Beauty & Wellness Routine with Lee Holmes – Bestselling Cook Book Author, Nutritionist, Blogger, Wholefood Chef and Yoga & Meditation Teacher!

First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!

I wasn’t always someone who was passionate about green smoothies, Leafy greens and looking at nutrition labels. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and fibromyalgia. I found that while some medicines could alleviate symptoms, they couldn’t bring me health and happiness. This is when I turned my life around, looking at food and cooking as more of a healing instrument and included it more jn my lifestyle.I love creating healthy, delicious and simple food and want to inspire other people to do the same! I’m an author, blogger, a yoga teacher, wife and a mum! I advocate listening to your body and your gut – your body is an amazing machine and will be the first one on board of your health journey if you let it!

Tell us about your daily beauty routine! What are your non-negotiables for looking and feeling your best?.

I love to keep my skincare routine as simple as possible! The first thing I do is drink a scoop of my Heal Your Gut Powder. I truly believe that natural beauty comes from within, so this is a non-negotiable part of my day. I then wash my face with Natural Instinct Cleansing Oil, followed by their beautiful Rosehip Oil. I always make sure to apply Natural Instinct Tinted Natural Sunscreen SPF30 before heading out for the day.

Before I go to bed I love to apply my Supercharged Food Earth Mask & Scrub as either an exfoliating scrub or mask. I apply it and then rinse it off in a nice warm shower. I then make sure to dab Rosehip oil at night and sleep with it on – there’s nothing better than the feel of Rosehip on my skin!

What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

I love having massages. After long days working at the office, I just need a release! I couldn’t think of anything better than the tension to literally just drop off my shoulders by the hands of a professional.

Who do you trust with your hair, and why?

I don’t have a particular place I go to and am really lazy when it comes to hair care I normally only wash it once a week and then add a bit of coconut oil as a moisturiser, I learnt that trick whilst studying in India 🙂

Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

My favourite at home treatment is applying my Supercharged Food Earth, Mask & Scrub as a mask, lighting a candle, putting on soft music and having a ten-minute meditation!

Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

I love Natural Instincts Rosehip Oil, my Heal Your Gut Powder and Southern Nature’s Colostrum!

What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet?

I would love to go to a Salt Therapy room but just haven’t had the chance! I love the idea of negative ions and would love to test out the salt room for myself! (ED: Check out Salts of the Earth in Vic Park & Wangara!)

Describe a typical day of eating for you – brekky, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks – the works!

I love having eggs for breakfast! I usually make my Café-style smoked salmon, eggs and asparagus from my new Fast Your Way to Wellness book.

For lunch, I usually enjoy a delicious salad with leftover protein from dinner, lots of greens and some of my favourite filling foods: avocado!

I usually snack on carrots or celery but I’m also a sucker for berries in summer! If I have any left in the freezer, I love snacking on my Turmeric Fudge and have a special surprise coming up about that soon – be sure to check my blog in the next coming weeks!

My hot drink of choice is always homemade chai! Maybe it’s because of my Indian roots but nothing warms me up quite like it.

I love sharing meals with my family. There’s something so special to be about sitting around the table and sharing food with the people you love. Right now for a quick lunch I’m loving these veggie nori wraps as they are delicious, nutritious and easy to make from my new Fast Your Way to Wellness book!

How do you like to get your body moving? Describe your weekly fitness routine.

I start most mornings with a walk along the coastline! I know it sounds very simple but there’s something just so magical to me about a solo walk, appreciating the view and clearing my head. I teach yoga a few times a week and make sure to get my practice in too!

Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, we’d love to hear about it!

I’m lucky enough to be an ambassador for the wonderful brand Southernature! Anybody who knows me is probably sick of hearing about my passion about the brand. I take Omega 3 to reduce inflammation, Colostrum for keeping my gut in check and the Good Night Sleep to calm me down and help ease me into a restful night’s sleep.

You’ve got a big event in 7 days time that you need to look incredible for. What’s your plan of attack to look & feel your absolute best?

