SUMMER GLOW DIET

Find out in this quiz – then break the habit to boost your inner glow

ALL THIS week in the Mail, AMELIA FREER — nutritionist to the stars and author of bestseller Eat. Nourish. Glow. — shows how to change the way you eat for good. Today, how to achieve grace around food . . .

MANy of my clients appear to glide effortlessly through life looking glamorous and in control. some run successful businesses or hold down important jobs.

they juggle the demands of raising children and marriage with running a home and a great social life. Many of them know about nutrition and eat healthily. But when I dig a little deeper I often find hidden dietary secrets.

Quite often they will confess that after a long day being calm and in complete control of their busy, successful lives they collapse on the sofa and gorge on chocolate until their stomach aches.

Food has so much control over our lives and, if we’re honest, most of us will admit to having used food at some point in an emotional way. We eat to distract or alter the way we are feeling, to find pleasure, to avoid pain.

some familiar unhealthy patterns of eating are habitual and deeply ingrained. the messages we were taught as children can play a huge part — being told to finish everything on our plates or being forced to eat food we don’t like hardly sets us up for a balanced and happy relationship with food.

Being given sweet treats or junk food as a reward or comfort add to the confusing messages many of us hold on to as adults.

It is quite astounding how many bright and busy people find themselves feeling utterly helpless around food at certain points in the day and eating without grace.

I come across so many different types of eaters with flawed relationships with food. the first key to finding grace around food is to identify your habits so, with my guidance, you can start to fix them.

WHAT TYPE OF EATER ARE YOU?

THE ON/OFF EATER

DO YOU:

EXPERIMENT with different weight-loss diets? OBSESS over calories or fats? START a diet with great intentions, but last only a few days or weeks?

GO A bit crazy (eating and drinking everything you’ve missed) when you break the diet? FEEL weak-willed (and hungry)? I see this pattern so often and it’s a miserable place to be. you’ll swing from feeling hungry or a failure and, worse, rarely achieve your diet goals.

THE RUSHED EATER

DO YOU:

EAT quickly without focus, usually while doing something else?

GRAB food without properly registering it? BARELY chew (too time-consuming!) SUFFER from bloating and stomach problems?

Eating quickly, thoughtlessly and without adequate chewing gives your poor stomach too much work to do.

Larger particles of food can escape through the gut, making it harder for your body to absorb nutrients, and leading to food sensitivities and bacterial growth.

the rushed eater usually struggles with IBs symptoms ( bloating, flatulence, gut pain).

THE STRESSED EATER

DO YOU: SEE evening eating as ‘me time’? END your day with a food onslaught as a way to switch off and escape the pressures of life?

TREAT yourself to crisps or biscuits because you ‘deserve it’?

OVER-EAT even healthy food in the evenings?

EAT in a comatose state as you try to slow down the pressures of the day?

you could be harbouring an underlying anger about your overwhelming life, but eating like this will only exacerbate your stress levels.

THE SECRET EATER

DO YOU:

Eat virtuously in public, but tuck into junk food when no one’s watching? RAID the fridge at night? PICK at the children’s leftovers? GRAB something unhealthy at the petrol station and eat it in the car?

you could be eating more food than you realise and tainting the food that you do eat with feelings of guilt and shame.

THE COMFORT EATER

DO YOU:

EAT ice cream, cake, chocolate or carbohydrates when sad or lonely, angry or scared?

If you are driven by your emotions, your choice of food will cause blood sugar levels to rise then crash, triggering more hunger and a worse mood. turning to sugary food when you’re down will only make things worse.

THE MINDLESS EATER

DO YOU: EAT without thinking? GRAZE continuously? EAT if food is around or offered, regardless of what or when it is?

you could be too busy or distracted to think about or really enjoy food. Without realising what is going in your mouth, you could be consuming far too much without noticing, making nutritionally poor food choices and missing out on the wealth of enjoyment that surrounds good, fresh, healthy food.

the crucial key to achieving a perfect healthy glow and losing excess weight — if that’s your goal — is learning to eat with grace and to give good, nourishing food the attention and acknowledgement it deserves.

the truly graceful eater chooses healthy, natural and nourishing foods and eats only when hungry. they cook as much as possible from scratch, and eat serenely, taking small mouthfuls and chewing each bite.

they stop eating when full, so never feel uncomfortable, bloated or guilty.

Impossible? No! Here’s how to achieve grace around food:

1. STOP GIVING FOOD A LABEL

IF YOU think of salad as ‘good’ and chips as ‘bad’, you could be reinforcing the idea that salad is boring and something you eat when you’re being disciplined and virtuous, while food labelled as ‘ bad’ is forbidden and therefore alluring.

A huge slice of gooey, sweet chocolate cake will probably make you feel bloated, overweight and tired: why call that a treat?

Only eat the foods that make you

feel good. Only the freshest, most nutritious food will nourish you, make you healthier, stronger, happier, more energised and glow

ing. Make every bite work for you — not against you.

2. TAKE PLEASURE IN GOOD FOOD

Set aside time to shop for, prepare and eat food properly.

When shopping, be calm and think about your health. Chose nourishing, healthy foods.

take pleasure in cooking, and when you sit down to eat, do so without distractions (no magazine, tV or working at your desk). Make yourself and your meals a priority that deserve time and thought.

3. HEALTHY EATING AS A PRIORITY

I See mothers who lovingly prepare organic meals for their children and insist they sit at the table to eat, but hover, standing, with a cup of coffee and then grab a cereal bar as they rush out of the door.

eating healthily should be your priority — take care of yourself and you’ll be better able to look after others.

4. SLOW IT DOWN

MOSt of us eat too quickly. Don’t pile your fork or spoon too high. Chew each mouthful until the food becomes a mushy paste.

Put your cutlery down between each mouthful and give yourself time to chew and breathe. eat gracefully and don’t gobble! Smell it, taste it, chew it properly and eat it slowly, savouring every morsel.

5. DON’T COUNT CALORIES

InSteaD of calorie counting, tune into your body and eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Make every bite count by picking healthy, nutritious food.

6. LIMIT ALCOHOL

DrInk can turn the most graceful eater quite disgraceful by triggering wild blood sugar swings that lead to binge-eating and poor food choices. avoid these by ensuring you don’t drink too much alcohol.

7. NOURISH YOUR EMOTIONS

If yOu eat when you’re sad, bored or lonely, search out non-food ways to cheer yourself up or amuse yourself if you’re bored — exercise, socialising or reading — because the honest truth is that food can never fill a void in your life or mind.

8. LEARN TO LOVE HEALTHY FOOD

Create happy meal-times and learn to really love food again instead of fearing it.

Good food is life- giving and amazing — it is certainly not something that should ever make you feel bad, stressed or plain guilty.