Earlier this year I came across a post on social media from someone I follow.

She said, she’d been eating mostly vegetarian meals and ate her way into a B12 deficiency.

Which got me wondering, might I be deficient in B12, or anything else for that matter?

I didn’t know the specifics of her B12 deficiency, but I felt fine… I think.

I take a daily multivitamin and omega3 supplement and ate a fairly diverse range of plants in my diet. But how could I know?

This wasn’t just about a B12 deficiency.

My dad and grandad both had heart problems and had to have heart bypass surgery.

At the age of 6, I was told I had a heart murmur (which I’ve since been told has gone away).

And so if my goal is to live a long and healthy life, catching anything that could seriously be affecting my long-term health, would be a sensible thing to do.

And so I did some searching online and came across Thriva.

Going into this I didn’t know what to expect.

Thriva has a bunch of different blood test packages – which at first glance might seem quite overwhelming.

But they also have a quick 3-minute online quiz, which will ask you a bunch of different questions about yourself and based on your answers will suggest what things you should get tested on.

You can of course remove certain things from your package if you don’t feel the need to test for it and equally add ones you think should be included.

This is the route I went down, my package was put together with a focus on long-term health – exactly what I was looking for.

Personalised Thriva health package with recommendations and results

It took a few days for my package to arrive, but whilst I was waiting, I received plenty of helpful emails on how things are progressing, what to expect and what I should do when it arrives.

It was just the right amount of information, not too much that it was annoying and not too little that I wondered what am I meant to do when this turned up.

The package itself was so well put together and organised. Everything was clearly labelled and separated into its relevant section.

If like me, it’d be your first time doing an at-home kit, I’d recommend reading the instructions ahead of time, as you’ll likely have to make some preparations before you collect your blood sample, I had to:

Once you’ve figured out a day and time that you’re going to collect your blood sample.

Make sure to get everything you need and organise it somewhere you can access easily.

With that out of the way, make sure to read the instructions a good few times – because once you start it does feel like you’re on a countdown to get enough blood into the vial(s).

Instructions on how to collect your Thriva blood sample

Once I had posted my box into the mailbox, I received an email from Thriva when they had received it and also with the expectation that my results would be ready within 48 hours.

Here’s an exact timeline, from me, placing my order to getting my results:

When I did get my results, my expectations were definitely exceeded. I expected to get a list of everything tested and whether I was deficient or not.

There’s a message from the doctor who checks your blood sample who’s looked at both your results and the details you’ve added to your profile and helps to pick up on points that might matter to you.

There is little or no active inflammation occurring in the body. Studies have shown in an otherwise healthy individual this is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke. That’s great news!

You get an overview of everything tested and how well you performed.

Once you click through to your results, there is a detailed breakdown of each area you got tested:

Vitamin D health results with insights and doctor’s feedback

Once you’ve been through all of your results at the end of it you are presented with a section on ways you can improve your health.

Personalised recommendations on how to improve your health

Although these high-level recommendations are useful, they aren’t easily measurable, which is where the Thriva health plan comes in (free of charge).

The health plan gives you actionable tasks you can complete weekly to work towards improving your health.

It can seem overwhelming the number of activities you’re tasked with, but you can remove some if it feels like too much.

Health plan activities to improve your health

It’s been roughly 2 months since I did my first Thriva test, so how am I getting on with my health plan?

I started off strong, ticking things off my list but within the first week, I was taken out by the Norovirus.

Since then I’ve been ticking off the low-hanging fruit activities like taking my daily supplements and doing my daily walks.

But there are 2 activities I think I’d benefit most from:

It’s worth remembering, that just because you’ve strayed from the path, it doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track.

So these are the 2 areas I’m going to focus on until I do my next Thriva blood test.

A lot of this really comes to habit change, in which case it’s worth grabbing a copy of Atomic Habits – and for myself to give it another read.

If you want to learn more about building habits and sticking to them, I’d recommend grabbing yourself a copy of Atomic Habits. James talks about habit stacking, the compound effects of habits and much more.

