Movie time! Fructose-free Choc-Toffee Popcorn Clusters

I haven’t gone to the cinema much this year. I’m NOT going to count the time I took my toddler and newborn baby to see an excruciating Sunday morning Thomas the Tank Engine special. I’d thought it would be a movie-length special, but it turned out to be an hour and a half of ten minute back-to-back episodes, complete with opening songs and credits. It was like a toddler Netflix binge.

So, I was very excited when friends organised a cinema outing last night to see Gone Girl. To the LATE session no less! I was worried I’d fall asleep. I didn’t. I’m not a huge fan of cinema food though, especially the prices. I decided to be a dork and take my own movie-time treats from home.

Enter, fructose-free choc-toffee popcorn clusters! Continue reading →

I’m not judging you for not quitting sugar – just finding my own line

I recently came across this article on my Facebook news-feed, shared by a vegetarian friend. The author, Sylvia, shares her frustrations about how often she is questioned about her vegetarianism, and says that this usually turns into a debate about the pros and cons of not eating meat.

In discussing the reasons why she has experienced hostility towards her lifestyle, Sylvia comes to the conclusion that people don’t like to feel judged, and that even though she stopped eating meat as a personal choice; “the message behind stepping outside the status quo is that the status quo is bad, and that puts people on the defensive.” The irony of this, is that when people do get defensive and lash out because they fear they are being judged, their hostility or criticism is usually terribly judgmental in itself. Continue reading →

The link between my physical and mental health – and a recipe for Hazelnut Nut-Ella Biscuits

I’m starting to realise how much my physical health affects my mental health. I wrote previously about considering coming off my anti-depressant medication, which I take primarily for anxiety, although I consider anxiety and depression to be different sides of the same coin. I have taken this medication for over six years, and it has only been this year – in my busiest, most sleep-deprived year yet – that I have felt in a place where I am ready to *try* living without it. I put this down to cutting out processed foods and fructose. I have felt so much healthier this year, and my frame of mind has followed suit. I feel more optimistic, happier, more resilient and able to cope with daily challenges, and had less mental exhaustion.

Comparatively, when I’m sick my mental health declines too. I am a terrible patient. If I get a cold or flu, ALL HOPE IS GONE. I am miserable. Pessimistic. A total negative nancy. The negative self-talk, self-loathing and paranoia goes into overdrive, and along with it, the need to indulge in unhealthy comfort food. I realise now that this once served to keep me trapped in a cycle of mediocre physical and mental health. Continue reading →