Making a Meal Out of Sides

   Today I found myself eating in a chain restaurant with friends where the food is generally reheated rather than served fresh. My first glance at the menu led me to believe there was quite a selection for vegetarians. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that three of the vegetarian meals were the same cauliflower cheese dish that had been included under different course options. The only main I could find that included no animal protein was a jacket potato with baked beans. Tinned beans aren't ideal, I know, but sometimes you have to cheat a bit. With all the will in the world, a jacket potato with beans is never going to be an exciting meal. So, I decided to add a side of flat mushrooms to make it a bit more interesting.
   Making a meal out of starters and sides is a skill that I picked up whilst living in Greece. Whereas Greek main meals generally revolve around meat, the starters (or mese dishes) are usually vegetarian, and a lot are plant-based.
   If you are finding it hard to make a plant-based choice when eating out, why not order a combination of starters and sides instead? It gives you much more variety and your dining companions will no doubt be jealous of your personal buffet!

Forks Over Knives

Great news! Dr T. Colin Campbell and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn from Planeat have been working on a new project. Forks over Knives is a mission to teach the world about how to eat a plant-based diet and the health benefits associated with it.

Although the website, www.forksoverknives.com, is still in development, there will be a new film coming soon, and you can sign up to receive information by email.

Want to be a revolutionary?

One of my missions when I started this blog was to share my new-found confidence with as many fellow humans as I could find. Encouraging other people to try new experiences and venture out of their comfort zone really motives me.

It’s not easy to make changes in your life, especially if you’ve got into a long-term routine of doing the same things again and again. Don’t despair. Changes can be made. If you want to make a step towards a different way of life, but you’re not sure where to start or you’re finding it hard to find the motivation, Channel 4 have a great new website to give you a helping hand. www.channel4.com/revolution is a fun and inspiring one-stop shop where you can discover the new you. I first heard about the revolution whilst watching The Fat Fighters, a very entertaining show that’s based in a gym and aims to help people from all walks of life get fit. I’m addicted to all shows that encourage people to get healthy and change their lives, and the unique selling point (USP) of The Fat Fighters is the unusual methods the four trainers use with their clients. From cheerleading to bouncing on trampolines, their clients seem to genuinely train with a smile on their face.

As well as encouragement from The Fat FIghters team, you can also get tips about saving money and trying new things. If you sign up for one of the revolutions, they will even email you tips and ideas to keep you motivated.

Alternatively, why not ask a friend to write a list of new challenges for you? Or, think back to all the things you wanted to do as a child. What stopped you from doing them? Stop making excuses and give things a go. Today!

The Latest Accessories for 2012 - A flask and a water bottle:)

The purpose of this blog is to see if making small changes to our lifestyle as individuals can have a bigger impact to us as a species. Although I have generally been good at sticking to the changes I have made, I will admit that over Christmas I ended up consuming more dairy products than I would have liked. With the combination of visiting restaurants for Christmas meals, where vegetarian meals are pretty much guaranteed to contain cheese because they think we'll keel over without it, and staying with family who are not yet fully aware of what a plant-based diet is, it became too much of an effort to avoid it. In a way I'm glad I did, though, because it made me notice how ill dairy products make me feel. Admittedly, due to my eczema I am more prone than most people to having a reaction to dairy, but I'll deifinitely avoid it as much as possible in the future.
If you feel you can only make one change to your lifestyle at the moment (and don't worry, it all counts) than my tip would be this - buy a water bottle and a thermos flask. I carry both almost everywhere with me, including to work. Compared to my colleagues, who waste countless disposable cups and bottles everyday by buying drinks from vending machines and the coffee shop, I wash and refill my water bottle and flask everyday. I also carry some herbal teabags with me, so I can refill my flask during the day. As well as the environmental advantages, there are two other huge benefits to using your own water bottle and flask. The first is that it's healthier. The best thing you can drink is water (although, depending on where you live in the world, your tap water may not be good). Any soft drink that comes in a bottle, regardless of whether it says 'diet', 'sugar free' or anything else on the bottle, will never as good for you as water is. I promise you, if you cut out soft drinks from your diet, you will notice weight loss within a couple of weeks. Plus, if you cut down on caffeine and start drinking herbal tea instead, you'll sleep a lot sounder at night and feel much better when you're awake.
The other benefit is that you save a lot of money. When I see how much my colleagues spend throughout the day on bottles of cola and take-out coffees, I can't believe that I used to do the same. If you work out how much you spend on these items over the course of a month, I'm sure you'll find something else much more worthwhile to spend the money on.

Ruben Tabares has written a great article about the training benefits of a whole food diet. Check it out at http://him.uk.msn.com/health-and-fitness/train-like-an-olympian
The phrase that stands out for me is "It's a matter of changing one thing at a time until it becomes the norm. It takes about 100 days of doing something before it becomes 'natural'".