Fuelling your Writing Temple

When I think of food, I always think: Yum, get in my belly!

I’m Greek, so if you can’t find a common language barrier, you just feed people. It’s an unofficial rule or something of the like, or at least that’s what I like to think anyway. I grew up around food, the smells of pastisio, moussaka, freshly made bread and kokkinisto (red sauce) meat is something I associated with life. Meals that were made with extra love have always been a highlight in my day.

Since moving out and learning about food I decided to nix a lot of things out of my diet (some because it makes me feel ick and some because I just don’t like it) and a lot of other things shifted in my life. So I decided that maybe it was time to share some of my secrets to keeping your body (aka your Writing Temple) in tip top shape and keep your energy levels up as you write.

There is nothing like being in the zone and really reading to do some writing damage to find that as soon as you sit down behind your computer and laptop and not having the energy to write. I hate it. Although I have been known to keep writing even as I close my eyes and drift off (my best friend finds this hilarious, I find it a part of survival during the first day of NaNoWriMo), so probably don’t do that, unless you’re proficient at touch typing, then go for your life (seriously it saves my life that I can touch type, so nodding off means that I can still make sense of my words later).

In the last few months I’ve switched to a mostly plant based diet with the occasional slip in of meat and wheat. Dairy and I have disagreements, because I have always been so addicted to ice cream and when I had a flair up last year, I knew it was time to cut it out, and by doing so it’s also helped the biggest stressor of my life: my skin, but that’s another story for another time.

I’m also a writer who doesn’t drink coffee. Wait, go back and read it again, you know your eyes probably skipped over it. I’ve had people balk at me as soon as I mention that I don’t drink coffee and it’s purely because I don’t like the taste of it. I loooove the smell of coffee, I will happily make you a coffee, but I won’t drink it with you.

So my main energy source has been food. I’ve learned what works for my body and used it when I needed it. Mostly it’s a mixture of wholesome meals with smoothies.

Smoothies, they are the most amazing and wonderful drink in the world, always full of good nutrients and easy to sip away without a second thought, they also keep you pretty damn full. My smoothers are usually mostly green. Everyone scrunches their nose at the sight of it, but when you mix in spinach, kale, dates, banana, cinnamon and almond milk, magical things happen! Although I do have a peanut butter weakness…

Life gets clearer. Words flow. Things make sense.

Being hangry is a sin and I think a headspace that no one should ever have to be, because lets get real here, no one wants to be angry, spitting out words they don’t mean and hungry. It’s not a good mixture.

Since we’re talking about food and all things yummy, I have a secret to spill.

I have an addiction to buying cookbooks.

Like a serious addiction. I have had to stop myself from browsing the cookbook isle in any bookstore, Target or Kmart because without fail, I will come home with a new cookbook to try new recipes from.

These are perfect excuses to line your fridge with nourishing goodies and soul satisfying foods. Some of my favourite cookbooks: Deliciously Ella + Deliciously Ella Every Day, The Happy Cookbook by Lola Berry, The Healthy Life by Jessica Sepel, Nourish by Lorna Jane Clarkson, Healthy Every Day by Pete Evans and Super Green Smoothies by Sally Obermeder and Maha Koraiem, just to name a few pretty rocking titles. I love trawling through them to find what I feel like eating or drinking, but they’re not all I find my nutritious goodness from.

I also love websites, well two in particular (and I only found them because of my lovely vegan best friend) which are amazing if you’re switching things out of your diet and trying to find healthier alternatives. Oh She Glows and Nutrition Stripped are my two go to sites. They are ah-maze-ing and I can’t speak highly enough about them. Seriously, life changing.

Fuelling your Writing Temple is easy when you have the right tools to start you off and the changes you make don’t have to be huge, they can be as little as adding a little more cucumber into your sandwich or making a small salad instead of going for the extra serve of fries. By making those small changes your Writing Practice will thank you.

You’ll be able to sit down and write clearer, you’ll be able to sit for longer (not too long though!) and generally be more productive.

I encourage you to think about your body, listen to what it wants, hear what you can do to make it function better. Does it crave fresh fruit? Or maybe it really wants a bowl of pasta or even a bowl roasted veggies with cashew cheese and a side of quinoa. Whatever it is, fuel it, love it, nourish it but try steer clear of take away junk food that’s all processed and crap (although I am known for the odd craving of a damn good burger!) it’ll slow you down and put you to sleep and believe me it’s not what you want to be feeling when you sit to write.

Don’t be fooled in thinking that writing is all you need to fuel you body, sleep and water are two of the most important aspects of fuelling your body, just as nourishing it is. Water keeps you hydrated and sleep…well sleep is amazing. It’s universally the one thing that resets your body for a new day and it’s when your minds are the most active. I’ve gotten so many good ideas while I’ve been asleep and my imagination works it’s crazy thing.

I’m no nutritionist and I don’t claim to be, I’m just a woman who has tried and tested different foods to find what I like the most and what works for me. Play around with food, go raw, go high carbs, go protein based, do whatever you feel you need to at your optimum peak to help keep your Writing Temple happy and healthy.

So to sum it all up:

• Eat nutritious and nourishing food.
• Buy cookbooks 😉
• Drink smoothies (the greener the better).
• Get sleep.
• Stay hydrated.
• Have fun.

Below I’m leaving you with my favourite smoothie in the whole wide world, it actually belong to my best friends amazing mother (I’ve basically adopted her as my second mother!) and it’s a smoothie that tastes like home to me. I play around with a lot of the quantities and what not, so don’t feel like it’s just what’s there, it’s why there isn’t a real big structure to it.

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