Derval O'Rourke's 4-week healthy lifestyle challenge
Derval O'Rourke Weekend
I’ve spent January like most people — trying to keep busy and not think too much about restrictions. A big help in distracting me was my four-week healthy lifestyle challenge that I ran online. I had four different experts give their advice and do weekly live sessions. I’ll share a few of my favorite pieces of advice from the challenge here and I have a lovely scrambled eggs recipe too.
I heard a brilliant phrase during this challenge: .
Cathy Dunleavy, health and wellness coach, did a fantastic job of sharing her views on approaching health from a very personal perspective. She reminded us that everybody is different and will respond to changes depending on their own personal circumstances. We process many foods in different ways. What might work for one, might not work for another. Cholesterol was an area that Cathy honed in on and was very much advocating an individual approach that looks at many variables. A simple tip Cathy gave was to really try to increase vegetables — the recipe shared today has a lovely addition of spinach which is a great start!
Gut health and biomes is an area I find really interesting. You develop your microbiome based on what you eat. These are little microorganisms in our bowel, and we depend on these to keep our gut healthy. Try to add lots of fibre for a healthy gut. Another great way to do that is to introduce fermented foods into our diets. We all know that vegetables and fruit are good for you, and even spices and herbs are beneficial for introducing antioxidants. In fact, antioxidants literally mop-up free radicals in our bodies — a lot of which are the product of stress. Try to put a big emphasis on grains such as rice, (brown basmati, wholegrain or even white) quinoa (a wheat product), couscous etc. All of these can be introduced to your diet with ease and can have very positive effects.
Hands up if you are guilty of eating crappy food at night. I know I am! For me personally, it is either one of two things. Either I’ve eaten too little during the day or else I can start looking for the biscuits out of habit or boredom. A good idea is to eat some ‘real’ food first and this will help you identify if you are simply hungry from having a busy day when you may not have eaten enough. A second recommendation for night-time snacking out of habit is changing our relaxation ritual. For example, when settling down for your evening treat, try moving to a different chair than you normally sit on to enjoy the snack. This can trigger a different response in the brain. By changing this, you are breaking a habit and creating new neurological pathways, which the brain then stops associating sitting down in a certain place to have a treat or snack. Rather than rewarding yourself with snacks try other tactics such as ringing a friend or distracting yourself in another way that you find enjoyable.
In my former career as a professional athlete there was a huge focus on sleep quality as a performance tool. In the years since I’ve retired it’s an area that I need to constantly make an effort with but yet I feel so much better when I’m getting good sleep. Lack of sleep has a negative impact on so many different aspects of your life.
A good tip shared during our healthy lifestyle challenge relates to timing of food: your last main meal ideally should not be any later than two hours before going to bed. A great food tip is eating kiwis (which naturally contain serotonin) and pistachios before bed as a night time healthy sleep-enhancing snack. Try to ensure the pistachios should are raw, (i.e. not salted or sweetened) to get the true benefit.
During January I had two live workouts every week for members of Derval.ie
The two workouts are very different and from two different coaches but one theme they have in common is to keep moving through a workout. If you decide to exercise for 30 minutes, keep an emphasis on making those 30 minutes count. If you need breaks in the exercise try not to stop completely, even if you are simply marching on the spot. No matter what your fitness level is you will benefit from moving so don’t overthink it and get that body moving. You can do it!
If you are being mindful of your cholesterol and are usually including eggs in your diet, try using egg whites and limiting the use of the yolk.
Write a list of habits you’d like to change or think of new healthy habits you’d like to build. Take some time to plan out some actions you can take to achieve those goals and habits.
Serves: 3
- 200g baby spinach
- 6 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
- Tbsp. real butter
- Drop of milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 100g smoked salmon, good quality
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until wilted. Remove from the heat and leave to the side.
Melt the butter in a small heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring continuously, for about 2-3 minutes, until the eggs look just about cooked
Remove from the heat and add a drop of milk to stop the cooking and keep the eggs nice and creamy. Season.
Serve the eggs on a plate with the smoked salmon and spinach. Enjoy immediately.
