Having children changed me from not really thinking about my health to someone that tries to be the best I can be health wise. Apart from being normal and not a health guru, with a few blips of binge Galaxy chocolate eating and a sublime fruity G & T every now and then, I believe I'm pretty healthy inside and outside.
Be your best you
It started when I had my first daughter. When pregnant I lost weight and was put on milk shakes to drink on top of meals, on top of that a back tooth broke eating an apple and bad back with sciatica. I can’t say I enjoyed pregnancy. Interestingly I had a high iron count so no folic acid required! Still no alarm bells ringing regarding health. I went on had my daughter who was a healthy bouncing baby but I lost more weight ending up six and a half stone. When my daughter was a toddler I was really ill with tonsillitis and the doctor told me I was run down, exhausted and my immune system was weak and that I had to start thinking of me.
Not only was it vile being ill, I felt I was being a crap Mum, as I was too ill to do things and play and go out for a few days. I knew I had to do something as I was a single parent and I was the role model. I realised I didn’t eat, sleep or do anything for a hobby or pleasure.
I was stressed to hell and tired all the time.
Things had to change.
I started by eating breakfast, something that I never did.
That came about as my daughter started picking at her breakfast wanting to play instead. So doing the right Mum thing would make her sit and eat her breakfast. I came to realise one morning enjoying each other’s company that eating together was incredibly important to her, as she’s feeding me a piece of her toast. I went and made my own. Now I eat huge breakfasts and feel faint and sick if I miss it!
Myths and absolute tosh abound!
For example did you know that most people in the developed world get enough vitamin c from their diets? Taking a supplement long term if you are not deficient can lead to high levels in the body and can lead to kidney stones. Vitamin C from food does not have the same outcome.
This bbc.com article written by Zaria Gorvett makes interesting reading.
A medium orange contains 69.7mg of Vitamin C where as two kiwi fruits have 137.2mg, also rich in potassium and copper.
There are so many more fruit and vegetables that contain Vitamin C, enriched with all vitamins and minerals we need. So eat the rainbow!
Feeling run down?
I’m curating and trying out some recipes that I’ll be adding to this post; so keep an eye out for my updates – If you have a recipe you think should be included in this section – please get in touch – or you can send it via a message through our Fakebook page.