Se7en+1 Reasons to Love Jessica Sepel’s Living the Healthy Life…

When you read books about Healthy Living they tend to be packed with things you should be doing to get to the next level, whatever that is, well not so with Jessica Sepel. Here is a girl who redefines getting things done, and she is full of spunk and energy while she does it. Her entire ethos is “be kind to yourself” and “get lots of rest.” I absolutely love her books… they are pretty in every way, inspiring on every level and quite honestly always leave me feeling like I have been on a little holiday. I am going to take you on a little trip through her latest book: Living the Healthy Life by Jessica Sepel An Eight Week Plan for Letting Go of Unhealthy Dieting Habits and Finding a Balance Approach to Weight Loss.

In a nutshell, if you want to put the spring back in your step and you hate being bossed around, not to mention beautiful books inspire you… then this is the book to get lost in. If you are looking for a book to leave lying around for yourself and your teen daughters to bump into… a realistic and beautiful book on healthy living, one that says… lose the scale, lose the fad diets, be yourself, and it is not about everyone else… then this is the book.

1. There is a whole section devoted to getting your sparkle back… I can tell you that somewhere along the line I might have lost my sparkle a little, eight kids, running a home, homeschooling and just getting from one day to the next can do that to a sleep deprived mother person. This books is packed with tweaks and really practical ways that we can address the lack of sparkle. Honestly, I thought I was going to be reading a healthy recipe book and it turned out to be so very much more than that. The message is clear… be nice to yourself, nobody else is going to put you to bed, or give you a day off when you need one.

2. She has her healthy eating guide, it is not rocket science and it is totally doable… easy ideas for snacks and coping with the afternoon slump. There are lists of menu ideas, ideas for things that you can swap in and out, depending on what you are looking for in your diet… for me I am always looking for ways to add more veg into our kids’ diet… always. And even a page of easy good choices that we can make when we are eating out.

3. Her quotable quotes make you want to start an inspiration notebook: “Your best is yet to come; your achievements are really just stepping stones…” food for thought. Not to mention, “Stop telling yourself you need to do more, you are enough, acknowledge the things you are doing already.”

4. It is full of beautiful recipes that we put to the test… and they were surprisingly quick to get onto the table… simply blowing the myth that beautiful and healthy food takes hours of preparation to prepare. Not to mention heaps of veggie rich recipes that my kids really enjoyed…

5. A healthy living lifestyle book with pages devoted to comfort food… and well, toast. But you have to see this toast… it is toast on point!!!

6. I am just going to say, there are plenty of treats, including: “Apple Crumble Pancakes.” They never sit around long enough to be photographed, even though we have made them countless times.

7. Her eight week plan, caters for all sorts of needs… she tackles lifestyle, food and exercise for every week of her program… which you may want to follow for any number of reasons. If you want to focus on exercise, healthy eating, or any sort of healthy living plan… she has the plan for you. And her holistic approach means that you won’t be focusing on healthy food and forgetting about the rest of you, or focusing on sleep and forgetting about the rest of you… The whole of you, with easy to implement tweaks that you can address.

8. I need a book with a whole section called “Heal your Sleep” I have a feeling I am not the only one. And not only that, she has an Energy-Meal Plan… that is enough to make me want to find out more. And as usual her less is more attitude, and in fact … much less is so much more… except sleep… there she advocates, if you do nothing else then get enough sleep.

1. Mushroom, goat’s cheese and thyme toast: This is obviously taking toast to a whole new level!!!

2. Tomato and Red Pepper Soup: This is a family favourite recipe already, we all love roast tomato and pepper soup, easy to prepare well in advance and everyone loves it.

3. Slivers of Courgette, and chickpeas: with baby tomatoes and leafy greens… this is the kind of salad that literally takes two nits to put together and feels like a meal.

4. Quick Chicken Dinners: Moroccan Chicken Skewers: Everything to love. Enough said!

5. Apple Pie Oats: Absolute winner… everyone loved it, even our “I don’t eat oats” kiddo… it is all the lovely add ons.

6. Courgette Mushroom Alfredo: Firstly, courgette noodles are as easy as pie to make, we just grated courgettes with the hand grater until we had enough… no fancy gadgets necessary. I thought my kids would not be keen on pasta, that was so obviously not pasta… they didn’t complain at all, and in fact loved it… this has become an easy swap out, and is a delicious way to add more vegetables to their day… especially when you need something to go with a creamy mushroom sauce.

7. Blissballs vs. Breakfast Cinnamon oat Cookies: Because of our nut allergy and lack of creativity, we decided to try the breakfast cookies instead of the Blissballs, which looked like they needed lots of swapping out. These on a mountain top where considered to be a very tasty breakfast idea… and got the “make them again” seal of approval.

8. Lime, Mint and Coconut Water: This on a sweltering day was an absolute winner. The trick to enjoying coconut water, if you don’t love it already, is to serve it ice-cold… yummy!!!

Basically everything to love… you can find her website over here… it is packed with tons of useful information, you can even sign up to her program online. Take a look at her recipes and her blog… and thank me later!!!