Find out what’s happening inside your body and discover the best evidence-based ways to improve your health — based on your lifestyle

Is a plant-based diet affecting my health? I did a Thriva blood test to find out

I can see the appeal of recipe kits like Grubby, if you live a busy life it can be hard to find time to plan, go out and buy all the ingredients you need for tasty, nutritious meals every week.

I really enjoy cooking (if you couldn’t guess), but even I don’t always have time to cook new, tasty, healthy meals every week (running my own freelance business and being a dad of 2), so I thought I’d give Grubby a try and share my thoughts.

This was honestly the thing that drew me in, you can tell that Grubby seriously cares about the impact they have on the planet, they:

On top of all of this, Grubby even donate a free meal to children living in poverty in Uganda for each box sold – having donated more than 12,000 meals already.

One thing I was a little bit disappointed about was the plastic that some of the produce came in. This is what Grubby have to say on the matter:

From time to time, plastic is used in our boxes… the tricky truth is that in some instances, plastic still plays an important role in tackling food waste and keeping produce fresh. Don’t get us wrong, we’d much rather use eco-friendly alternatives, and we’re pushing ourselves to continuously research and test new materials.

So this is definitely something Grubby is aware of and is continuously looking into – for more information on the sustainability of their packaging make sure to check out their FAQs.

Each week you can choose up to 3 recipes from a lineup of 8 (the recipes change every week).

If you’re someone who likes to plan ahead, you can even choose the meals for the following 3 weeks.

Your Grubby box will be delivered on either a Monday or Tuesday – depending on the day you select in the Grubby app when choosing your meals.

If your circumstances change you can skip weeks or change the delivery day.

Once your box arrives, you can expect to find fresh, pre-measured ingredients inside for all of your meals – with each recipe’s ingredients found in separate bags based on the recipe.

If you’re lucky, you might even get a freebie in your box – in my case, I got a free vegan hazelnut truffle chocolate bar from Rhythm. Safe to say it didn’t last long.

And if you like to listen to music whilst cooking, each recipe card has a QR code to a curated Spotify playlist so you can listen along whilst cooking.

Grubby freebie – vegan hazelnut truffle chocolate bar

Now that we’ve covered all of that greatness, how much will Grubby set you back?

£26 for 2 recipes per week (£6.50 per serving)

£34.50 for 3 recipes per week (£5.75 per serving)

Or for a limited time you could get 50% off your first week:

£17.25 for 3 recipes (£2.88 per serving)

So now that you know what Grubby stand for and how it works, are the meals any good?

Butternut, pepper & pinto quesadillas, avocado salsa

This recipe required a bit of context switching – oven, frying pan, making the sauce and preparing the salsa.

But the recipe was structured in a way that meant I didn’t fall too far behind and everything was ready when it was meant to be.

It did take me a little bit longer to make, the recipe said 30 mins but it ended up taking me around 40 mins.

I knew when I was cooking it that it was going to taste good.

The balance of flavours between everything was spot on, you wouldn’t guess you’re eating so many different veggies in one go. If I got this in a restaurant I’d be really happy.

Roasted med veg risotto and toasted seeds

This recipe was pretty straightforward, it didn’t involve too much context switching.

I did find the order of steps could’ve been better (as the veggies from the oven were ready much sooner than my risotto in the pan).

Timings were pretty accurate, it took maybe 5 mins longer than stated.

Taste-wise, it was okay. Not the most flavoursome meal, but when you got a spoon with the toasted seeds, the flavour kicked in. I’d happily eat it again but I wouldn’t choose it over their other recipes.

This was the recipe I was most looking forward to. Following the recipe was pretty straightforward – it mostly consisted of chopping veggies and adding them to a pan.

Timings were again pretty accurate, it probably took me 25 mins to make – whereas the recipe said 20 mins.

