No time to cook from scratch every day, and still want to eat cake? You can master healthy eating – it’s just about being kind to yourself, Madeleine Shaw tells Keeley Bolger
Nutritionist Madeleine Shaw is on a mission to improve our attitude towards food, especially in how we deal with so-called diet setbacks.
“The worst thing you can do is be hard on yourself and negative,” says the 26-year-old, who counts Millie Mackintosh as a client.
“It’s almost like that stress on your body counteracts any of the good stuff you’re doing. For me, it’s not just about the food you put on the plate, but the attitude you have to food and yourself.
“I want to start a revolution of people being kinder to themselves.”
And that means putting that extra-slice-of-triple-chocolate-cake-shaped blip into perspective.
“You’ve got to tell yourself that this one meal isn’t really going to change things,” she explains. “One piece of cake doesn’t really put on loads of weight. Tell yourself that, and then get back to eating healthy with your next meal.”
Being kind to yourself extends to expectations around cooking food from scratch, too. It’s a great thing to do in theory, Shaw agrees, but whipping out the pans for every meal isn’t always realistic.
“It’s very difficult to make all your food,” says the foodie and yoga fan. “On a busy day like today, I’ll buy food out, but you can make good choices if you’re grabbing something for lunch; there’s always choice.”
She believes with a bit of planning, nutritious fuss-free meals can be achieved even during busy spells, and has devoted her new book, Ready Steady Glow, to just that.
Divided into “fast weeks and slow weekends”, many of the meals take 20 minutes or less to make, but there are more time-consuming recipes too, for those who want to “make that stew, do some baking…”, as well as a section detailing her basic yoga routine, and handy weekly meal plans.
Being busy is something Shaw can wholeheartedly appreciate. A year on from releasing her debut healthy-eating book, Get The Glow, life has moved up a notch.
Up until her teens, she admits she ate a “typical magazine diet of Diet Coke and low-fat yoghurt” to stay slim, but found herself riddled with digestive problems and energy slumps.
Things changed when she moved to Sydney aged 18 to study, and started working at a healthy cafe. Shaw admits her changes didn’t happen overnight, but inspired, she trained as a nutritionist and returned to the UK with renewed zest, eager to share her knowledge via her food and lifestyle blog. She now has 217k followers on Instagram and 39k on Twitter, and as well as writing, does talks and supper clubs, and has collaborated on a string of projects, including a special healthy menu for Brown’s Hotel.
So embedded is Shaw and fellow health blogger Ella Woodward’s positive message that comedian Bella Younger has even poked fun at their approach in her popular spoof account Deliciously Stella, where typical posts about the benefits of munching on nutritious trail mix are accompanied with a picture of a bowl of assorted sweets, crisps and chocolate.
“I love it!” says Shaw with a laugh. “Bella is a fan of healthy eating. It’s amazing how well she’s done in such a short space of time.”
The same can be said of Shaw, whose health and self-esteem have vastly improved since she started making changes.
“I felt much more at peace with myself; I realised that life was here to be enjoyed,” she reflects. “Quite a lot of the time, we’re expecting ourselves to be everything, especially as women: you’ve to be the mum or the girlfriend and the business woman, but also remain feminine and beautiful.
“You don’t you need to add your own self pressure. I realised that when I felt better about myself and put more time into me, I felt happier and it made my life better.
“It’s not an overnight switch, but we could all do to be a bit kinder to ourselves.”
Show yourself some kindness with these recipes from Ready, Steady, Glow…
:: GRILLED LAMB RUMP WITH ROSEMARY CAULIFLOWER MASH
(Serves 2)
2 lamb rumps (about 250g each)
1tsp dried rosemary
1tbsp coconut oil or butter
Olive oil, to serve
Chilli flakes, to serve
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the cauliflower mash:
1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
1tbsp coconut oil or butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbsp dried rosemary
Salt
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.
Trim off any excess fat on the lamb and score the top with a sharp knife. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the rosemary.
Heat a pan with the one tablespoon of oil or butter and cook the lamb fat side down for four minutes, turning it over every minute until browned. Pop it in the oven for 15 minutes then leave it to rest for five minutes.
To make the cauliflower mash, cook the cauliflower in a pan of boiling water for seven to10 minutes, until it is cooked through. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil or butter in a frying pan and throw in the onion. Saute for three minutes then throw in the garlic, a big pinch of salt and the rosemary. Cook for another three minutes then leave to cool slightly.
Mash the onion mix with the cauliflower, scraping out all the spices and oil from the pan. Serve the mash and lamb together with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, a pinch of chilli flakes and a big smile.
:: WALNUT AND RAISIN FRUIT LOAF WITH RICOTTA AND BERRIES
(Makes 1 medium loaf)
120g unsalted butter
200g coconut sugar (available from Ocado and Amazon, as well as health food shops)
1 egg, beaten
200g Medjool dates, pitted
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
2 apples, grated
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
280g rice or buckwheat flour (available in most supermarkets, including Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s)
Pinch of salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
200g walnuts, chopped
75g raisins
1tbsp sesame seeds
100g ricotta or Greek yogurt/coconut yoghurt, to serve
200g seasonal berries, such as raspberries or blueberries, to serve
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line a 1kg loaf tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in the food processor, add in the egg, dates, vanilla and grated apples and pulse to combine. Sift in the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and flour with a pinch of salt and the cinnamon. Fold in the walnuts and raisins and process for five seconds so the nuts and raisins are mixed in well but not too broken up.
Pour the mixture into the tin, smoothing over the top gently, and bake for 50 minutes to one hour, until just cooked through. To see if the loaf is cooked, insert a skewer in the middle – if it comes out clean, it is done. Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Top with the sesame seeds.
Cut into inch-thick slices and toast. Serve with the ricotta/yoghurt and berries.
:: Ready, Steady, Glow by Madeleine Shaw is published in hardback by Orion Books, priced £20. Available now
THREE OF THE BEST… Mueslis
:: Sown & Grown Apple & Raspberry Muesli, £3.95 for 450g, Sainsbury’s
Crammed with seeds and fruity flakes, this filling mix marks a pleasantly balanced departure from other sickly sweet breakfast options.
:: Dorset Cereals Beautiful Blueberry Muesli, £3.80 for 700g, Sainsbury’s
Dried blueberries, cranberries and redcurrants sweeten the barley and malted oats, making for a satisfying, fruity punch.
:: Aldi Specially Selected Exotic Fruits Muesli. £1.59 for 500g, Aldi
At less than £2, this Aldi muesli is a real bargain and an appetising one too, with dates, cranberries, almonds and raspberries peppering the oats.
