Maybe you’ve started to eat better, you’re eating a lot more plant-based now and maybe you’re losing weight. Nourishing your body with a wholefood plant-based diet is key to good health, but are you active and doing some exercises too? Although you can lose weight without exercising it really has so many health benefits to offer – mental as well as physical.

But, how much exercise do you *actually* need to get in shape?

Twenty minutes three times per week? Half-hour per day?

And how much is too much?

Do you need to sweat it out for an hour or more every day?

Cravings can be triggered by many things including; sights, sounds, aromas, environment, stress and more. A perfect example of this is a typical trip to the supermarket with the smell of freshly-baked bread wafting through the shop or popping to a coffee shop and the cakes and muffins are all neatly on display, right in front of you when you’re in the queue! Another example common for a lot of people is stress – stress of a deadline, stress when faced with something you dislike (checking your bank statement or sorting out your house insurance. Sound familiar?) Another is boredom.

As we age people will commonly experience lower energy levels, more digestive discomfort and weight gain, as well as aches and pains.

Ageing can result in hormonal changes for both men and women. And these can contribute to loss of some lean muscle mass, as well as increases and changes in fat storage on our bodies.

Eat a variety of nutrient-dense whole plant foods; this doesn't just help reduce stress hormone, it helps all aspects of your health.

Lower your cortisol levels with leafy greens, whole grains, berries, beans, nuts and seeds – especially walnuts, milled linseeds and chia seeds. Plus, a bit of dark chocolate – not the sugary, milky kind, can even help you to unwind too.  

It would also appear that the standard Western lifestyle could be the main driver of gut inflammation. A diet which is low in fibre, high in sugar and saturated fat, plus high consumption of alcohol along with high levels of stress, could all be a factor.

A plant-based diet is not a diet of vegetables alone. It is a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, which may exclude or minimise meat, including chicken, dairy products and eggs. The diet will definitely exclude foods made from refined flour and sugar, and certain refined vegetable oils.

I advocate a completely plant-based diet, excluding all animal products, because of the multiple health issues related to animal products.