Perhaps The Best Work Trip Ever....

For the last couple of weeks, my head has been stuck in a book called The Swiss Secret to Optimal Health by Dr Thomas Rau. The Swiss know a thing or two about health. They have mountains to ski down, lakes to swim in and doctors who are light years ahead in terms of 21st century thinking on nutrition, digestion and the correct diet to follow to avoid disease and achieve great bien-etre.

Dr Rau’s Way is an oft repeated mantra in the book…and his way is an alkalising diet, lots of soups and green leafy vegetables, no fresh fruit after 4pm (it can ferment in the gut and place stress on the liver), no processed foods and a little of what you fancy from time to time.

It makes perfect sense to me, so much so that I am off to find out more this weekend, not at Dr Rau’s Swiss clinic, but at the world renowned VivaMayr Clinic in the spectacular Austrian mountain resort of Lake Maria Worth.

Now I’ve been lucky enough to land some very jammy press trips over the years (brace yourself *namedrop alert….Tahiti, Bora Bora, Australia, South Africa, Zambia, the Maldives…) but never have I had the reactions I am getting when I tell friends I am off to experience the Detoxification Cure at the VivaMayr.

‘Whaaat?’ ‘Sooo unfair,’ and ‘How the hell did you wangle that?’ has been the general consensus. After breathlessly ranting to Milly about the treatments on offer, she could barely contain herself. ‘You are the only person I know who has ever actually looked forward to a colonic irrigation,’ she mused.

It’s tough at the coalface of international investigative journalism but someone has to do these jobs and it might as well be me. You can read all about my adventures and colonics in The Good Spa Guide when I get back.

Readers including my dear husband will be relieved to hear that apart from undergoing the rigours of massages, relaxation techniques, yoga, mountain hikes and hydrotherapy, I will also be doing some real work in the shape of an interview with one of the Mayr’s leading medics Dr Schuscha.

While I have plenty of questions of my own to ask, I am intrigued to know what the biggest and most pressing health concerns are amongst my generation of 40-somethings, so if you want to pitch in with a question for the good doctor, please feel free. How to keep middle aged spread at bay seems to be top of the list so far.

Meanwhile, following a very successful FiveDays programme last week, I am back on the recipe trail testing out new dishes to add to the next plan which starts at the end of this month.

It’s been a busy week so I missed Shrove Tuesday but made up for it with pancake Thursday this morning. Use 100ml almond milk, 65g spelt flour and a dash of vanilla to make the most scrummy light and healthy pancakes. Cook them in a tiny blob of hot coconut oil, then serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice, xylitol and some fruit. I might need to conjure these up in my head next week when I am chewing 80 times per mouthful on three-day old rye bread at the Mayr (apparently learning to chew properly is one of their specialities.)

I experimented with the recipe below after wondering what to do with the almond meal that was left over every time I make my own almond milk. It is gluten, refined sugar and dairy free and delicious with a moistness that is missing from the flour only version. Only problem is, I am baking one every two days!

Gluten-free Banana and Almond Bread

100g spelt flour
75g almond meal (from home made almond milk)
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract/vanilla pod
Good shake of sea or Himalayan salt
125g organic butter
100ml organic agave syrup
2 large eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed

Mix the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda together and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan on low heat, remove from the heat and mix in the agave syrup. Once cooled, whisk in both eggs and then the mashed bananas and vanilla.
Gradually beat in the flour mixture until you have a batter. Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake at 170 degrees centigrade for around one hour. Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes before turning onto a rack. Delicious with a cup of green tea!

Okay...just one more picture as you asked so nicely.....(screams inwardly).

I'll Be Your Substitute

I vividly remember the first time I went into a health food shop with an actual list. It was almost five years ago and on the advice on my nutritionist Simone, I was looking for healthier substitutes for sugar, regular flour and dairy produce. It was another planet to me. I had no idea what I should be looking for as I wasn’t familiar with half the things on my list in English, let alone in French.

