A Paleo feast in London

Back in Issue One, Ceri Jones told us all about getting back to our nutritional roots with the Paleo diet. While there are loads of hearty Paleo meals you can cook for yourself (see page 38 of Issue One for one of Ceri's delicious recipes), eating out can be tricky. Even if you do manage to find something you can have, you're not likely to get much choice - and surely half the fun of having dinner in a restaurant is poring over the menu and trying to decide between all the delicious options.

So thank (nutritional) goodness for Pure Taste, Britain's first Paleo restaurant, which opened recently in Notting Hill and provides a whole treasure trove of Paleo treats. The menu - which is also entirely gluten-free and dairy-free - offers everything from sourdough to scallops, beef to banoffee and caters to a variety of other diets too, including vegan and low carb. 

As London wakes up to the demand for healthy, ethical places to eat out, an increasing variety of cafes and restaurants are popping up to meet the needs of health-seeking foodies. If Paleo isn't for you, perhaps raw food is more up your alley. If so, look no further then Tanya's Cafe in Chelsea, which offers 100% raw and organic breakfasts, lunches and dinners plus a range of superfood cocktails. So raise your glass of Tanya's Toddy and say three 'chias' to good health!

Issue one of Harvest has landed!

We're delighted and very proud to announce that the first issue of Harvest magazine has arrived! It's packed full of seasonal in-depth articles to help you lead a simpler, more natural lifestyle. We will encourage you to be inspired, stretch your mind, improve your life.

In the Autumn 2014 issue there are articles on the herbal powers of sage, how to fight off your next cold, the goodness in garlic and how to find happiness by identifying your personal values. 

The team paused briefly to raise a toast to health and happiness and indulged in a little bubbly and cake, before settling back down to work on the next issue, out mid-December. 

"We're so excited!"

Afterwards, Harvest's Editor Joanne Oliver and designer Claire Barrett were overcome with a mix of relief and excitement and took a few moments under the tree on the green outside Harvest HQ in Tackley, Oxfordshire to enjoy a longer look through the magazine in its full, printed glory.

About Harvest

Harvest is about the whole person, not just your physical wellbeing. We've got a range of inspiring and informative articles to make you feel happier and healthier inside and out.

Get your copy

Harvest is only available by subscription. Join today and you'll get four issues delivered direct to your door, plus an extra issue free in your first year. And, to celebrate our launch, you can save a little bit too with code BUBBLY10.

Having a plan

I wish I’d realised how important a flexible plan or strategy is to success. I would have saved myself from feeling as though I was trying everything, but still not getting any results. It is so easy to get caught up in following the crowd, or falling for a great sales pitch, especially when it comes to health and wellbeing. However, the truth is a well thought-out plan that suits you as an individual and is the only way to find what works for you.

A plan or strategy brings us focus and, with enough focus, we can move mountains. The secret is to keep it fluid and flexible and adapt it to our own unique needs and circumstances.

When a plan can help
Many people who come to see me are taking a large assortment of over-the-counter supplements and alternative remedies, never quite sure if any of them are working. Others hop from one suggestion to another every few days, not giving any of them a chance to work. Kitchen cupboards are stocked with each of the latest health fad foods, all barely used and already forgotten. Others read up on everything to do with natural health, but never get around to actually putting their research into action. 

This is when a plan can help - even a very simple one.

It can make a huge difference if you can see an experienced natural health practitioner. They will teach you about your own body and provide you with an individual plan and method. The real bonus with this is that you are not so tempted to buy or follow the latest product – unless it supports what you personally need.

Meal planning
If you decide you want to take control of your own health, start with a plan.

Perhaps you decide to try cutting out a certain food. Taking 30 minutes to come up with a few meal ideas will make it much easier to follow this through. You can keep it very simple by rotating just a few meal options – and it will feel less stressful. Over time you can explore new ideas.

You can do the same meal planning when including a new food. For instance some people do not have enough protein and so it becomes easier for them if they plan their meals around the protein portion of each meal.

Adding a new action into our day can be helped with a simple plan. Increasing water consumption can be a difficult habit to get into. A simple plan can help: perhaps using an app reminder/tracker on your phone, making a plan to fill a container each morning to be consumed by a certain time, or finding a fun way of rewarding your water drinking. When you follow a basic plan the whole process becomes much easier on a daily basis.

Plans can change
Sometimes a plan on paper is not so easy or enjoyable to actually do on a practical level. This is when being flexible and adaptable will help. Maybe you need to tweak your plan so that it works for you.

For instance starting the day with lemon water is very popular, but my body just does not enjoy this drink first thing in the morning. Instead I really enjoy my lemon water in the evening. While some of the benefits may be lost, if I plan to drink it at a time that suits my body I'm more likely to stick to this plan and so gain more benefits in the long run.

After all, receiving long-term benefits is the ultimate goal.

The natural route to good health

Many people are sceptical but hopeful that they can improve their health and happiness with natural methods. Deep down there is something that feels so right about simply using easy natural ways to look after and improve our health.

Yet why do some people seem to get amazing results using a natural alternative method and others none at all? Is it all just in the mind? These were the questions I asked myself both on a personal level and in my own clinic.

These days natural solutions are advertised on a large scale and the general public is much more open-minded and willing to ‘give it a go’. But results are often mixed. For every really great story of how natural or alternative methods worked there are other stories with less positive outcomes.

However, modern medicine has the exact same challenge. Some people respond well, others have side effects, others no improvements.

What does this mean? Why does one person respond well while another person has little or no result?

Finding the answers
I’m certainly not claiming to have all the answers - in fact after 20 years of practical research there is still so much more to learn and understand. Right now inspiring people are developing more and more potential answers to help us live healthier and happier lives. The knowledge, methods and products to do this are already available and constantly being improved.

What I found to be missing is how you can access the right information – without studying and exploring for nearly 20 years like I have! What also seems to be needed is a set of guidelines - a map and compass if you like - that anyone can follow and benefit from. All of my work, clinic, teaching and publishing are based around providing this information in a way that can help everyone.

Results with Harvest magazine
With Harvest magazine, we set out to fill that void and bring you answers, providing you with a thoughtful and experienced resource. Harvest magazine will deliver to your home the knowledge and views of a range of experts four times a year. We want you to get the most out of the information in order to achieve the results you want.

Over the next 9 weeks I will share with you my best tips, discovered through working with clients, to help you get results. They are the missing pieces that we either never hear about or disregard because they seem too simple. I promise you that if you follow and understand these you can transform your own health and happiness.

If you cultivate an open, curious mind and remind yourself of the points I will share here each week, your journey to create better health and energy will have a great head start. As you will see, the answers I found are not specific actions or products. Instead they represent a different approach and outlook to our whole body and way of life.

Over the years these simple guidelines have never changed. But I have now developed them in many ways and discovered many more. I hope you will join us at Harvest, so together we can continue down the exciting path of creating our own happiness and health.