Hello blog, it’s been a while!

I have more time to blog as I am currently between jobs! On Friday I left my job after seven years, which had a bigger emotional impact than I had realised and resulted in bad eating habits (alongside celebrating my new job!) 

To continue the update, last week I injured my knee and I have consequently, disappointingly, had to defer starting my new job. I can’t really walk anywhere, so my dreams of morning runs in the park and evening cycles into Kent have been well and truly scuppered. I’m not great at sitting still so am going stir crazy. It’s Day 1. 

Jumping clear of the self-pity wagon (plus side – I’m finally watching Breaking Bad!) I have time to focus on eating well again. Before leaving celebrations started, I had begun to change my eating habits after reading “Eat. Nourish. Glow,” an insightful book by nutritionist Amelia Freear. I thoroughly recommend the book. Unlike some similiar “food guru” manuals, as Amelia is qualified, she sets out the science behind our eating habits and explains how to gradually change them. 

As an avid Slimming World follower, I fall into Amelia’s “80s dieter” category. The processed foods, the “diet” drinks and “low fat” yoghurts were all made popular by intelligent advertising in the 1980s. As Amelia rightly points out, as a nation we are more unhealthy than ever, so there is an argument that mass consumption of all these chemical-ridden products can’t be a good thing. Recently a family friend was told he had digestive problems – due to drinking slimline tonic with his gin for the last two decades. 

Having said this, it is all a matter of personal preference and I am continuing to follow Slimming World. I am tweaking the approach, attempting to avoid processed foods and items that are determined in “Eat. Nourish. Glow” as ‘packages and promises,’ i.e. fat free, diet – anything that contains aspartame! 

After that lengthy introduction, here is my favourite meal at the moment. It’s a recreation of a delicious salad we had at Dolce Vita in Mojacar in Spain, see snapshot below. 

Really quick and easy to make, the avocado and crushed walnuts should be synned and the remainder is free and super free! 

Strawberry, avocado and walnut salad 

Ingredients (use as much as you fancy of each ingredient!) 

Handful of strawberries, hulled and quartered

Bacon medallions, chopped into small chunks and grilled

Laughing cow blue cheese, cut into squares (healthy extra A)

Slightly wilted spinach leaves

Slices of avocado 

Small handful of walnuts, crushed by hand 

Cover the plate with spinach, scatter the strawberries, bacon and cheese squares. Add the avocado in the side and garnish with the crushed walnuts. Good to go!