Could Amelia Freer’s new book change the way you shop for food, cook and eat for life? Here are the key points you need to know about her new 10-day plan before trying it yourself
What does it take to see healthy eating in a healthier light? According to nutritional therapist and bestselling author Amelia Freer (FdSc, DipION, mBANT), more than just a healthy diet - and that’s where her new book, Nourish & Glow: The 10-Day Plan , comes in.
Her most comprehensive book to date, it explores matters of both body and mind to help equip readers with the foundations needed to develop a more positive approach towards balanced eating in the long-term. Developed and refined over her decade of work as a nutritional therapist, it contains a version of the plan she gives to her clients - a series of cooking, shopping and eating recommendations that provide ample food for thought. Introducing her concept of Positive Nutrition (more on that later), her attitude is one of inspiration rather than deprivation, but is the plan for you? Here are the key facts you need to know before trying it yourself.
What is it?
Contrary to what the title would have you believe, there’s a great deal more going on in this book than a basic eating plan. Described as a “surrogate nutritional therapist,” Amelia explores diverse subjects such as mindset, emotional eating and dealing with sabotage, to help take the fear and guilt out of food (a message that’s clear from the intro) and also provide a whole new host of recipes to add to your repertoire. While other plans often have weight loss as their key objective, this plan is more about getting readers to try eating, cooking and shopping in a new way for 10 days in order to gain a better understanding of not only what they eat, but why they eat too. If weight loss does happen, then the intended result is that it be more long-lasting than any ‘quick-fix’ could provide.
As for the plan itself, it’s centred around the concept of Positive Nutrition, an idea that focuses more on what you can and should eat, rather than what you can’t eat. At the heart of the plan, lies the Positive Nutrition Pyramid - a series of tick boxes of sorts, designed to help ensure you incorporate the vital nutrition and essential nutrients needed on a daily basis to help both body and mind function properly. Loosely based on the Mediterranean diet, its emphasis is on whole foods, with rows dedicated to: fluids and water, vegetables, fresh fruit, protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and nuts and seeds. Consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes for each of the 10 days, it also incorporates valuable preparation time for getting ahead to make the process run all the more smoothly.
MORE GLOSS: Amelia Freer’s recipe for spiralized vegetable quiches
Who is it for?
Whether a beginner or a seasoned pro to the world of healthy eating, a wide range of people will take something valuable away from this book. More comprehensive than the others in the Nourish & Glow series, it offers readers the opportunity to gain a better working knowledge of nutrition, get out of damaging dieting cycles and most notably, start enjoying a more diverse variety of food again. During our interview with Amelia, she explained that she’d tested the plan on people from a variety of different backgrounds and while some found it a bit intense at first, the consistent factor among them was that it got easier as the 10 days went on. They also all commented on increased levels of energy, better skin and better mood. The method is refreshingly flexible - she repeatedly stresses it’s not about being a perfectionist, but just doing the best you can. There is also a vegan menu included and a valuable FAO section at the end too to provide an extra helping hand.
What’s the main message?
That a healthy lifestyle is more than just a healthy diet. Her aim is clear: to equip readers with the tools they need to develop new habits and a refreshed approach towards balanced eating that influences how they cook, eat and shop in both the short and long-term.
MORE GLOSS: Amelia Freer - "When we eat well and are healthy, we find our natural weight"
What will I learn?
A bunch of new recipes, nutritional know-how and mindset resets to help you see food in a healthier light.
An interesting feature that is also definitely worth knowing beforehand is that the plan is dairy, gluten and refined-sugar free. For some, this might sound a little extreme and perhaps a bit off-putting. However, her reasoning may go some way to help alleviate your worries. Having found that some people can be quite sensitive to gluten and dairy in her experience, she wanted to provide readers with the opportunity of seeing themselves if symptoms such as bloating or bad skin cleared up during the 10 days if cut out. It’s not what she advises for everyone though and she by no means vilifies these particular ingredients, instead advising that the menu be tailored to suit specific lifestyles and needs.
Any final takeaways?
For those accustomed to a certain way of eating, it may seem scary at first, so perhaps try the plan when you have a less socially-demanding schedule ahead of you. However, it’s important to bear in mind that Amelia encourages an attitude of flexibility rather than rigidity when it comes to the Positive Nutrition Pyramid. For example, she suggests tackling a row at a time - perhaps upping your water one week and then trying the vegetable row the next. The most important takeaways from the book are that food and healthy eating should be guilt and fear-free and that rather than be mindlessly spoonfed what we should and shouldn’t eat, providing us with the tool set needed to make the decisions ourselves actually serves us better in the long-run. For just 10 days, it’s well worth giving a go.
Nourish & Glow: The 10-Day Plan by Amelia Freer is published by Michael Joseph, £16.99, and is available to buy online here .