Healthy_Food_Guide_UK_-_January_2020

20 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDEJANUARY 2020

J

USTOVERFIVE

YEARSAGOI WENT

VEGAN.I’vebeen

vegetariansincetheage

ofsix,whenI firstmade

theconnectionbetween

animalsandthemeaton

myplate.I was,andstill

am,a biganimallover,

anddecidedI didn’twantto‘eatmyfriends’.In

2014,I wentonestepfurtherandbecamea vegan,

mainlybecauseofresearchI’ddoneintothedairy

industry.It wasquitea bigchangetomake,even

frombeinga vegetarian.I wasa bigcheeselover,

forinstance,andthatwashardtogiveup.Butnow

whenI thinkofcheeseI reallydon’tlike the thought

ofit becauseit’sananimalproduct.

I dida lotofyo-yodietingwhenI wasyounger.

I’dlosea lotofweight,thenreverttomyoldeating

habitsandputit allbackonagain.I wouldobsess

aboutbeing9st7lbandgetting‘perfect’

measurements(I’m5ft9in).

Thebottomlinewas

I justwantedtobeas

thinaspossible.

Afterhavingmychildren

(Joy,five,andAlbion,

three)withmyhusband

Jon,40,I stoppedthinkingaboutdieting.I just

realisedmybodywasamazingandI wasvery

happywithit thewayit was.I was bigger and

heavier,butI didn’tcare.

Butovera coupleofyearsmyweightcreptupto

12st7lbthrougha combinationofthings– not

exercisingenough,postbabyweightandeating

veganjunkfoodsuchasburgersand‘sausage’rolls.

I fellintoeatingtoomuchbread.I’dhavetoastfor

breakfast,sandwichesforlunchandgarlicbread

withdinner,whichmademefeelbloated.Plusthere

were the unhealthy snacks. I wasn’t happy with the

wayI lookedonTVand

hadtoputonshapewear

andbaggierclothesto

coverupallmylumps

andbumps!

So,whenJoystarted

schoollastyear,I decided

tostartexercisingmore

andcutdownonbread

andunhealthysnacks.I usedself-hypnosistostop

myselfsabotagingmyhealthyeating,too.Without

really‘dieting’,I lost2 stoneandgotdownto

10st4lb,whichI‘mreallyhappywith.I didit justby

eatingmorehealthily,swappingmybreakfasttoast

forporridgeandfruit,makingmysandwicheswith

ryebreadandusingmorewholemealcarbs.I still

eatcarbswitheverymeal,justnotsomany of them,

andI makesurethey’rewholemeal.

I eathealthyfatsfromavocados,nuts,seeds

andnutbutter.I findthefatsstopmefeelinghungry

andovereating.I feelconfidentaboutmybody

nowandI’mnotbothered

abouttryingto get down

to9st7lb.

I neverusedtoenjoy

exercise. Inthepast,it was

somethingI thoughtI had

todo– I feltguiltyif I didn’t

• butI didn’tlookforwardtoit.SinceI gotbackinto
  workingoutlastyear,however,I reallyloveit.When
  I’mathomeI’lldoa classeveryday,includingbody
  combat,step,aerobics,blaze[aHIITclass],aswellas
  latindance.I likechoreographyandenjoyvigorous
  exercise.I’mawayfilminginSpain,France,Portugal,
  ItalyandtheCanaryIslandsfor 20 to 25 weeksof
  theyear,soI subscribetoanonlineworkoutservice
  tomakesureI keepfitwhenI’mtravelling.
  I’vefoundit hardtoeatwellwhiletravelling.
  SometimesI’vehadtoresorttochipsandsalad.I’d
  go through the menu and choose something like

JASMINE HARMAN

Channel4’s

A Placein

theSunis a

must-watch

indarkest

January.

JoWaters

talksto

presenter

Jasmine

Harman

aboutfinding

hersunnier

sideby

goingvegan,

ditchingjunk

foodand

stepping

upher

exerciseto

lose 2 stone

❛Ifeelconfidentaboutmy

bodynowandI’mnotbothered

abouttryingtogetdowntomy

“perfect” measurements❜

Dispelling the myths

of going vegan