It had a generous portion size (possibly could’ve served 3 people depending on how hungry you are). As for taste, it was great, the crunch that the peanuts added were an underrated addition – would definitely eat this meal again.

Yes, my wife and I have ordered another box – so we get to try out another 3 delicious meals.

If you’re in the market to try out one of these recipe kits, I’d definitely recommend giving Grubby a try – you can get 50% off your first box and 30% off for the rest of your first month.

Whether you’re new to plant-based eating or you’ve been plant-based for a while, Grubby is definitely worth a try – you’ll be making healthy food choices that have less impact on the planet.

Grubby’s 100% plant-based recipe kit offer veggie-packed recipes that have less impact on the planet

Grubby, the plant-based recipe kit that doesn’t cost the earth

building-a-consistent-walking-habit.mp3

At the start of the month, I set myself a goal to develop a more consistent walking habit. This was for several reasons:

Before this, how often I walked fluctuated from week to week, but it’s something I enjoy doing so I figured it should be a relatively easy habit to develop.

There were a couple of things that made this easier for me:

Before covid, I’d regularly listen to audiobooks on my commute to work (I completed ~25 books between 2018 and 2020 which I wouldn’t have otherwise).

Since working from home from early 2020 (now self-employed), I haven’t been able to find a place in my schedule where listening to audiobooks works for me.

So I decided to try and stack my walking habit with listening to audiobooks.

I had the proof is in the plants on my radar from months prior so I grabbed a copy on Audible.

The proof is in the plants provides such a great overview of how a plant-based diet impacts our personal and planetary health. Simon also tackles the question of why there is so much conflicting information out there and uses science to back it up!

If you want to try listening to audiobooks, choose subjects you’re interested in, it could be;

Don’t choose a book you’ll end up hating, just because you think you should – this should work as an aid and not a deterrent.

The best time to walk is what works best for you. For me that is:

I’m more of a morning person and like to get out when things are quiet.

On top of this, it’s great to achieve something early in the day and not have to worry about it later.

Failing or in addition to a morning walk, next up would be lunchtime. Lunchtime walks have saved entire afternoons of work for me – as the break and fresh air helps to clear my head.

There’s also evidence that being out in nature helps to improve our mental health as mentioned in plant therapy.

Being surrounded by nature is both good for our mental and physical health. The evidence shows a clear link between being in nature and better sleep, reduced stress levels and much more.

A little incentive goes a long way, you can choose to either:

Loss aversion (preferring to not lose what you already have, instead of gaining something you don’t have), is a very strong motivator.

I decided to download the Treekly app – where they plant trees if you hit a certain step count (even on the free plan).

I chose to upgrade to the plus account, which meant I paid £3.99 a month, and for each day I did 5,000 steps they’d plant a tree.

Weather you stick with the free plan, or upgrade to the paid version – you can turn your steps into trees all whilst creating a healthy habit.

When we look at starting new habits (especially exercise related), there’s often a lot of equipment and gadgets you could buy, but I’d encourage you, to try and use what you have.

There will be exceptions to this, depending on your circumstances and what you’re doing, but you can often do a lot with what you already have.

And once it’s become a habit, you can then reward yourself with some of those things you know will really help you.

If I keep my walking habit come April, I’ll reward myself by upgrading my shoes to something like Vivo Barefoot shoes – designed to be more like our natural foot.

Vivo barefoot shoes aim to provide protection to your feet and then get out of the way so your feet can do what they’re meant to.

If you want to build better habits, like walking, consider changing some variables (depending on how new you are to it);

Don’t overextend yourself in the beginning, start small and work your way up. These principles can be used for developing any habit.

How I used habit stacking, incentives and finding the right time to walk to build a consistent walking habit.

I built a consistent walking habit, here’s what helped

I’ve never really struggled with sleep, until sometime in 2021.

On occasion, I’d either struggle to fall asleep or wake up just after midnight and then lye awake for 3+ hours before falling asleep again.

So I decided to look at my daily activities to see what could be affecting my sleep.