I practice intermittent fasting 2 days a week. I go into detail about intermittent fasting in my latest book Fast Your Way to Wellness, but I’ll give you the down-low! On my ‘fasting days’, I consume 500 calories and for men I recommend 600 calories. The calories I do consume are made up of organic, non-processed and nutritious food. Fasting helps to increase fat burning, control your appetite, reduce inflammation, give the digestive system a rest and help you look and feel the best you can! I usually fast the day before an event so that I go into that day feeling light, not bloated, and excited! If you want to read more about intermittent fasting, or if you would like to purchase my new book, you can check it out on my blog.

How do you like to relax? What are your favourite ways to de-stress?

When I have too many things going on, I know that it’s my time to switch off completely. I turn all my electronic devices off, put a candle on and sit in a bath filled with Epsom salts and a good magazine or book. I find sometimes I get too caught up in work and forget to breathe! I know for me personally, it’s so important to take time out and just remember to put everything into perspective – whether it’s work, university or school work, things always work out for the best and it’s important to stay positive and smiling!

How many hours sleep do you usually get each night? Do you have any bedtime rituals or tips to help you get a great nights sleep?

My younger self would be shocked at the sleep routine I have now! I like to go to bed early and aim for 8 hours of sleep a night. Before I go to bed, I make sure to stay away from all electrical devices for at least an hour, take a Southernature Good Night Sleep supplement and spray my pillow with lavender essential oils to calm my mind.

And lastly… do you have any top secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

Look after your gut! Not only is the gut at the core of your health, it is closely connected to your immune system and your brain, and I’d say those are two important parts of the body! Some easy tips for looking after the gut is to avoid gluten, stay hydrated and manage stress. If you want to know more about healing the gut, you can check out my 4 week Heal Your Gut Program or, my 2-day Heal Your Gut Maintenance Program.

If you have any questions for Lee, please leave them in the comments! I hope you’ve learnt something from her interview – let me know who you’d like interviewed next!

Be well,

Annette

xo

Healthy Cook Book Review: Supercharged Food: Eat Your Way to Good Health, by Lee Holmes.

I’ve always restricted my diet for one reason or another – vegetarianism in my teens, a milk intolerance picked up in my twenties. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that my somewhat ‘sensitive’ system does better without dairy, wheat and sugar. A helpful discovery, yes, but one that makes me feel quite isolated as I scour menus for an item I can actually eat, and makes me cringe when friends invite me over for dinner. It can also make cooking a bit of a challenge which, to be honest, I’ve always been a bit lazy about, relying on a few tried and tested basics.

So it was with great delight that I recently came across Lee Holmes’ wonderful book Supercharged Food: Eat Your Way to Good Health.

The book emerged from Lees’ own health struggles with an auto-immune condition that left her barely able to function. Through trial and error, she discovered that radically changing her diet to exclude wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar led to a dramatic improvement in her health. Inspired, she set out to share her message and ideas with others, and the Supercharged Food brand was born.

Photo from Superchargedfood.com


The book includes over 90 recipes based on Lee’s dietary philosophy. It is beautifully presented, with gorgeous photos that make your mouth water, enticing you into the kitchen. There’s also helpful information about healthy living, as well as support with getting organised for a new way of eating, such as sorting out your ‘supercharged pantry’.

The sign of a good cook book is that it doesn’t stay pristine for too long and my copy of Supercharged Food is now happily splattered with my culinary experiments! Current favourites are the genius ‘Crustless Quiche’ which finds its way into my lunch box most days, salmon and turnip patties for a simple but tasty supper (who’d have thought a turnip could taste so amazing?) and the gorgeously named ‘Vegetable soup on a cold night’.

Lee’s website is also fantastic and includes an online shop where you can source some of the ingredients for her recipes, such as stevia, as well as other yummy healthy stuff.

Supercharged Food has totally reinvigorated my relationship with cooking (and eating!) and I’m so looking forward to creating many more of Lee’s appetizing delights!

Where do you get inspiration about eating more healthily? Are there any books or websites that have ‘supercharged’ your food?

Review by Karen, who has a big appetite for both food and life!

Be well,

xoxo