Happy Monday my friend!
Hope you're doing well? As you might be aware, I put on my social media some a couple of months ago that I was going to be having a break from the weekly newsletter for a bit.
I became a father for the first time to the most amazing little girl (her name is Eliana) and I felt that something needed to give; I was understandably being pulled in numerous different directions.
Between work, personal projects, parenthood, being a husband, continuing to stay fit – there was just a lot on.
To be honest was so immersed in parenthood, watching this beautiful person grow and spending quality time with my wife that I didn't care all that much about not writing newsletters.
It could wait, and I knew I'd get back to it.
Now I appreciate that in life, there will be peaks and troughs in the sense that you won't be able to give 100% to everything.
It's almost impossible to.
And if you do decide to drop something out for a brief period of time due to life's circumstances, that is totally understandable.
But it's important to then re-calibrate, re-jig, and then re-focus at a pace that works for you.
The newsletter is one of my favourite things to share in all honesty.
Social media is great for many things, but I'm a writer and I love being able to give you deeper insights than I can give on social media.
I'm able to connect with you more regarding health and really give you a more comprehensive view of what I believe, and what I think can help you to live better.
So I'm glad to be back writing it again, helping you continue to make better and more informed decisions around your health.
Full steam ahead for the rest of the year!
A food I've been leaning into heavily recently
Now if there's one food I'll never get tired of, it's legumes.
Chickpeas, beans, lentils – these are foods that a) taste great, b) are super-versatile and c) come with a ton of different health benefits.
Fibre, protein, important minerals, antioxidants – they're somewhat of a humble superfood.
But there's one that I've been eating on repeat in recent times – and with good reason.
They're relatively cheap (like most legumes), easy to stick into a variety of different recipes and they've got decent amounts of key minerals like magnesium, iron and zinc (as well as protein and fibre).
Most importantly, they taste amazing.
I'm talking about black beans.
I'm really loving them right now - putting them in stews, power bowls, and making a black bean and rice bowl on repeat (you can find that recipe here on my Instagram).
People online obsess over whether beans should be considered a 'protein source' because of the fact that it's mostly made up of carbohydrates (I used to question this too) but the reality is that doesn't really matter.
You can get decent amounts of protein from beans as well as quality carbohydrates – but it's how well-rounded they are which is the most important thing.
They cover so many bases.
So appreciate them for the food that they are, and incorporate them into your rotation wherever you can.
Hope you have a good week - plenty of inspiration and tips in my armoury to give to you in the coming weeks and months, as well as some exciting announcements (hopefully soon).
Stay healthy,
Jeff