Featured Healthy Food Blog – The First Mess

Featured Healthy Food Blog – The First Mess

I recently set on an expedition to feature the best of the best healthy food and fitness bloggers on the web. It’s been a fun adventure just in the past few weeks alone to see how impressive the quality of the content bloggers are putting out these days. Laura Wright who is the writer for The First Mess was no exception, her amazing healthy recipes and beautiful photography had me in awe and getting excited to try some of her features.

So I’ve put together a great 10 question survey which I hope will give each and everyone of my readers a great takeaway and simply being able to relate on some level with these incredible people.

Without further adieu, let’s jump in and learn from Laura:

1. What got you started with your blog?
   I had graduated from a nutritional culinary program and had been working in restaurants for a while. A friend of mine kept at me to start a blog, kind of for her own learning benefit, which is hilarious to me now. And it just kind of went from there!
2. What’s your philosophy about food and health?
   Very simply, I always say to pay attention—to the season, what your body needs in terms of nourishment, how the food was produced etc.
3. What has been your biggest challenge in getting healthy?
   I love sweets, so getting over refined sugar was a big hurdle for me. I’ve always ate vegetables and enjoyed them, but I definitely had a serious sugar addict thing going on for a while. I love baking with natural sweeteners like maple syrup, dates and raw honey now. It’s amazing to me how these ingredients provide sweet richness and nourishment as well.
4. What is the single most important thing that keeps you motivated to stay healthy?
   My life is so much better in a very whole sense. My mood is brighter, I have more energy to do the things I love, my focus is pretty spot on most days, and I sleep really well.
5. What are some nutritional principals that inspire you?
   I always try to learn more about the Ayurvedic approach to wellbeing/nutrition when I can. I love the focus on eating seasonally, the cooling + warming foods depending on what kind of bodily state/climate you find yourself in. The glance at food as a part of your being in a very physical and real way is something I always try to think about when I prepare a meal now.
6. Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
   Not a singular person, but I am pretty blown away by the magnificent power of nature on a very regular basis.
7. What is your favorite healthy food (recipe)?
   It’s really simple, but I love avocado smashed on sprouted grain toast with a bit of lemon, salt, pepper, hemp seeds and nutritional yeast. (I have this recipe along with some other snack-y things on my blog: http://www.thefirstmess.com/2013/05/01/four-vegan-post-workout-snack-recipes/)
8. What does your favorite workout involve?
   Right now, it’s minimalist running. I’m kind of new to the whole thing, but I’m excited to get better at it. I love that it requires my full attention to break out of old postures and habits. It’s rather meditative in that sense.
9. How do you like to enjoy your free time?
   I love cooking and eating with friends, family + my partner, which I think is kind of a given. I also love to putter in the garden, go for a hike, do yoga, work on creative projects, build stuff… In a general way, I have a hard time sitting still. Having said that, I do fully enjoy a relaxing sit-down with a cold drink whenever I get the chance.
10. What would your encouragement be towards health and fitness?
    Always be prepared so that the healthy choice becomes second nature. I find batch-cooking healthy staples like quinoa, brown basmati rice, roasted vegetables, granola, chickpea salads, vinaigrettes, vegetable soups + stews, marinated tofu etc really helpful for throwing healthy meals together throughout the week. You can mix any of those things with some fresh greens, sliced avocado, herbs and extra spices for a very satiating sit-down meal.

Conclusion:

I have to say I’m humbled by Laura’s simple way of looking at things.  You can tell from her answers that she doesn’t like to complicate things, but rather be prepared and go with the flow of life.  It’s not only refreshing to me as a health coach but invigorating and makes me want to up my game even further.

I’d like to encourage you to leave questions or comments for Laura below, visit her website The First Mess and also hopefully we can get her to share some exclusive recipes with Weight Loss and Training in the very near future!