Scientists have determined that getting a good night sleep on a regular basis is important for a multitude of reasons;

Now if that’s not a good enough reason to get a good nights sleep I don’t know what is.

Want to understand the science behind why we sleep and why it’s so important for us? This is probably the most comprehensive resource on sleep and might just convince you why to try and sleep better.

Our lifestyles play a big role in how well we sleep at night (or day, maybe you work nights), so it’s worth looking at your day-to-day activities that might be impacting your sleep.

Whilst this is definitely not a definitive list, here are some things that have helped me get better, more consistent sleep;

Our circadian rhythm which regulates our sleep pattern is governed by our exposure to light.

By stepping outside first thing in the morning after waking up we expose ourselves to natural sunlight (even on a cloudy day) which will help us sleep better at night.

This also has the added benefit of getting Vitamin D from the sun.

This probably won’t come as a surprise to you that moving (using up your energy) will help you sleep easier at night.

If you’re not used to regular exercise, try and find something you enjoy and work it into your routine – something is better than nothing, you don’t have to suffer for it to count.

My go-to is a daily walk, but on occasion, I might mix it up with;

Coffee and other caffeinated drinks (like teas and energy drinks) might be hurting your sleep.

Caffeine has a half-life of around 6 hours, meaning if you drank a cup of coffee at 4 pm, by the time you go to bed at 10 pm, half of the coffee will still be in your system.

So cutting out caffeinated drinks around mid-day to early afternoon might be a sensible idea.

Keep hot drinks hot for up to 4 hours with a reusable coffee cup 

Looking for a stylish, reusable cup for your hot drinks? I’d definitely recommend this coffee cup from Chilly. I use it most mornings when I have to commute into an office.

Working before bed is my Achilles heel (I’ve found this can also extend to checking emails).

If I try and squeeze in a couple of hours of work before bed, I’ll often think about the task for a couple of hours into my sleep time.

Blue light (which comes from things like the sun and artificial lights like our mobile phone screens) and the brightness of light, suppresses the body’s release of melatonin – a hormone that makes us feel drowsy.

Being exposed to blue light in the evening can trick our brain into thinking it’s still daytime – leaving us alert instead of tired.

Journaling might sound like something teenagers might do, but after experiencing some really bad brain fog, I decided to try this Braincare journal by Heights.

A one-of-a-kind, interactive A5 journal, designed to change the way you think

Whether this is down to the journal itself or a multitude of other things I incorporated into my daily life, I’ve not experienced brain fog as mentioned above.

Doing this activity just before bed, also allows me to reflect on the day and practice gratitude – the activity itself doesn’t take long at all, maybe 2 minutes.

One of the first things I do when getting into bed is fill out my journal for the day. It helps me to practice gratitude and reflect on the day that has passed.

Struggling with sleep? Here are 6 things that helped me get better more consistent sleep.

To a small saucepan add oats, flaxseeds, cinnamon, apple, dates and almond milk – cook for 5 minutes

Move to a bowl and sprinkle nuts and agave syrup on top

In a large saucepan cook the pasta according to instructions

Whilst the pasta is cooking, add the walnuts, spinach, basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil to a pestle and mortar – mash up the ingredients until it forms a smooth paste

Once the pasta is ready, drain in a colander and add back to the saucepan with the butter beans and pesto – stir until everything is coated with pesto

Serve with chopped tomatoes, rocket and a pinch of salt if needed

Heat a frying pan on high heat, once hot add the olive oil along with mushroom and garlic – cook for ~4 mins

Add the spinach to the frying pan and cook until wilted

Add the walnuts, spinach, basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil to a pestle and mortar – mash up the ingredients until it forms a smooth paste

Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl, spread pesto on one side of the bread and place in the frying pan, pesto side up – toast for ~3 mins

Take the bread out of the frying pan, place the mushroom mixture on each slice of bread and layer sliced tomato on top

Spread pesto over another slice of bread and place on top of the tomato to create a sandwich – pesto side down