There were few disasters. (Soy cream…do not even go there. It is DISGUSTING.) Rice milk (I’m aware rice milk has its fans…some of them are even my friends…but it doesn’t do it for me.) And does anyone out there actually like quinoa crisp breads? Mine tasted like pieces of old cardboard and soaked up so much saliva that I couldn’t physically swallow them unless they were slathered in Boursin or taramasalata, thereby rather defeating the object.) Let the photo above be a warning to you.

In fact, look closely and see if you can tell the difference between the crackers and a piece of old cardboard. I thought so.

There were some success stories too. Green tea (who knew this would replace my daily morning cup of beloved Earl Grey?) Vollkornbrot (in other words, rye bread which is delicious for breakfast if it’s well, and I mean well, toasted with scrambled eggs, bananas and linseeds or mashed avocado and black pepper.) Best of all, unlike normal bread, it doesn’t make me look five months pregnant after one slice. Spelt flour (hurrah, I didn’t have to give up banana bread or lemon drizzle cake, I just had to start baking my own.) Dark chocolate (as a self confessed chocoholic, I thought I would struggle with the milk/dark swap. I didn’t. I merely replaced one addiction with another.)

There’s competition for the top spot but I’m going with Xylitol as my favourite and most life changing discovery in a health food store. A natural birch sugar, it looks suspiciously like refined Tate & Lyle, works in baking and on pancakes and has figured in more than 300 studies indicating it can play a significant role in preventing – and even reversing – tooth decay. Best of all, it tastes nice. Try it, you won't look back. As you can see from the picture below, home made always beats shop bought hands down.

Of course, the biggest challenge was making these ingredients seem normal in a house containing two teenagers and a man with a very sweet tooth. In truth, I am still working on that one but it’s gratifying that for the most part, my cakes and bakes get eaten eventually (and not just by me.) Sometimes they even get a raised eyebrow followed by a bemused ‘This actually tastes really nice! Obviously you didn’t use your ‘special’ ingredients today.’ Er, yes I did.

You’ll know I’m not normal when I tell you that these days, I prefer to spend an hour browsing around my favourite little ‘indie’ stores in Lewes, Twickenham, Greenwich and Mouans Sartoux talking to the usually very well informed assistants about turmeric tablets instead of languishing in the furniture section of Heals or Liberty’s shoe hall. It’s also easier on the bank balance, and that’s one thing him indoors is eternally grateful for. Even if it does mean beetroot brownies for dessert.

Food Wars and the ‘FiveDays’ Clean Eating Plan

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog and have also read Breathing Out will know that my youngest daughter is perhaps my sternest critic and the one I have never quite managed to win over on the food front. We have had many food wars over the years - not unusual for a mother and a sugar addicted teenager, I know.

So when she recently started quizzing me about the best health supplements to take and volunteered to quit the junk and start eating a greener diet, you could say I felt I had finally arrived. All those years of gluten free and sugar free baking are finally coming good!

Over the last five years, I have learned an enormous amount about nutrition and healing yourself through food and exercise. It wasn’t a career plan for me, it was a necessity after being struck down by a critical illness. It didn’t take much research for me to decide to make food one of my doctors.

Since then, I have given advice to dozens of people with health issues, addressed a major medical conference, met with the UK government’s Chief Cancer Advisor at the Department of Health and influenced leading oncologists to embrace diet as an additional route to treating cancer patients.

Modesty sadly does not prevent me from telling you that I was also a key in the foundation of The Super Elixir, the world's leading super greens supplement, introducing Elle Macpherson to my amazing Harley Street nutritionist Dr Simone Laubscher, and the two subsequently went onto develop The Super Elixir together. Here are Simone and me celebrating the first anniversary at Elle's super fabulous supper at the Grace Belgravia last October.

There's a pattern forming here, right?

