or you drop your sandwich on the floor then there's no such thing as clean or dirty food. 

The Final Takeaway...

One way we can start to steer away from using these 'diet culture' buzzwords is to look at food in a slightly different way and then just put our blinkers on to block out all of the bull that the internet and television can throw at us. Educate yourself a little, it's invaluable to know more about the science behind food and it suddenly becomes less scary. 
There's no clean, good or bad when you realise what our food is made of. Every item of food includes a nutrient for us that we need in one way, shape or form. Whether that be a donut that contains sugar and fat or an apple which contains essential fibre and vitamins; our bodies need sugar, fat, fibre and vitamins in addition to many other nutrients and vitamins to thrive and work at it's best. The truth is we just need a little more of some things than others so a healthy, balanced diet is the way forward. 

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Energy Balls

This post features products kindly gifted by  BuyWholeFoodsOnline.co.uk - these are marked with an asterisk (*). 

There's always this tricky amount of time between finishing work around 5pm and starting my gym classes around 6ish where I need to fuel up for my gym class but also definitely dont have time to prepare or cook anything remotely substantial - that's where my beloved peanut butter energy balls come into it!

These lil guys are ridiculously easy and quick to throw together (and even more ridiculously easy to eat because they're so delicious). They're the perfect fix for some protein and energy before doing any exercise or just when you want a snack throughout the day. 

Ingredients (makes 12 balls):

• 85g creamy/smooth peanut butter
• 60g dark chocolate chips (or milk, whichever you prefer)
• 128g oats
• 60g chia or Organic Shelled Hemp seeds* (i've used 30g of each in this recipe)
• 2 tablespoons of Raw Wild Flower Bulgarian Honey* - I can't tell you how GOOD this smells.
• optional: handful of dried fruits (I was kindly sent some Dried Cranberries* but left them out this time round to keep the size of the balls smaller!)

How To Make Them:

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl (told you it was easy) and stir well to mix them together. 
• Place the mix in the fridge for 15-20 minutes so they're easier to roll. 
• Roll the mixture into 12 bites (or however you want to make depending on the size you want 'em) and store them in the fridge until you're ready to scoff them!

Benefits of Hemp Seeds:

I've added Organic Shelled Hemp Seeds* to this recipe because they're just so damn nutritious for you and these are a few reasons why:

• great source of protein
• high in fibre
• full of vitamins and minerals including magnesium (which will make our bodies very happy!)
• rich in fatty acids

About BuyWholeFoodsOnline

One of the things I love about BWFO (besides their HUGE selection of organic and whole foods obvs) is that at heart they are a family-run business start from really humble beginnings with founders and cousins Arthur and Joe setting up shop in their shed!

Having outgrown each warehouse and location they moved to due to the growing success of the business they finally settled in a whopping 25,000 square foot warehouse in Ramsgate in 2016 and that's where they've been ever since!

Hello Fresh: The Pros & Cons

Years after the rest of the world have tried it, we finally decided to give Hello Fresh a go, hurrah! Or maybe not so hurrah? I have majorly mixed feelings about Hello Fresh after giving our first recipe a go earlier this week and thought I'd share my thoughts with you all and basically just weigh up the pros and cons of Hello Fresh.

So for those who don't know, Hello Fresh is a recipe subscription box which sends you 5 pre-packaged fresh meals in all the right measurements and amounts for you to cook yourself by following their simple instruction card.

We definitely had a mixed experience with our first Hello Fresh box and I wanted to share my thoughts on the Pro's and Cons of ordering from Hello Fresh.

CON: It's quite pricey for what it is

Not to start off on a negative note but this is one of the main reasons why we decided to try Hello Fresh, to save money on our weekly shop. The good news (which, sorry, doesn't warrant its' own PRO bullet point) is that you can get lots of discount codes online for your first box but after that it comes in at around £41.99 for five meals, so that's not including weekends for us. When we thought about what we'd need to add onto our 5 meals (things like treats, snacks, lunches etc) it didn't make our weekly spend any less overall.

PRO: The recipe cards are simple to follow so everyone can have a go

We take it in turns cooking in our house but it does mean that there are certain meals that we've nailed individually and have become our signature dishes so we don't share the recipes for these and as I'm out quite a few nights a week I have to plan meals for our weekly shop that Rob is confident at cooking whilst I'm out. With Hello Fresh anyone can grab the ingredients and pick up the easy-to-follow card so no worries about having to leave instructions or being restricted on what you can plan for meals.

