GET YOUR BEST BODY EVER
WITHOUT GIVING UP CHOCOLATE!
I
t happened time and time again. People just kept asking Sydney mum-of-two Faye James, 44, how she stayed looking so young and trim. But it hadn’t always been this way. “In my 20s I didn’t look after my diet,” Faye tells New Idea candidly. “I was a typical student and much to my mum’s despair I would gorge on [fast food], sugary cereals and fizzy drinks. “I was seriously sleep deprived, flabby and unhappy. I felt awful and I knew I had to take ownership of my health,” the mum explains. Her aim? To do what many of us make a resolution to achieve every single year: eat a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables and take regular exercise. Faye started small by firstly ditching bad carbs for good ones, eating at least half a plate of vegetables with each meal and starting the day with her mum’s own recipe for liver detox – a drink of lemon, water and apple cider vinegar.
Straight away, Faye says, she felt “amazing”. And with her glowing skin came the comments from people asking how she did it – especially with two kids, Mia, 10, and Pablo, 6, to look after.
That’s when Faye decided to put pen to paper and share her top tips. The result was her book – The Long Life Plan – which reveals details of Faye’s go-to diet, her meal planning tips and natural beauty secrets.
These days, the health and beauty journalist avoids cow’s milk and red meat, and opts for low-lactose foods such as goat’s cheese and parmesan or dairyfree such as coconut yoghurt.
“As you age, your metabolism slows down and your body better suits a low-carb, alkaline diet full of lean protein and fresh fruit and vegetables to ensure you don’t pile on the kilos,” Faye explains. She also uses plenty of anti-inflammatory herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic and nigella seeds to keep her immune system in check.
Food waste is a thing of the past – with the busy mum creating recipes that make the best use of leftovers which also helps not blow the budget.
“I like to roast a chicken, but then make a nourishing soup the next day or a quinoa chicken and mushroom risotto,” she explains. “There are loads of things you can do to get the most out of one
ingredient.” Faye is also a fan of finding three ways to make a version of a snack to help save time and give meals variety.
“If you’re making chocolate brownies for example, you can make several versions and add nuts, sweet potato and even avocado to individual batches.
“I call it ‘snacks, three hacks!’” the mum says.
“It saves time in the kitchen and stops you getting bored of always eating the same thing.”
The author reveals the secret behind her wrinkle-free complexion is a lemon juice shot with apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning to help cleanse the liver and kickstart the metabolism. “I also drink green tea with fresh ginger religiously throughout the day – it’s full of antioxidants to keep ageing at bay – plus a green matcha smoothie mid-morning,” she adds.
To keep her skin looking young and radiant the Sydney mum also makes her own face masks, moisturisers and body scrubs. She insists: “There’s no need to invest in expensive anti-ageing creams and gimmicks. You can make your own, which not only is easier on the pocket but also better for the environment.”
Having devised her own 30-minute yoga and Pilates exercises to do at home in front of the television, it appears there’s nothing this busy mum can’t do.
“As you age, you need to keep flexibility and strength, but there’s no reason you can’t do it in the comfort of your own home,” she adds.
“I WAS FLABBY AND UNHAPPY. I FELT AWFUL AND KNEW I HAD TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF MY HEALTH”