I love cooking and my best days are spent experimenting with ingredients, creating and adapting recipes and trying them out on friends and family. I'm passionate about health and fitness too, so combining the two to create a simple, delicious, easy to implement eating plan that will educate, illuminate and give you the foundations for a cleaner, healthier lifestyle (without forgoing the fun) seems like a no brainer to me.

It's not a weight loss plan and yet the pounds seem to drop off quite naturally. The really clever bit, however, is being able to maintain what you have achieved. It's not rocket science but it works, as my two guinea pigs Paula and Karin will attest.

Here’s what Paula, a journalist and personal trainer who founded the Fitter, Stronger retreat with Olympic Rowing champion James Cracknell at Chewton Glen in Hampshire, had to say about it.

‘I thought a five-day detox – my first ever – would be hard work. In fact, I really enjoyed it! I’ve learned a lot more about my body and how it reacts to what I put inside it.

‘I stopped feeling bloated, was generally more alert and had more concentration. I had much more energy than I expected too. I used to feel tired by 9pm but on the plan I didn’t feel sleepy until 11pm or later.

‘After five days, I had lost 5.5 lbs and friends remarked how well I looked and how sparkly my eyes were. I would definitely do this again every two to three months and have already recommended it to friends. Thanks Karen!’

Karin had this to say. ‘I have been on a diet for most of my life (and just got bigger!) Every time I try and be good, I fall off the wagon quite quickly. I have been successful when I’ve attended weekly meetings with Slimming World and Weight Watchers.

‘I know how important regular check-ins and motivations are. Karen’s programme and the frequency of supportive texts and messages within our group made me feel she was there watching me and meant that I didn’t want to cheat, I wanted to push on…and that’s a first for me!

‘Added to that, the recipes are so tasty and filling that I never felt hungry. After five days, I feel great! I’m brighter and definitely less tired in the evening.’

As of next month, I am going to be running a regular ‘FiveDays’ Clean Eating Plan which can be done physically here in France or remotely wherever you are in the world. Here’s what I can promise you…it won’t be difficult to stick to, it won’t run across a weekend (because we all deserve some joy…and bubbles…after a hard week), you won’t feel hungry and you will be eating delicious, nutritious food. It’s not a diet – I hate that word and don’t believe in diets – it’s a lifestyle that can be incorporated into your regular family way of eating.

Please sign up on the blog to keep posted and get in touch with me on karenhockney@hotmail.com if you would like to find out more!

Meanwhile, it's a busy week for health orientated features. My review of the Fitter, Stronger retreat, where the emphasis is on embracing nutrition and fitness as a way back from serious illness or injury, appeared in S magazine (that's me on the left being put through my paces by trainer Mitch).

And my chat over this delicious alkalising supper with The Body aka Elle about how she healed herself and launched a dynamic new business as a result is the cover interview in this month’s Red. Enjoy!

New Year, New You (and me)

New year, new you. It’s a familiar mantra at this time of year, and like the rest of the population, I find myself getting sucked into the idea of making changes and my head gets filled with all the things I should be doing.

However, this January, I’m swapping ‘should’ for ‘want to’. (My husband would argue that I have been doing this for quite some time already. What does he know?)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am mildly incredibly obsessed by health, nutrition and fitness. I run races with myself for God’s sake. I avidly read all the latest health research. I take photographs of virtually every shake, salad and veggie dish I concoct and post them shamelessly on Instagram as if I am Deliciously Ella. I even trick my daughters into eating gluten free cakes while pretending I have run out of spelt flour. Sick, I know.

Many people from all over the world contact me to talk about nutrition so it feels like a natural progression that this blog, which I started in 2008, should morph into a food/health/fitness story. I can share all the tasty recipes I have spent hours creating, as well as any other amazing discoveries that I want to tell the world about, be they health spas, exciting new ingredients, books or just all round great products which make you look good and feel even better. After all, we all need a helping hand and some encouragement to be the very best we can be (okay I’m stopping with the therapy speak now.)