Place back into the frying pan on the un-toasted side and toast for ~3 mins – remove and cut in half

Mushroom, spinach & pesto toasted sandwich

Drain and rinse chickpeas – add to a mixing bowl and mash with the back of a fork

To the mixing bowl add mayo, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and parsley – mix it all together

Add the chickpea mixture to bread and create a sandwich

Add rice to a saucepan and cook according to instructions

Heat a wok on high heat, once hot add the olive oil along with onion and garlic – cook for ~2 mins

To the wok add the mushroom and smoked paprika – cook for ~10 mins until softened

To a blender add tofu, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, lemon juice and a splash of water – blend until smooth

Add the sauce to the wok – cook for ~3 mins

Serve with chopped parsley on top – add salt if needed

Heat a wok on high heat, once hot add the olive oil along with mushroom and onion – cook for ~3 mins

To the wok add the kale – cook for ~3 mins

To a blender add tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, half the lemon juice and a splash of water – blend until smooth

Once the macaroni is cooked, drain and add to the wok along with the sauce from the blender

Serve with the remaining lemon juice and chopped walnuts

Add oil to wok and once hot add shallots – sauté for ~1 min

Add in chopped peppers – sauté for ~3 mins

Roughly chop the kale and add to the wok along with the mangetout, sprinkle over the salt, add a splash of water and cover with a lid – cooking for ~5 mins, stirring every so often

To a bowl add the lemon juice, ginger, garlic, miso paste, soy sauce and agave syrup – mix well

To the wok add the sauce with the veggies

Drain the noodles and add to the wok – make sure everything is covered with the sauce

Wash and thinly slice the potatoes, place in a large bowl and add the olive oil, salt and pepper – mix well, until all the chips are coated

Place all of the chips onto a baking tray (you might need a few) – put in the oven for 40-45 mins

To a small bowl, add the tomato passata, agave syrup, dijon mustard, smoked paprika and salt – mix together well with a spoon

Next thinly slice the onion and add it to a wok with the olive oil – stir until caramelised ~5 mins 

To the wok add the drained jackfruit – gently mash the jackfruit with a potato masher

Pour in the sauce (add a splash of water to get any of the remaining sauce from the bowl) and place a lid on top – turn the heat down low and cook for 15-20 mins, mash every so often with the masher

Once the potatoes are ready, serve in a bowl with the pulled jackfruit on top

Heat a wok on high heat, once hot add the olive oil along with the leeks and onion – cook for 5 mins

Add the chopped gem squash to the wok with the paprika – mix it all together and cook for 3 mins

Add the crushed garlic, nutritional yeast, ground coriander, salt and pepper – mix it all together and cook for 2 mins

Pour in the risotto rice and vegetable stock – cook for 10-15 mins until all the water is absorbed

To a large pan, add chopped kale, a sprinkle of salt and a splash of water, place a lid on top – stirring every so often, cook for 3 mins

Once the kale is done, add it to the wok with everything else, place the pan back on the heat and add the pumpkin seeds – toast for 1-2 mins

Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds on top

Cook noodles according to instructions and drain once cooked.

In a measuring jug add vegetable stock and cornflour – mixing well.

Heat a wok on medium-high heat. Once hot, add oil, garlic, broccoli and carrot – add a splash of hot water, cover and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the chickpeas and red bell pepper - cook for 2 minutes. 

To the wok, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, hoisin sauce, chilli flakes and mix.

Tasty plant-based recipes & more

Nutty, apple & date porridge

Tomato & pesto pasta

Mushroom, spinach & pesto toasted sandwich

Mushroom stroganoff

Chickpea mayo sandwich

Mushroom & kale macaroni

Squash & kale risotto

Pulled jackfruit loaded fries

Is a plant-based diet affecting my health? I did a Thriva blood test to find out

Grubby, the plant-based recipe kit that doesn’t cost the earth

6 ways to get a better night sleep

I built a consistent walking habit, here’s what helped

New plant-based recipes & articles every month