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Introduction

People like to call healthy eating the latest lifestyle trend. So eating right and being active is a trendy new thing to do? Eh, I don’t think so. We are all becoming more aware of the importance of looking after ourselves and the strong links between what we eat and our health. Back in my dieting days, my mum once pointed out that this is the same body you’re going to have until you’re a hundred years old (hopefully!), so if you’re not treating it right now, how do you expect it to get you through till then? As we say in Tipperary, you can’t put petrol in a diesel engine – you need to fuel yourself right.

About five years ago, I decided to do just that. I had been on a dieting rollercoaster ever since I started modelling at the age of 17. I’ve tried every fad diet out there, from cutting out entire food groups to living solely on shakes. My weight fluctuated for years, and it didn’t help that I was working in an industry that repeatedly reminded me of that fact whenever I couldn’t fit into my typical size 8.

But you don’t have to be a model to relate to this. Even though I’ve left modelling behind, I still feel a lot of pressure from social media and I bet you do too. We’re all trying to inspire each other, but it can also go the other way. Seeing a steady stream of beautifully tanned bodies with amazing abs on my Instagram feed can knock my confidence and make me feel like I need to look like that too, and fast, but now I stop myself from falling into that trap.

It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with my body and I only wish that I had known then what I know now about food and fitness. I learned a lot from modelling, not least the confidence to just be me. It forced me to take my health seriously by educating myself on eating well and training and it allowed me to discover my real passions in life: food and fitness. I also learned not to compete with others – instead, I use that energy to concentrate on myself and my personal goals. Dedicate your energy to being a better you, not some stranger you follow online. Be the best version of yourself that you can be in your own body shape.

DEDICATE YOUR ENERGY TO BEING A BETTER YOU, NOT SOME STRANGER YOU FOLLOW ONLINE.

MAKING A CHANGE

I used to find myself mindlessly eating ‘bad’ foods, and sure, if I’d started, I might as well finish in style and get rid of all the ‘bad’ stuff in my presses, right? That kind of binge eating was hard on my body, but it was even harder on my mind. This, along with the ‘no bullshit’ school of parenting my mum and dad raised me with, spurred me to make a change.

So how did I do it? I started concentrating on all the foods I could eat rather than all the foods I couldn’t have. I also tried to stop cutting foods out of my life, since it was having a negative impact on my social life as well. I couldn’t even go out for a cup of coffee with a friend without worrying about the menu or feeling guilty. I stopped making excuses, stopped letting my body issues hold me back from doing things and started saying yes to life.

HALF HOUR HERO TO THE RESCUE!

So here we are. I started my Natural Born Feeder blog in 2013 to share my love of food and to spread the message of embracing a whole foods life. The blog led to my first cookbook, Natural Born Feeder: Whole Foods, Whole Life, which I refer to as the NBF encyclopedia. But even in the short amount of time since that book was published, my life has changed a lot. I’ve had the usual ups and downs and things have also become a whole lot busier, which means I’ve had to alter my lifestyle to make sure I can still prioritize the things that are important to me, which are eating right, training and surrounding myself with sound people.

It hasn’t been easy. I realize now that I used to take time for granted. When I was modelling, I worked short hours and could leave my job at the door when I got home. Now that I work for myself, though, I have a lot less time for training and cooking. I went from doing two or three hours on the bike to train for a triathlon and spending hours in the kitchen to needing to do things fast. Let’s just say that I can finally relate to anyone who has a hectic or high-pressure job and struggles to find the time to keep their diet on track.

THIS BOOK TICKS ALL THE BOXES: THE RECIPES ARE QUICK, HEALTHY, ACCESSIBLE AND FIT INTO A BUSY LIFESTYLE.

Embracing this new on-the-go lifestyle was the catalyst for writing this book. I don’t have lots of time any more for food prep or for training either, but I’m not willing to let them slide. We’re all looking for a fast fix for everything – me included! – whether it’s a HIIT session at the gym instead of a long run or a 30-minute meal instead of leisurely pottering in the kitchen for hours. That’s where Half Hour Hero comes in, with over 100 recipes to help you leave your excuses at the door, get some meal prep done and get delicious, healthy food on the table in a hurry. This book ticks all the boxes: the recipes are quick, healthy, accessible and fit into a busy lifestyle.