Living in the South of France is like being based in the middle of a beautiful open air gym - it simply abounds with hiking and running trails (even if they are all hilly), beautiful coves where you can swim or paddle board year-round, and of course the local ski resorts (sadly sparsely covered in fake snow at the moment but that should change soon.)

It’s easy to be healthy here with so much locally grown fresh fruit, vegetables and Mediterranean peche du jour freely available…but it’s also very tempting to stray into Pain, Vin et Boursin territory too. I should know, I have spent the last three weeks swigging Champagne and Prosecco at pre and post Xmas parties and eating my own bodyweight in delicious, saucy, fattening home made pasta dishes and over ripe cheeses in glorious Italia (when in Rome etc, except I was in Tuscany.)

So while I have no intention of going all holier than thou on you and permanently giving up the marvellous Provence rose, fabulous Seniz Champagne (how could I, when the Seniz family thoughtfully vacated their chateau up north to relocate a 10-minute drive from my house) scrummy moules frites or my guilty pleasure, a plate of fully loaded nachos, I will be sharing some hopefully cool new ideas on how to make 2016 the best and healthiest year of your life so far. A big boast, let’s see if I can live up to it.

As I write this, I am midway through a five-day Happy New Year detox with two UK friends who very sweetly asked me to act as their guru. So far, so good, we’re all a bit hungry (nothing wrong with that) but we are making each other laugh on Messenger and have already lost the Noel bloat (Christmas, not Edmonds, although he might want to join us) and are feeling energised and full of beans. I think the lentils and chick peas obviously help here.

So, my top tips for a healthy start to 2016 are:

• Begin each day with a large mug of hot (not boiling) water, fresh lemon juice and a dash of cayenne. It’s brushing your teeth for your stomach, as my lovely nutritionist Simone always told me.
• Start reading Guilia Enders’ brilliant bestseller Gut, for an up close and no holds barred look at the workings of perhaps our most versatile organ.
• I happen to like exercise but no-one needs to sweat it out for an hour or two at the gym. Half an hour of brisk walking five days a week or seven (days, not minutes) is better. Walk the dog, swim, do some yoga, whatever floats your boat.
• If you want shiny hair, clearer skin and more energy, drink a super greens smoothie or juice every day.
• Take turmeric tablets. I have been adding turmeric to soups, curries and casseroles for years but the capsules are even easier. It’s a known anti-inflammatory and one of the true superfood ingredients.
• Add fresh herbs to as many dishes as possible. Make mint tea with fresh mint leaves, not a tea bag.
• Swap your morning coffee or English Breakfast tea for green tea. In fact, if you do just one thing on this list, make it this one.

It’s great to have you on this journey. I’m off to demolish a bowl of curried parsnip soup….the recipe is below.

Curried Parsnip Soup

Three parsnips, peeled and chopped into batons
Two garlic cloves, chopped
1 litre organic vegetable stock 
I heaped teaspoon curry powder
I heaped teaspoon turmeric (or fresh chopped turmeric root)
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley to serve

Place the parsnips in the stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in the spices and leave to cook for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then blitz in the blender and reheat gently adding seasoning to taste and chopped parsley.

Liven up that Liver!

A two week liver cleanse. How hard could it really be? I have to admit I went into it feeling more than a little smug. After all, I have been an avid disciple of the 80/20 style of eating for four years now on the advice of my London nutritionist. Eating this way and avoiding too much gluten, dairy, refined sugar, alcohol and bad fats has become a way of life for me. Liver, schmiver. I was going to kill this.

How wrong I was. Speaking from the comfort of reaching day 10 (and on my third and, hallelujah, ye gods alive, last day of liquids only) I had no idea just how tough it would be. Or how good I could actually feel depriving myself of many of the foods that I usually really enjoy.

It helps when two of you are doing it together and I don't have to look longingly across the table at hubby tucking into fish and chips with a glass of Chablis while I demolish my falafel, lentil and squash salad (delicious though it is) accompanied by a glass of eau plat.