CON: If there are ingredients missing you could be stuffed

We tried the loaded beef mexican wedges recipe last night and it turned out delicious - thankfully that's because I had a carton of passata and some garlic granules in the cupboard because the package was missing the passata and a garlic clove. If i'd not had any passata in then we'd not have been able to make that recipe at all so that's slightly frustrating. As someone who likes to plan and prep I find it a little tricky to put my food shop/plan in someone else's hands!

PRO: There are lot of different boxes to choose from 

Whether you're vegetarian, trying to stick to a high-protein diet, cooking for 4 or cooking for children Hello Fresh offer a wide selection of boxes and they even offer a quick-cook box with recipes that take 20 minutes or less to prep and cook which can be great if you're in a a hurry each evening!

CONS: The recipes aren't low-fat enough for us 

This will of course differ from person to person but recently we've been loving Slimming World recipes and although soured cream and full fat cheddar tastes real good I know in the long run it's not going to be much good for my waistline!

Personally, I don't think that we'll stick to Hello Fresh going forward, it's been great to give it a go and experience it and the meals have been delicious but I think for us planning our meals and doing a weekly shop each week is just easier for us and cheaper in the long run!

If you're thinking of giving Hello Fresh a go then have a google for some discount codes, some are offering 50% off so this is the perfect opportunity to trial it out!

Nellie Tries Pure Pet Food

Since we rehomed Nellie at the end of 2018 we've had a hard time getting her to kick some of the habits she'd picked up as a stray before she was handed into Cat's Protection, part of this process included finding a really high quality cat food for her to fill her up and give her all the nutrients she needed to put on a little weight and stay healthy. She would meow, meow and then meow some more at us almost as soon as she'd finished her breakfast or dinner and after ruling anything like worms out at the vet a quick Google told us it could be that she's just not getting filled up - what, after four sachets a day?!

HOW TO GET BACK ON THE WORKOUT WAGON

Now this is a story all about how...I fell off the wagon and stopped eating healthy or going to the gym. You know that classic tale? Well it happened, the last few months were stressful as heck, I went to America and ate my body-weight in mac and cheese for fourteen days straight (no regrets though my friends, no regrets) and now it is nearly December and I am not yet ready to let myself go entirely for the festive season.

It's time to get back on the wagon and get my arse into gear (and a size or two smaller hopefully) and there are a few ways I've discovered - because yes I've fallen off the wagon before, it happens because life gets in the way ands ometimes when you're not feeling too good dragging yourself to the gym or slicing up an avocado does not appeal and the thought alone drives you into the arms of a bargain bucket .Speaking from experience here.

MAKE YOUR WORKOUTS/GYM TIME ENJOYABLE

So recently I moved out of home, into my own flat in a nearby town and had to quit the gym I loved (yes I just put gym and love in the same sentence, i know, who am i) and join a gym down the road from my new flat. Now the gym I joined was tiny, there were hardly any staff around and to put it plainly, I despised it so obviously ultimately I stopped going. Now I am moving back home (because rent sucks, rent sucks oh and rent sucks) and I am rejoining my fave gym again. 

Long story short, you won't work out if you don't enjoy the space you're working out in or the workouts you're doing. I am obsessed right now with the instagram account for the New York gym DOGPOUND - it's where Taylor Swift and the Victoria Secret girls work out and it's full of inspiration as far as workouts are concerned. I've made a note of them all and I'll be adding them into my workout routine for sure. 

INSPIRE YOURSELF WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD

I have Pinterested (hello Oxford Dictionary, please make that a verb) the crappola out of recipes and meal ideas lately, it's been the holy grail for making me excited to eat better. After pinning a thousand and one recipes to my board I'll make a shopping list & meal plan for a week with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas. I did even not realise until I looked into it how many exciting things could be done with a sweet potato and of course it instantly dispelled the myth about eating healthy meaning all you could do was knaw on salads day in day out. 

