food to glow

In frosty January it is so tempting to cuddle up on the sofa with a bowl of carbs (mashed potatoes/spaghetti/brownies/mac and cheese/yada yada…). But yummy as this proposition is, it pretty much goes against the grain (geddit) of our inner urge to do a little January spring clean. And I’m not talking dusting.

If you are anything like me, and some of my fellow food bloggers here in the UK, December was just one long buffet line of temptation. Mince pies, edible decorations, stollen, eggnog, chocolates. Delicious of course, but healthy-diet derailers one and all.

Despite best intentions most of us will be feeling a little tubbier, slower and, well, blah. Because even with restraint on the sweets and cookies most of us will have naturally been eating larger portions of our healthier choices. I know I did. I blame the lack of sunlight. I just can’t see how much is on my plate. 😉

Cheekiness and lies aside (I have new glasses), something had to give. And it certainly wasn’t my waistband.

So, after much chat amongst a few of us food bloggers on the best and least depriving way to slough off the December excess, we give you Jumpstart 2015. This is our plan(initiated by Jac) to get ourselves healthier, more energised and hopefully lose a bit of weight.

Do you want to join us?

Just to be clear Jumpstart is not a diet as such. No calorie-counting here. Food To Glow doesn’t do calorie-counting. But as you know, Food To Glow does do vegetables. Lots of them. In this flexible plan (of sorts) we will be emphasising vegetables in smoothies, juices and soups. Nothing you don’t already expect from me, but throughout January I will be linking to other like-minded bloggers with different ideas to tantalise, and hopefully to try for yourself.

Creamy Broccoli and Basil Soup; Kale, Sour Cherry and Cocoa Smoothie; Beetroot Zinger; Green Passion Smoothie; Green Tea Soothie; Cumin and Fennel Beetroot Soup.

Here’s what we are doing:

1. Having a freshly made juice or smoothie for breakfast and lunch. Protein will feature, too – nut butter; some chia seeds; an egg on the side. I will be using my Froothie Optimum 9400 Blender for the soups and smoothies and my Froothie Optimum 600 Whole Fruit Slow Juicer, but use what you have, of course.

2. Drinking more water. I will wake up and have hot water and lemon (I do anyway) and take it from there. I also like to drink matcha tea (cold, with lemon) and fresh ginger root in hot water.

3. No alcohol – for me at least. These are empty calories I don’t need.

4. More soup. Some chunky, some smooth, all with loads of veg and of course, me being me they will have spices! Warm spices rev up metabolism and temporarily raise our core temperature, thus helping to burn more calories. Extra spices for me then. 🙂

5. Eat normally in the evening. One thing I always try to do is fill half of my plate with non-starchy vegetables and then have a quarter plate of protein and quarter of starchy carbs. I might reach for a smaller plate this month as well.

6. Lastly – and this is my own riff – I will have a small snack if I’m hungry. Although fibre-rich smoothies should be enough on most days, some days I am just hungrier than others, and I bet you are too. And since this isn’t about calorie counting or deprivation, I will brew up an instant miso soup or pop in a batch of kale crisps. More nutrition and increased satisfaction. Plain Greek yogurt, with a swirl of fresh, crushed berries, will also be on standby. Maybe a tablespoon of this too. And if I have to have something cold and sweet, I could do worse than this.

My fellow bloggers and I will start posting smoothies, juices and soups later this week, although I won’t be joining in properly until I return home from my holiday. Just being honest. 🙂 But please join me and my fellow Jumpstart 2015 bloggers for a month (+) of extra vegetables, lower sugar and more energy. But I won’t be all about the blender and juicer at Food To Glow. Expect a healthy pasta dish, a Korean sweet potato side dish, and something involving roasted citrus…

Bookmark or use Bloglovin to track what my friends are up to – their recipes, tips and progress:

Tinned Tomatoes – Slim Down with Jumpstart January

Smarter Fitter – An Easy 3-Day Juice Feast to Jumpstart 2015 (Monica is my go-to gal for gorgeous smoothie and juice recipes)

Utterly Scrummy Food For Families – Jumpstart January for Smoothies and Soups

Fuss Free Flavours

Ren Behan

Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary

Veggie Desserts

Franglais Kitchen

London Unattached (mainly soups)

Maison Cupcake

Keep up with all of the Jumpstart 2015 goings on by following our blogs, or on Twitter and Instagram with the #Jumpstart15 hashtag.

Readers of Food To Glow: Snap your own pix and use the hashtag #Jumpstart15 and either @foodtoglow (Twitter) or @food_to_glow (Instagram): I will retweet any I see!