It doesn't help when your 16 year old daughter - who could walk The Great British Bake Off - decides to turn into Cooking Mama in the absence of any solid food on offer and start baking Millionaire's Shortbread and making her own spicy chicken goujons and home made fries (I don't even eat chicken but still found myself drooling.) The shortbreads are stacked enticingly in the fridge, silently mouthing 'eat me, eat me' every time I open the fridge door. I have insisted we freeze a few down so I don't lose the plot.

But I digress. Back to the benefits. Within four days, I noticed that I was sleeping longer and more deeply right through the night (instead of waking at 2 or 3am and lying there fidgeting for an hour or two.) I'm guessing this is due to the lack of stimulants (alcohol, caffeine, gluten) washing around my body. I feel refreshed every morning and ready for the day as soon as I wake (this is not my usual state, I assure you).

And, shallow I know, but the cosy little muffin top that has been keeping my midriff warm for the last two years is gone. Yup, gone. Today I tried on a ridiculously small pair of Zara Capri pants that I bought on a mad whim two years ago and have barely worn due to the fact that I couldn't sit/eat/breathe out while wearing them. They fitted - snugly, yes - but comfortably enough to be requisitioned back from my daughter's closet and into my own.

We all have our reasons for doing the liver cleanse. Mine was to give my body a recharge after a particularly manic and social summer/autumn before the onslaught of Christmas party excess. It has forced me to keep my diary freer than it has been for many months - definitely no bad thing - and even make some time for the odd decadent essential oil filled bath, complete with detoxifying Epsom Salts, which is something I am always too busy to do.

It also encouraged me to think about my goals (thanks Emma) and be proactive about the future. A healthy body and mind have always been top of my list but if a by-product is fitting comfortably into my gorgeous Roksanda Ilincic figure hugging dress for a glamorous Christmas party, then I'll take that too, thanks!

In the interests of balance, there have been a few downsides aside from my kitchen turning into the Cote d'Azur offshoot of The Hummingbird Bakery. I have been hungry since the day I started, despite copious Nourishing Protein shakes, super green smoothies and many an afternoon spent concocting new dishes from the recipes Christine and Jess have kindly supplied. Maybe I'm not eating enough I thought, until hubby accused me of sabotaging his weight loss programme by putting too MUCH on the plate (that's what cooking while ravenous does to you). He reckons it was easier when he was doing it by himself!

I have discovered that I miss tomatoes, aubergines and my beloved bananas on rye more than I miss alcohol. Also, that chewing is underrated. I am peeing about three times more than usual (that is the toxins rushing for the door according to Christine, so all good despite the inconvenience of needing a convenience every half an hour.)

On the plus side, I have really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone to create a few extra healthy breakfast, lunch and supper dishes that mix it up a little and make it less boring for the folks. The support from the rest of the group has been amazing and I haven't suffered the headaches and other niggles that a few of my cleanse friends have experienced.

With just a few days left to go and the prospect of a delicious Sunday lunch out to celebrate that fact, the 64 million dollar question is, would I do it again? Hell yes. Sign me up for March!

Clooney and me

This week I went to see my consultant Clooney, aka Dr Lanvin, for the dreaded six monthly check up to make sure tout va bien. Much as I like him, it’s not a rendezvous I look forward to but I had been so stressed about whether or not my Indian visa would arrive in time for my trip to Kerala that I didn’t have the time or energy to get as worked up about the appointment as I usually do.

I’ve had amazing feedback for Breathing Out since it launched last spring, from friends and family but perhaps more importantly, from perfect strangers, cancer patients and the medical profession. So it was wonderful to hear that Clooney is sending copies out to his fellow oncologist colleagues in Canada, where he worked before arriving at the Tzanck. He told me it is the perfect tool not only for sufferers who don’t know where to turn but also for doctors as a window on the world of their patients. High praise indeed. I think I blushed.