I wanted to write a book that showcases fast, healthy dishes using basic ingredients that you probably already have in your presses, or if you don’t, then at least now you’ll know what to stock up on. All the recipes in this book take half an hour or less to cook, so whatever else might be holding you back, you won’t be able to use a lack of time as an excuse any more!

REAL FOOD, REAL FAST

When I asked my readers what they wanted to see in my next book, one of the most frequent requests I got was for more everyday, easily accessible ingredients. I still love things like bee pollen or dried mulberries, but I know that I’m lucky enough to live in a city where I can easily pop out to any number of health food stores or delis that stock them and that those kinds of ingredients might not be widely available where you live. So through my blog and during my last book tour, I did lots of research on the staple ingredients that people commonly have in their kitchens and I’ve used these as the foundation for these recipes. I also realized that when it comes to a recipe for a quick, everyday meal, the last thing you want to see is an ingredients list as long as the page, so through a lot of trial and error I’ve created tasty meals that don’t need a long shopping list. Besides, I believe that food should taste as good as it possibly can without overly complicating it.

Another excuse you often hear for people not eating healthy is that they think it’s expensive, but I hope the recipes in this book knock that idea on its head. You should be able to pick up all the ingredients used in these recipes in your local shop and they won’t break the bank.

I BELIEVE THAT FOOD SHOULD TASTE AS GOOD AS IT POSSIBLY CAN WITHOUT OVERLY COMPLICATING IT.

FITNESS + FOOD

Fitness is a huge part of my life – if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll already know that I’m at the gym almost every day. Food is my first passion, but fitness is a close second. Plus it goes hand in hand with healthy eating. When you train, you automatically tend to eat better. After putting in the time and effort, you obviously want to fuel your body right and not undo all the good work you just did.

But just like my time in the kitchen, I don’t have a lot of time to spend on fitness any more, so my gym sessions are shorter and snappier. I’ve included a few of my favourite workout routines throughout the book to help inspire you, because dedicating even a little time towards keeping fit will reap big benefits. You don’t have to spend hours in the gym – a 20-minute session is still worthwhile if that’s all you can manage to squeeze in.

EXERCISE EQUIPMENT I USE AT HOME OR WHEN TRAVELLING

• Yoga mat for planks, side raises, stretching, leg raises

• Ab roller

• Chin-up bar over the kitchen door

• Skipping rope

• Boxing gloves and pads – perfect if you have a housemate

• Resistance bands

I also like to use timer apps, which are a great way to track your time spent working out. They help you to keep your breaks short and make sure you get that workout done with no procrastinating or time-wasting!

STRIKING A BALANCE

We should all make our physical and mental health a priority, no matter how busy our lives may be, but it can take a long time to achieve a balanced lifestyle. I hope these tips can help you to bypass some of the obstacles that I ran into and get you right on track. It’s the small steps that you take over long periods of time that make the biggest difference.

• FOLLOW THE 80/20 RULE

My biggest piece of advice is to take an 80/20 approach to food. We’re all human, so saying that you’re going to be good 100% of the time just isn’t realistic. You’ll only be setting yourself up to fail and for a woeful amount of guilt to boot. This 80/20 approach is actually quite common. A lot of people live by it, proving its longevity as a lifestyle choice.

• PLAN

Plan, plan, plan! I talk about this more in the next chapter, but meal prep and planning is one of the biggest keys to my success.

• EXPERIMENT

There is no right or wrong diet and the best judge of what works for you is you. Certain foods may not agree with you, while other foods that different diets rule out might make you feel amazing. Don’t cut out foods, much less entire food groups, before you’ve given them a chance.

• EDUCATE YOURSELF

Read the labels to figure out what’s in your food and take back control. It’s not up to anybody else to tell you what’s in a food product and the manufacturer certainly isn’t going to shout about it.

• GET MOVING

By now you know that I’m fanatical about training, but you don’t have to be a fully fledged fitness jerk to move. Just move more: walk more, take the stairs more, join a gym. You’ll enjoy it – and if you don’t, then you probably just haven’t found the right thing for you yet.

• WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?

