Simply Good For You

Wellness Wednesday by Sweaty Betty: Amelia Freer Simply Good For You Book Launch

Amelia is one of the UK’s leading nutritional therapists and number one Sunday Times bestselling author of Eat. Nourish. Glow.: 10 easy steps for losing weight, looking younger & feeling healthier; Cook. Nourish. Glow.; Nourish & Glow: The 10-Day Plan: Kickstart a lifetime of healthy eating; and her latest book, Simply Good For You – 100 quick and easy recipes, bursting with goodness.

In her latest book, Amelia focuses on simplicity – finding ways to make healthy cooking simple and easy – sharing 100 quick and tasty recipes from her family kitchen that can be followed on any night of the week.

Amelia’s message is kind and calm – with the emphasis that living healthily is about consistency, not perfection – a good meal can be one of life’s greatest pleasures and a powerful tool for maintaining health and vitality.

Amelia’s recipes sit alongside lots of pragmatic advice about eating on a budget, ingredient substitutions and making use of what’s available, seasonal choices, time-saving kitchen tools, and plenty more tips and tricks.

Key take-aways from Simply Good For You:

• There isn’t a specific way to eat – healthy living is a balance between eating, sleeping, movement, enjoyment and happiness; it is a journey not a destination.
• Try to eat 30 different plant foods every week – combinations of veggies, herbs, spices, fruits, nuts and seeds.
• Work out what works for you; your goals; and what feels right – reduce stress and improve your choices by learning five recipes that you really like, memorise them and make them your own.
• Be aware of what you’re eating; keep a food diary; connect with how food makes you feel; and focus on what you can add to your diet rather than remove – focus on what you should be eating, not what you shouldn’t.

For anyone taking part in Veganuary, Simply Good For You includes a wide-range of plant-based recipes and others that are easily adapted.

Amelia fully supports anyone doing Veganuary or introducing more plant-based meals into their week. Her top three tips for a nutritionally balanced month include:

1. Be conscious and nutritionally aware that you’re providing your body with everything it needs to function optimally. If in doubt ask for help from a qualified healthcare or nutrition professional.
2. Plant-based diets tend to be relatively high in fibre, folate, and vitamins C, E and B1, but can be low in vitamin A, B12, D, calcium, zinc and absorbable iron amongst other nutrients. Rather than relying on supplementation alone (although this can be important – particularly for vitamin B12), clue yourself up about what foods contain what nutrients, and how to optimise their absorption, i.e., pairing a food high in vitamin C, like red peppers, with a food relatively high in iron, like pulses and pre-soaking grains to maximise nutrient absorption.
3. Include plant-based protein at every meal such as nuts, seeds, nut butters, tahini, pulses (lentils, beans, chickpeas etc.), hummus, tofu, tempeh etc.

Sweaty Betty’s Wellness Wednesday event with Amelia Freer was enjoyable and enlightening, and I’m looking forward to attending future similar events. For those in London, Amelia will be at Kensington’s Whole Food Market on Tuesday 14th January, from 6.30pm-8pm for Simply Good For You Talk & Book Signing.