With a snazzy new reprint just out thanks to Urbane Publications, the promotional wheels are rolling once again and my publisher Matthew and I have grand plans in mind for how to achieve world domination so watch this space.

In other news, I got the thumbs up after all my tests (corks popping) so that’s three and a half years down and 18 months to go until the magic five year remission wand can be waved. Following the arrival of my passport and visa JUST THREE DAYS AGO, today’s blog needs to be short and sweet so I can finish packing and get on that plane. Shanti.

The Over 40s Guide to Surviving Teens

Yesterday morning, I was rolling up in bed reading the funniest myths on new baby motherhood busted by the very talented and acerbic witted Zeena Moolla.

Allow me to continue the case for not having children, sorry I mean surviving the teenage years.

1. You will never be right again. Remember those dinner table discussions when they were going through that fairly irritating phase of asking why, why, why to everything? Well, you taught them so well to question the status quo and form an opinion that they can now whip you into knots of contradiction on any given subject from exam revision to Islamic State.

2. They are prolific liars. They will only be ill around 15% of the time they convince you to keep them off school. Don't try and cuddle them or fuss around them. Having royally duped you, all they want is to sleep til noon, Snapchat their mates, Instagram their mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows 15 different ways and catch up on back to back episodes of CSI and MIC under the covers on their iPad.

3. Your new name is Ladycabs. Pick-up time from a party (referred to as a gathering in order to lose the alcohol connotation) at 11pm is not cool, only post-midnight pick-ups are acceptable. Whatever you do, DO NOT get out of the car, speak to any of their friends or perish the thought, ring on the doorbell. Just sit in the car pressing redial until they finally deign to pick up. Bang goes your bottle of Gavi in front of Friday night telly but if you dare to complain, they will just ask for a Vespa instead.

4. Everything that goes wrong will always be your fault. Not to be confused with point 1. So if Jane makes you take a wrong turn on SatNav, someone crashes into the back of you in traffic, they need to start wearing a brace or Sainsbury’s runs out of chocolate coated Krispy Kremes, you will be to blame.

5. Imagine your wardrobe as a kind of free shopping experience where no money changes hands, no permission is asked and your most coveted pieces go missing for days, nay weeks at a time before resurfacing in a screwed up ball under the bed, covered in hot chocolate or the bottom reaches of their wardrobe along with old biscuit wrappers and dirty PE kit. If, however, you dare to borrow so much as one pair of bobbly tights, you will be branded the bitch from hell for not asking first.

6. Your precious little collection of make-up and skincare that has taken years to fine tune will start to go missing, a mascara or brow liner at a time, around the time they hit 13. It doesn't matter that you spent a fortune buying everything they needed from Rimmel London, they will still prefer your ancient old Lancôme Hypnose mascara and the brand new Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser that a PR has just sent you. Try not to lose the plot when they use your Creme de la Mer as aftersun.

7. When it comes to anything technical, accept that you are just a loser from another century while they became proficient on a PC before they knew the words to Pat a Cake. Expect a dramatic eye roll and a demand for hard cash if you ask them to a. Download photos from your phone, b. Make you a playlist or c. Make you a cup of tea while you try and fathom it out yourself.

8. Around 80% of the time, they will be hormonal, moody and have a face like a slapped arse. Smiles are index linked to being paid to walk the dog they begged and pleaded for, a trip to New York and getting everything on their Christmas list (even though they stopped believing in Santa at least five years ago).

9. Do not leave loose change or chocolate on any surface. The bottom salad drawer below a large stockpile of kale, broccoli and celery should work as a hiding place. They don't touch or eat vegetables in any form.

10. That 30 minute run they have suddenly started going out for on freezing cold dark winter evenings is a sneaky smoking break, snog/flirt or both with their latest crush up the road. Note the lack of sweat/red cheeks when they return, although in truth you will be grateful for the lack of sweat/red cheeks.

The Upside? Just as you have gotten used to being public enemy number one, at around 16, they suddenly realise that you're actually not that bad after all.