To celebrate Yoga & Well-being month at Miss Squiggles.com, we had the amazing opportunity to talk to the lovely Jacqueline Harvey, a mind-body health pioneer who works with celebrities and TV stars. Jacqueline is also founding director of the EBR award-nominated company Crystal Clear Health.

 

JH Profile

Jacqueline was fab enough to answer some wellbeing questions about going holistic, avoiding fad diets and so much more. Have a look now and make sure you follow Miss Squiggles on Twitter for more well-being tips.

Please tell me about your holistic approach to health and well-being

 

Holistic health is essentially the acknowledgement that in order for us to live truly healthy and happy lifestyles we need to pay attention to and nurture our minds, bodies and souls. So many people feel that being ‘healthy’ simply requires going to the gym or having a short jog around the park once or twice a week. Holistic health, which I feel is ‘true’ health, involves monitoring our food intake, completing regular exercise, and effective mind management through mediation and stretching to ensure that we have sound minds as well as sound bodies. 

 

Food-wise, is there anything you would avoid?

 

Food wise I think it’s important to state that foods that are high in fat and sugar are avoided as much as possible. It may sound obvious but the number of people who do not realise we should avoid eating high sugar or high fat foods is astounding. Wheat is one food stuff that, although generally beneficial, is eaten too excessively in society. The starch that wheat provides our bodies with is necessary for providing us with energy, but many of us are relatively stationary in our day to day lives and so do not require as much wheat in our diets. The result of excessive wheat consumption can result in several long-term health issues such as wheat intolerance, irritable bowel, brain fog and even coeliac disease. 

 

In terms of results, would you say a long-term approach to health and well-being has better results when it comes to lose weight or being healthier?

 

Definitely, I have always believed that fad diets that favour short term methods, such as Atkins or the 5:2 diets rarely ever provide a satisfactory route to long term health. These starvation and exclusion diets tend to promote bad eating habits and can actually act as a barrier to long term health. Not to mention that they completely ignore mental health and many people who pursue these poorly rounded diets can feel miserable because of them. Although it may seem a considerable amount of effort to some, the only way to true health is to have a fully balanced healthy eating plan, take part in regular exercise and ensure that we take as good care of our minds as we do for our bodies.  

 

If you want to find out more about Jacqueline and her work please visit her website www.jacquelineharvey.co.uk for more info!

 

Don’t forget you can still enter our September competition to win wellbeing goodies worth over £100. Click HERE and follow the instructions!