DITCH THE 'DIET'

I used to be a sucker for this one, even recently I tried out Slimming World which did help me lose some weight but after I fell off the wagon and was ready to hop back on I decided that SW wasn't the path I was going to take. I understand how it works for a lot of people but personally for me it was limiting in the sense that it stopped me from having food that I knew wasn't bad for me like avocado (sorry, this post is not sponsored by the great gods of avocado it's just cropped up a lot) and I didn't want to feel like I couldn't eat something, I never want to feel like that. 

Diets like Slimming World do provide you with tools and keys to help when it comes to ditching their plan and going it on your own though which I will give them full credit for. However, diets that include cutting our carbs and such are just not great in the long-term, you need to think of the way you eat as a lifestyle choice and not a diet. 

Getting back on the wagon can be hard, especially if you've been off a while but there's never a bad time to get back on. What are your tips for getting back on track after a break?

MY WEEK IN PICTURES: MOVIE PREMIERE, HAIR DYE & HELLA GOOD CHEESECAKE

I'm sitting on my bed in an oversized Wildfox sweater and tracksuit bottoms, watching a terrible Adam Sandler movie feeling sorry for myself because my sinuses are swelling up and causing me major face ache. SO, I thought, hey, why not reminisce on happier times like last week when I was eating heavenly cheesecake?!

The Best Cheesecake In The World  (So Far)
Okay, I say 'so far' because I'm waiting to try something at The Cheesecake Factory when I go back to Florida next year BUT for now, this is The Best Cheesecake In The World. It's the new Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake from Prezzo, where I've been twice in the last two weeks just so I can sample this delight. I'm actually salivating now just thinking about it which isn't great because I'm sure all we have in the cupboards is maybe a Kit Kat or a chocolate digestive.

Dinner With Old Friends
I was super lucky when I finished my foundation diploma but didn't want to go to University, I ended up temping at a company where I ultimately stayed for over two years. There I met some of the loveliest people I've ever come across and the other week a few of us met up at Las Iguanas for dinner and drinks. It was a lovely evening and man the food at that place is so good, I do love me a sizzlin' fajita.

Scorch Trials Premiere
I've fangirled over this movie so hard on Twitter over the last week or so that I'm sure you're well aware of this BUT if you didn't know, I was lucky to attend the UK premiere in Leicester Square, London last Monday for The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. This is a photograph from our seats of the lovely Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Wes Ball and Jim Chapman when they answered some fan questions before the movie.

Lush Tea Tree Water
This is my holy grail right now! I wrote a whole post about this last week because I abso-freaking-lutely love the stuff. A quick spritz of this toner water in the morning when I wake up and before bed makes my skin feel really clean because of all the anti-bacterial shiz that's in this product.

My Hair Dye Collection
I didn't actually realise I owned this much hair dye until I got round to sorting out one set of my Alex drawers at the weekend. It's obviously ridiculous as no one person can use all of that much product at one time - especially seeing as there's a good old mixture of platinum blonde, honey blonde, ash blonde, golden brown, dark brown etc in there but I think I like to have the options and they kinda look pretty in there don't they?! Okay I'm just trying to justify my hair-dye-hoarder tendencies...

Makeup Revolution Palette in 'Flawless'
I posted all about this awesome product yesterday and seeing as the packaging is so darn pretty I thought it was Instagram-worthy! This is a 32-shadow palette from Makeup Revolution and is sold in Superdrug for only £8 - I can't get over the price and as it's nearing the end of the month I am living in Bargain Town right now.

Follow me @laurenefell on Instagram for more!

A Week In Photos

1. This is the last post I uploaded before this one, it's an overview of all the things I am loving and pinning on Pinterest right now.

2. Now, I know some people aren't into taking photos of what they're eating but I've never eaten hummous before and I had some on a picnic with a friend the other evening and oh my goodness I love it! So this was yesterday's lunch (also had this today too) and it was scrummy!

3. I saw this on Instagram and absolutely loved it so re-posted it to my feed, credit to whoever came up with this though, it's hilarious.

4. Sigh, this is me reminiscing on my Florida vacation last October. I'm going back again next year and it's like a second home to me now, I was thinking about doing a Florida-related blog post with all my tips and tricks so keep an eye out because that might be coming very soon.

5. Elle magazine was giving away some lovely-looking beauty products and with the issue only costing £4.00 I just had to buy it for the freebies.

