#HealthyU - Celery and Cupcake Cooking Demo

Health and wellness blogger, Jemma Andrew Adaimah is coming to Royal Holloway tomorrow to show you just what delicious dishes you can make if you shop on our very own campus! Jemma will be doing a cooking demonstration and talk in Tommy’s Lounge at 1pm! This event is free and is a great chance to learn some new student friendly recipes as well as having a taste yourself!

I met with Jemma and asked her a few questions:

You’re a great believer in Healthy eating in moderation impacting on positivity and overall wellness. What’s lead you to love healthy eating so much?

Unfortunately for us, the diet culture is a major feature in today’s society. Don’t get me confused; I have nothing against anyone who wants to lose weight with positive intentions of wanting to become healthier. My issue lies with the diet culture and everything it represents.

Diets don’t address any underlying emotional issues nor do they develop a healthy relationship with food or a positive body image, which is why I've adopted a more holistic balance towards health and wellness - a more balanced approach that nourishes the mind, body and soul. 

Balance has taught me to be conscious of my health and not my weight, which I believe is a healthier mind-set to possess. Food freedom is a beautiful thing and we all deserve to nourish our bodies with the food that we love, whether that’s a green smoothie or a huge slab of chocolate cake!

What made want to start writing your blog Celery and Cupcakes?

After a disordered relationship with food during my teens and early 20s, I decided it was about time that I started to love food again and heal the broken relationship that I had with my body. The very core of my philosophy when I started my blog 6 years ago was to strive for a healthy balance and to feel simply awesome through making the right choices that are unique to my body.

My blog not only documents my own personal journey, but I hope it also inspires other people. Being healthy is about more than a number on the scale - everybody’s self-worth cannot be determined by a number, you're worth so much more than that!

To everyone with New Year’s resolutions, what would your advice be to see them through?

Don't make resolutions, full stop! Like diets, they tend to be faddy and come February you feel like a failure because you've already given up. Instead, I like to identify a word that sets the tone for my year ahead, work out how I want to feel over the next 365 days then set goals focused on how I'm going to feel the way I want to feel - Danielle LaPorte's Desire Map is simply genius!

For people coming to the cooking demonstration and talk on Tuesday, what can we expect to take away from this?

Living well doesn't have to be an uphill struggle or expensive, it's also very individual. Healthy nourishing food doesn't have to be boring! Also, taking care of yourself is not a privilege, but a divine responsibility. Everyone deserves to feel fabulous whatever their size. 

Finally what advice would you give to someone starting to make initial changes to their diet this week?

Rather than taking the all-or-nothing approach, make small simple changes that are focused around self-care and feeling good that will accumulate and have a massive impact on your wellbeing. Additionally, don't perceive being healthier as a diet or taking things away.  Instead, concentrate on what you're adding into your life and how great you feel.  

Steff Milne, Co-President, Sports and Development