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An Appetite for Nourishing Food

& the 365 Plant Challenge of 2021

*My aim is to identify, research and consume 365 different plants – in some form – one a day, throughout 2021. Watch the BLOG for progress.

Live to EAT and eat to LIVE

Eating well doesn’t need to be austere or tedious.
Eating well can be both satisfying and delicious.
Eating well can be good for our world.

There is no “One Size Fits All” when it comes to eating well.

This blog is my attempt to summarise much of what I have discovered in the past few years, in my wide-ranging reading about FOOD but also the implications of our food choices and their relationship with our internal world, the microbiome, and with the world in which we live.

“The first bite, a delight, if it awakens your senses”

Eating
with focused attention to the details of the experience:
the visual, the anticipation,
the aromas, the textures,
the layered complexity of flavours
or even deep seated emotions …
Or a fleeting awareness — it’s fuel and comfort,
perhaps somewhere in between.

Most of us today are busy with life and time constraints: many of us have responsibilities for feeding others, planning to eat from whatever’s already in the cupboards, looking for a quick-fix for energy or a pick-me-up after a difficult day, eating MORE because there’s a strong craving to eat something nice to feel better or try to make things go away (or seem less important). Perhaps never has this been more true for many people, than at this unsettling time of COVID-19.

“But…”
I just have to eat
The others won’t eat it
There are too many ingredients
I like to cook food I know “how to cook”
I haven’t the time to think about new things
I’m only eating this because I want to be healthier
Perhaps “tomorrow” “next month” “when this is all over”.

I have had an interest in food since my childhood. I remember being intrigued by my Grandpa (who had a huge vegetable garden) asking me the question: “Do you live to eat or eat to live?”. He thought I should consider a career in something related to food. But instead I chose a career as a Physiotherapist for almost 20 years and I have now morphed into a Pilates instructor and movement specialist. However, I have always been interested in a holistic approach to health and well-being and been interested to find out how the food that I consume is produced. During the past few years I have been building (or have borrowed) a library of books, podcasts and videos about food, eating, growing, wellbeing and health. Not particularly recipe books (although I’ve over a hundred of those) but a cornucopia of books about the whys and wherefores of eating:

• Books about the body and it’s intimate relationship with the food we eat.
• Books about the microbiome and the symbiotic life we host (our own personal collection of billions of “others” that live within our bodies) and the cutting-edge science that is demonstrating the massive significance of this in our lives.
• Books written by food historians and journalists interested in the socio-cultural aspect of food.
• Recipe books.
• Technical books.
• Books regarding theories of different styles of diet, about eating to improve health conditions, about losing weight, about food lifestyle to live longer and happier lives. 
• Books about growing our own food.
• About fermenting our own food.
• Books about sustainable living, about the possiblity of growing food that maintains the health of the world’s soil and water.
• Books about our future in a world where food may become scarse for many if we don’t make sensible choices about its production.
• Books by doctors, by scientists, by chefs, by gardeners and books by people without portfolio —  but almost all by folk who are fascinated with FOOD and who want to EAT well.

This quest for knowledge has permanently changed the way I view food and eating. I hope that you will find something of interest in my attempt to summarise some of the things that I have discovered.

Three years ago I began to apply some of the principles and within a year I had lost a considerable amount of weight with relatively little effort (around 12Kg+ /28lbs). The best part was that I remained fairly stable at that new weight until only a couple of months ago. I have been fascinated by the fact that eating differently appeared to have changed my “metabolic thermostat” (I found that maintaining a steady weight was very easy to manage) both in terms of previous huge weight fluctuations and the effect on my menopausal symptoms. I had more energy, was more comfortable in my digestive system and in my body. I grew in confidence and made other changes. I organised some swimming technique lessons a couple of years ago, bought a wetsuit and developed a love for open water swimming. I also re-launched my Pilates business.

However, at this strange time of an unfolding world pandemic, I need to re-focus my attention again on what I am eating, as it has drifted a little. I am hoping to regain a little more energy and improve my sleeping patterns, my stress levels and to lose another 10Kg. However, I’d like to manage that and continue to relish what I eat in the process.

I’m a foodie.
I love real food.
I love food shopping,
I love preparing food and
I love taking time to enjoy eating real food.
I love the smell of fresh lime zest,
of creating a sourdough bread
or the satisfaction of slicing an onion well.
I love mustard.
I love frying spices
and chopping herbs
and experimenting with foreign cuisines.
I love baked beans from a tin.
I love quality chocolate
and brewing tea from whole leaves.
I love collecting sweet smelling juicy berries from the garden
and smothering butter on asparagus or sweetcorn ten minutes after its picked.

There are multiple reasons why I have decided to write this blog now. The writing has been brewing for a couple of years, but a conversation that I had with some friends at Chester’s delicious new plant-based vegan restaurant Hypha prompted me to start composing this first entry a few weeks ago. And now 40+ days into this “lockdown” I decided that I would benefit from a focused writing project. I have decided to share it now, wondering if perhaps it might help or inspire someone else, but if it is solely for feeding my creativite spirit then that is NUTRITION in itself.

I am an omnivore (and I make no apologies), but I anticipate the information will be just as relevant for those of you who eat a vegetarian or plant-based diet.

I hope you’ll gain something from reading this blog;
perhaps you might discover a new book that inspires your food choices or
your food purchasing choices,
learn something new about the microbiome
or something about fermenting foods
or perhaps you’ll rise to the challenge and try cooking with a greater range of vegetables.

I’m also hoping it’s also about others sharing their thoughts, experiences, recipes and photographs too. I’m very open to guest posts.

HOWEVER, primarily I’m writing this blog for myself. I enjoy crafting something out of words and that process helps me to consider my scrambled thoughts. I suspect it will be a form of self-accountability, of charting my progress and challenging my short-comings as well as learning to accept compromise.