Real Talk 27th April 2016 by Victoria Stokes

“I’ve Come Full Circle With Food”: Roz Purcell Shares Her Top Tips For Making A Healthy Lifestyle Stick

Busy blogger, model, cookbook author and this month's STELLAR Covergirl, Roz tell us how to make clean eating last in the long run.

Roz Purcell White Bikini

“With my blog, I try to put across the message that a healthy lifestyle is for the long run and all the fads and quick fixes, they’re not sustainable,” Roz tells us when we catch up with her on the phone this morning.

And it’s that ethos that prompted Roz to get involved with “Make A Healthier Plate With Ben”, an Uncle Ben’s campaign that’s aiming to make cooking healthy meals quicker and easier with express rice packs.

“When you can set up your press with healthy, convenient products you’re less likely to fall off the wagon. It’s all about having things like that ready to go. It’s about making it accessible,” Roz explains.

“Bringing in whole grains and a really good quality carbohydrate is something that really appealed to me. From years of having an up and down diet, I’ve now come full circle with food and I know that when you’re ruling out different food groups it’s just not sustainable.”


So how can you make it sustainable? We asked Roz for her tips for ensuring a healthy lifestyle sticks…

It’s all about convenience

“When I’m really hungry and I’m in a rush, I’ll usually throw some brown rice in a bowl and just have it with a little bit of tuna or some mackerel. I’ll mix in some spices too; there are so many different combinations of flavours. I love chilli and ginger in particular and I love to use things like sesame oil and sesame seeds to make an asian stir-fry. Something like that is only going to take me 10 or 15 minutes.”

Stock up

What does Roz keep in her kitchen? “I’m a huge fan of broccoli,” she laughs. “You can make so many things with it, like broccoli rice or broccoli bread.” She also stocks eggs, Uncle Ben’s Express Rice Packs and has a steady supply of almonds for adding to other dishes.

Have snacks on the go

While Roz doesn’t meal prep all of her food – “I love making things fresh as much as I can,” she tells us – if she’s having a particularly busy week she will prepare some snacks to have on the go. “I make these protein balls using brown rice sometimes and they’re actually really handy if I’m doing any kind of intense sport during the week,” she explains. “Sometimes I’ll make homemade granola bars or put together different seed mixes too.”

Putting together something sweet in between jobs today ??? #naturalbornfeeder

A photo posted by Rozanna Purcell (@rozannapurcell) on

Have a go-to meal

Had a super busy day at the office and arrived home absolutely starving with not a clue what to make for your tea? Roz knows exactly what she’s having if she arrives home hungry. “I’d make brown basmati rice with prawns, chopped chillis, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and a tiny bit of Irish honey and then I’d mix it all up. I’d probably add in some tender stem broccoli too.” The lesson? If you already know what you’re having, it’ll leave less room for error.

Switch it up

“I’ve been eating healthy for a really long time now and my one piece of advice would be to keep it interesting,” says Roz. “A lot of people try really hard to lead a healthy lifestyle and I think they can get quite routine with it all. It’s really important to bring in lots of different flavour, because obviously you want to keep it interesting if you want to do it for the long run.” The key trick that keeps her on track? “I consistently keep changing my diet and I like to incorporate lots of different food,” she reveals.

Now that sounds like something we can manage.

Psst! Wanna read more about Roz? Grab the May issue of the mag – on shelves now! 

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