I don't know about you, but I totally agree with the notion that breakfast is the most important meal; having a delicious breakfast accompanied by a big mug of coffee is by far my favourite part of the day, and I definitely notice a drop in energy later on if I don't eat a large enough meal or if I skip it entirely. It does get kind of boring eating the same thing every day though, especially if you're vegan and can't eat a number of the more popular breakfast choices anyway, so I thought I'd put together a list of super tasty (and really easy to make!) ideas for you all so you don't get stuck. Of course there are plenty of other options but this is a good starting point for beginners or people who don't have a lot of time on their hands in the morning!

Hello, lovely people - it's been a while (again)! One of my goals for 2017 is to become more consistent with blogging so hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of me from now on.

Today's post features something I'm very, very excited about; Cath Kidston's new Health & Happiness collection. I'm an avid Cath Kidston fan and have been for a few years now, so when they told me about their new healthy living range I could barely contain myself. Cath Kidston's signature floral prints combined with cute workout gear? A dream come true for this girl! They've made everything from leggings and tops, to gym bags and accessories, all featuring their beautiful Wildflower Bunch print.

Hello lovelies! Sorry for the lack of recipes recently - things have been a bit tough lately and it's been hard getting the motivation to even get out of bed most days, let alone create recipes and write blog posts. Today I'd like to share with you a review of some fab workout gear from Pink Soda that I've been trying out over the past few weeks; even though I'm struggling a little bit right now, I find that doing at least 15 minutes of yoga most mornings definitely helps lift my mood a small amount. And what better way to convince myself to get moving than with pretty clothes?

Today I want to share my skincare routine with you all - I don't talk about my skin that often on my blog or any of my social media accounts but I used to struggle pretty badly with eczema when I was a toddler and then again from the age of 13 - 20. It's only in the last year or so that my skin is actually behaving again and now, at age 21, I'm finally happy with it! Suffering from eczema was incredibly debilitating and I couldn't stand people seeing me when I was experiencing a flare up. Luckily it's all gone now and, even though that may be due to me getting older and my skin sorting itself out on its own, I do contribute a lot of my success to my diet (lots of plants and no dairy!), the amount of water I drink (at least 2 litres a day) and my skincare routine. I use products free from harsh ingredients, and facial oils which are amazing for hydrating your skin and giving it a natural glow.

I'm a huge advocate of freshly made juice so when I was contacted by Philips and asked to take part in their Real Juice campaign, which encourages people to swap pre-packaged juice for fresh juicing, I jumped at the chance; I was very kindly sent a Philips Viva Collection Compact Juicer, a set of recipe cards and all the ingredients I'd need to follow the 'One-a-Day' juicing plan devised by the lovely Madeleine Shaw, a nutritional health coach who states that juicing is a way of life for her. Fresh juice is incredibly nutritious, especially when it contains plenty of vegetables, and is a much healthier alternative to the shop-bought kind; this is mainly due to the fact that juice loses a lot of its nutrients over time and is best drunk straight after it's been made, so the long shelf-life of shop-bought juice poses a problem in this regard. Shop-bought juice also tends to only contain fruit which means the sugar content is higher and many of the vital nutrients that are derived from vegetables simply aren't present.

'Glowing Greens' Juice

The 'Watermelon Cooler' juice

However, the juicer does have a couple of downsides which aren't devastating but do make juicing a bit more of a hassle. For example, due to its compact size the feeding tube isn't very large which means that when you're juicing food like apples or beetroots you do have to chop them up first as opposed to juicing them whole. If this were my very first juicer it wouldn't have bothered me at all but since my other juicer has a larger chute and is able to fit two or three whole apples in at a time it is a bit of a downgrade. Honestly though, the size of the Philips juicer is so convenient that this isn't really an issue at all, simply a minor annoyance! Another slight inconvenience is the fact that you have to peel fruit and vegetables such as lemons before juicing them, something which I don't have to do when using my other juicer. Again, this isn't a serious issue and it doesn't take much time at all to quickly remove the peel yourself! Overall I was pleased with the appliance and will continue to use it on a regular basis - for £70 it really is a steal and is ideal for people who have a limited amount of space in their kitchen.

In terms of the 'One-a-Day' juicing plan, I absolutely loved it! I've tried doing a juice cleanse before and managed to last a day before feeling sick of the sight and taste of juice and having insatiable food cravings. This plan was perfectly manageable though because it simply required me to just drink one juice each day alongside my regular diet. The seven recipes included a delicious 'Glowing Greens' juice (this was my favourite!), a 'Watermelon Cooler' juice (which was super refreshing) and a 'Stir and Purr Sleep Tonic' Juice. The juices contained a wide variety of fruit and vegetables and were a delicious addition to my diet. There were also several other recipes included which weren't part of the plan and I'm really looking forward to trying them out in the near future!

I'm incredibly pleased that large companies such as Philips are starting to become more aware of the health food world - the Real Juice Campaign is a huge step in the right direction in terms of this country's knowledge of nutrition. People should be encouraged to make healthier choices for their bodies, which includes eating an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables; this is something which juicing can help a great deal with, although it shouldn't completely replace eating the whole foods which contain much-needed fibre!

I feel as though my experience with the juicing plan was a huge success and I thoroughly enjoyed testing out the juicer and Madeleine's recipes!




Note: I was sent this product and plan to review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Our dessert at NAMA Foods - the selection of raw sweet treats

There is no 'right' way to recover from an eating disorder. There's no one-size-fits-all approach and no magic method that cures everyone instantaneously. If there was it would make the whole experience so much easier but unfortunately recovery is a messy process filled with tears, tantrums and doubts. There's the constant worry about whether it's the right thing to do, if the amount you're eating is more or less than you need or if the fact that you're abstaining from exercise is 'lazy' (it isn't!). Of course there are parts of recovery which are necessary for everyone to go through, such as weight gain (if you're underweight) and attempting to improve a disordered mindset by engaging in some sort of therapy with a professional (or even just through supportive conversations with a trusted family member or friend). But the food side of things is where everything gets a bit more complicated; believe me, when I first started trying to recover from my ED I went through months of intensive research trying to find information about the exact amount of calories I should be eating and the types of food I should be including in my diet. However, this is a tricky area because the amount of food needed in recovery varies drastically between each person, depending on their situation. Some people may need to eat upwards of 4000 calories a day to gain weight, whereas some may need 2500. Some people may not need to gain weight at all so would be better off consuming a maintenance amount according to their BMR and activity levels. This is the sort of thing that is best discussed with a professional so if you're unsure then please ask someone who is qualified to treat people with eating disorders or someone who has experience with supervising healthy weight gain.