6. I grabbed this recipe book at a charity shop last weekend because my mum and I have been doing so much home-cooking lately. We've discovered some really great healthy-eating recipes in mum's Slimming World magazine and online, so we wanted to write them all down and keep them in once place so they're easy to refer back to. If you'd like to see some of the awesome Slimming World/diet recipes we love then let me know!

7. This is a funny one, these are my lovely acrylic nails after getting them done last Saturday, six days later and I can't bear them and sat at home last night using Superdrug's Artificial Nail Remover to dissolve them. I love how they look but they're so impractical for me.

8. This is my lovely new car the first day I brought it home, the weather was gorgeous so I had to take a photo, you can read more about that here.

9. This is the mixture that creates my all-time favourite no sugar, no flour banana and greek yoghurt muffins. So, so good.

That's my week in photos, if you'd like to see more then follow me over on Instagram @laurenefell

Healthy Chicken and Vegetable Quesadillas

If there's one thing I struggle to go without even I'm eating healthily it's tortillas. I love fajitas, burritos and quesadillas so I was very excited when I threw together this healthy alternative and it came out tops! Here's the very simple recipe:
What you'll need:
1 x wholewheat tortilla wrap
Chicken
Vegetables of choice (I chose carrot and courgette because I had some left over)
50% Reduced Fat grated cheese
Fry-Lite cooking oil
Spicy/BBQ Seasoning

Method:
- Cook your chicken thoroughly in a frying pan and when cooked, add the vegetables and seasoning and mix well.
- Once all is cooked, place in a bowl and keep to the side while you prepare your tortillas.
- Coat another pan (or wash the last one well) with plenty of fry-lite before popping your tortilla in, while the bottom of the tortilla is toasting, add your chicken/veg mix to half of the tortilla (leaving the other half empty) and sprinkle some grated cheese on top.
- finally, flip the empty half of the tortilla over your mix and press down with a spatula. These get crispy really quick so keep an eye on both sides, flipping if you need to.

Slide onto a plate, slice into triangles and enjoy!

Are you going to try these quesadillas? Let me know below in the comments!

Chocolate Weetabix Muffins

The thing I miss most when trying to eat clean and healthy is always cake. I love nothing more than a slice of cake or a muffin with a cup of tea, that's my idea of heaven!

So you can only imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered this Weetabix chocolate muffin recipe! With no flour or butter it's a healthier alternative but still satisfies that craving for cake!

What you'll need (to make 5 muffins) :

2 Weetabix
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Sweetener
2 eggs
1/2 Muller Light Toffee yoghurt

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c

Use a blender to blend the two Weetabix to a very fine powder.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until the mixture is very smooth.

Pour the mixture into 5 muffin cases/tray and bake for 25 mins

Place on a rack and leave to cool. Finally, top with Nutella and banana!

Peanut Butter Energy Bites - No Baking Required!

I love to snack, especially at work, and these peanut butter energy bites are perfect for on-the-go or even as a pre-gym bite to give you a little boost!

What you'll need:

115g creamy peanut butter
60ml honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g old-fashioned oats (raw)
Chocolate chips (as many or few as you like)

Method (10 mins):

Add your peanut butter and oats to a bowl, mix in the honey and vanilla extract, finally adding the choc chips at the end.

Either roll small amounts of the mix into balls like I did or you can spread it across a baking tray lined with baking paper to make energy bars.

Once prepared, place the balls or bars in the fridge and leave to set. I usually make these at night so they set overnight and are good to go in the morning!

 

 

3 Ingredient Pancakes - no flour!

It's Saturday morning which means I have more time to spend on my breakfast (as opposed to weekdays where I wolf down a bowl of porridge in record time) so I like to treat myself and that means pancakes!

I'm still trying to eat as healthily as I can before my summer vacation so these aren't your average pancakes. How, you ask? Well these consist of only three ingredients!

Egg, Bacon & Tomato Muffins

It's four weeks until I have to be bikini-ready for my vacation so I've really kicked my healthy lifestyle regime up a notch including pushing myself more at the gym and trying to eat clean!

These yummy egg, bacon, tomato and onion breakfast muffins are great for a quick breakfast or even lunch - just add a salad to bulk it out! Here's the recipe: