How does a supermodel prepare of a big shoot or rebalance after an indulgent holiday? Our columnist reveals her simple, failsafe reboot plans
I’m not about crash diets or binge exercise plans; for me, it’s about balance and how I feel in myself rather than a number on a scale. If I eat well, sleep well and exercise every day, then I feel well. Just recently, after I spent a week at wellness retreat The Ranch Malibu , I discovered my body really thrives on plants.
As a way of incorporating that into my life, I have started doing plant-based food weeks, for those times when I feel I need a reboot, such as before a shoot or after an indulgent holiday. During those weeks it’s no fish, eggs or animal products, lots of organic leafy greens and only whole foods.
A day of plant-based food for me typically looks like this:
Breakfast: The Super Elixir Chocolate Nourishing Protein smoothie with 1 frozen banana, almond milk and handful berries.
There’s something a little indulgent about starting your day with something chocolate.
Lunch: Puy lentil salad with beetroot, spinach, avocado, sweet potato, grated carrot and toasted pumpkin seeds.
The combination of avocado and beetroot has a wonderful texture about it.
Dinner: Roasted Portobello mushrooms with miso paste on a bed of quinoa and steamed greens.
The mushrooms make it feel substantial, which is what you want at dinner time and the miso adds lots of interesting flavour.
Snacks: If I need a snack I keep it simple: 2-3 dates for my sweet tooth, followed by a green tea to take the sweetness away. If I haven’t had a smoothie for breakfast I’ll blend ½ frozen banana with Nourishing Protein Chocolate and almond milk, or often I’ll find a handful of almonds as a snack to tide me over to the next meal.
The only supplement I take is The Super Elixir Alkalising Greens , a daily all-you-need formula with 45 key ingredients that you may not be able to easily find such as wheatgrass, spinach, kelp, horsetail and aloe vera. Carefully combined in scientific ratios to maintain good nutrition and help restore the body’s pH balance, it helps to remove symptoms associated with acidity, such as low energy, weight gain and sugar cravings.
My four-week reboot plan
At this time of year, I also love to do the four-week reboot plan created for me by my nutritional doctor. It’s something I return to before a big shoot, or if I know a special occasion is coming up. It starts out slowly and includes daily exercise (something I love such as running, swimming or surfing). I find that these days, I need to do an hour of exercise and often something in the evening such as a walk after dinner. The concept of this reboot is to get back on track, to view food as fuel/nutrition for the body and exercise as a way of keeping the body healthy and functioning properly.
WEEK 1 No refined carbs after 5pm. Take The Super Elixir Alkalising Greens with 500ml of water every day and make sure you consume at least two litres of filtered water every day.
WEEK 2 Build on the above and replace one meal a day with The Super Elixir Nourishing Protein , blended with 400ml of cold almond milk and 1-2 fruits as a delicious smoothie.
WEEK 3 Build on the above. Add cayenne pepper to at least one meal a day. It will boost metabolism and create a thermogenic effect, which helps burn calories.
WEEK 4 Build on the above. Cut all sugar, dairy and starchy carbs and increase intake of green vegetables. And of course get active, with a form of exercise you love, for at least 45 minutes a day!
Enjoy 2017! Love, Elle.
PS We are currently running a 30-day Super Elixir Challenge. All you have to do is take two teaspoons of The Super Elixir Alkalising Greens every day for 30 days and record how you feel (honestly!) to win a year’s supply of the product.
Check out welleco.co.uk for details and how to join the #SuperElixirChallenge squad.
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