If you feel like you’re failing in your goal to lead a more balanced, healthy lifestyle, what’s your excuse? Is it time? Money? Motivation? When you work out the reason, it will be a lot easier to find the solution. For me, in the beginning it was a lack of willpower. On the weekends I’d look at food as a reward and eat all the stuff I told myself I wasn’t allowed during the week. Once I figured out that weekends are really no different to a weekday and I couldn’t deal with the Monday guilt any more, I decided to have a treat if I really wanted one, no matter what day of the week it is.

• LET GO OF THE GUILT

I wasted so many years feeling guilty about food. I’d eat one thing I thought was ‘bad’ or not in keeping with my new diet and I would punish myself for being such a failure, either emotionally or physically in the gym. If you’re going to have something a little naughty, just go ahead and have it, enjoy it and move on. Go back to your normal routine the next day and don’t beat yourself up about it.

• THE DRIBBLE APPROACH

It takes time to adapt to new things, so make small changes. I like to call this the dribble approach. For example, swap your regular chocolate for dark chocolate, or if you’ve never cooked a meal from scratch before, start by picking one simple recipe a week to make, and in a month’s time you’ll have four new recipes in your repertoire. You don’t have to dive in head first and try to do everything all at once. Rome wasn’t built in a day and a balanced lifestyle won’t be either.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIVE IN HEAD FIRST AND TRY TO DO EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE.

TIME TO GET COOKING

I didn’t think it would be possible, but I’m actually more excited about this book than I was about my first one. Now that my lifestyle is more like my readers’ and followers’ long, busy days, I find that I’m getting a more enthusiastic response to the recipes I put on my website and I’m loving the new challenge of creating tasty recipes that take no time to whip up. I feel like this book really reflects me and my life now, and I hope that it will fit neatly into your life too.

TOP 10 MEAL PREP TIPS

1 On your chosen meal prep day, take 5 or 10 minutes to write down the recipes you want to make or prep in advance, then make your shopping list accordingly.

2 Plan different meals, but try to pick ones with similar ingredients so that your shopping list isn’t overwhelming. For example, the same basic ingredients can be used various ways, like the two egg muffins here and the two chicken tray bakes here and here.

3 You don’t have to do all your prep in one day. Sometimes I see people online showing off a whole week’s worth of cooking done on a Sunday, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it that way. You can break it up throughout the week or even do your prep on Saturday and cook on Sunday to spread out the workload.

4 When you do your meal prep, you don’t necessarily have to do all of it. Sometimes the majority of my prep simply involves having all my veg peeled, sliced or spiralized and my ingredients all portioned up and ready to go in ziplock bags or airtight containers.

5 Avocados deserve their very own point here! It’s frustrating when you can’t find a ripe avocado, or even worse, when you do have one but you let it get overripe. I get around this problem by blending my perfectly ripe avocados with some lime or lemon juice and spooning the purée into an ice cube tray to freeze, then popping out the cubes and storing them in a ziplock bag in the freezer to have on hand for smoothies. I do the same thing with any fruit that’s about to go off if I won’t get to use it in time, which is also perfect for adding to smoothies or porridge.

6 Cook a double batch. Some weeks I’m so busy that I don’t have time to prep at all, but I stay on track by cooking a double batch every time I make dinner or lunch, which means I’ll still be sorted for the next day. For example, I try to cook double on a Sunday so that Monday’s dinner is sorted, then on Monday I’ll cook ahead for Tuesday or Wednesday. A lot of recipes in this book don’t even take a full half hour to make, so you could even make a few at a time in advance.

7 Invest in good food prep utensils (check out my list here) and a slow cooker too. Slow cookers are so handy for meal prep, but I’m afraid you won’t find any slow cooker recipes in this book because they don’t fit in with the half-hour timeframe. I have loads of recipes on my website, though, so check them out at www.naturalbornfeeder.com.

8 It’s time to form a deeper relationship with your freezer. Clean it out and make good use of it. If you’re making double batches, freeze the extra half for later in the week.

9 Portion out immediately, especially when prepping snacks. Sometimes you can eat half the batch just while you’re making it – I’m speaking from experience here! – so have your jars or ziplock bags ready.

10 Prep like a pro! I like to set up mini stations to make my work more organized. I usually set up four stations: clean and wash; peel and slice; cook; and assemble and pack.

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