MY STORY

Until just over four years ago I was a sugar

monster, and I mean a total addict. Id always had
a serious sweet tooth and as a child my favorite
foods were sprinkle sandwiches and what we liked
to call chocolate mess. Chocolate mess was pretty
amazing, and just as sticky as it sounds. To make it,
my sisters and I would raid our kitchen cupboards
for anything sweet and throw whatever we could
find into a bowlusually a mix of milk chocolate,
marshmallows, gummy sweets, caramel, golden
syrup and Rice Krispieswhich wed melt in a
saucepan until it formed a gooey pile of chocolate
deliciousness. The three of us would then sit with
our teaspoons and demolish the whole bowl! My
love of sugar grew from there, peaking during
my first year of university in St.Andrews when
my friends and I basically lived off a delicious
mixture of Ben & Jerrys Cookie Dough ice
cream, mountains of chocolate (preferably filled
with gooey caramel) and lots of fizzy pick n mix
candy. We were all totally hooked on sugar-laden
convenience foods, and nutrition was low on the
priority list.
It seems crazy that my diet has transformed so
dramatically in such a relatively short amount of
time, and Im sure that as you flip through this
book youll have a hard time believing that I used
to eat this way. It will probably seem even crazier
still when I tell you that I actually didnt like any
fruits or vegetables, but I promise you I really
didnt! Other than bananas and corn on the cob,
Isteered clear of anything fruit or veg related.
Things all changed really quickly, though, and
very unexpectedly. In the summer of 2011, just
after Id finished my second year of university, I

was diagnosed with a relatively rare illness called

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. Its
a very strange illness and even now my closest
family and friends cant quite get their heads
around it. The syndrome effectively breaks down
your autonomic nervous system: the system that
controls everything that is meant to happen
automatically in the bodyyour heartbeat,
digestion, circulation, immune system, etc. As you
can imagine this had a pretty devastating effect on
my lifeI literally couldnt walk down the street, I
slept for sixteen hours a day, was in chronic pain,
had blackouts, never-ending heart palpitations,
unbearable stomach issues, constant headaches
and the list goes on. It was anything but fun and
I was bedridden 95 percent of the time. Life as I
knew it was put on hold.
Being this ill was a bigger challenge than I could
ever have imagined. Up until this point Id always
been really healthy and so I really never saw it
coming. At the time I was just nineteen and had
been spending my summer in Paris, pursuing
a career in modeling and having the best time.
Going from that to a hospital bed within the
space of just a few weeks really shook me, and
as my hospital trips got longer and longer and
doctor after doctor ran out of suggestions as to
what was wrong with me, I really fell apart. It
took four months of hospital visits and hundreds
of tests to finally get a diagnosis, and I still
remember that huge sense of relief when my
wonderful doctor gave my illness a name. At the
very least people could no longer tell me it was
psychological!
The thing was that even though my illness now

my story

had a name, this didnt really make anything much

better. I was put on a whole series of different
drugs and steroids, some of which gave me new
symptoms and none of which really helped. I was
still essentially bed-bound, which created a huge
sense of isolation, and my confidence and selfesteem vanished. It felt impossible to keep up with
any friends. This was partly because of a lack of
energy and a desire to sleep all the time, but it was
also because I was too embarrassed to tell anyone
what was really happening. I didnt want everyone
to see me as a sick person and I felt like a total
alien, so different from everyone else that Ijust
couldnt really relate to them.
In January 2012 I decided to try to be a
normal person and take a trip with my
boyfriend. We went to Marrakesh, but the trip
was in some ways a disaster and I ended up being
brought home, semiconscious, in a wheelchair.
Of course in lots of ways this wasnt ideal, but it
was actually exactly what I needed as it woke me
up to what was really happening to me. It became
clear that it was my responsibility to change my
situation. I could no longer rely on my doctors
and I had to find a way to get my life back. So I
spent the next week researching holistic, natural
approaches to healing, which is what led me to
change my diet.
After a lot of Googling I came across some
incredibly inspirational people, in particular Kris
Carr, who overnight changed my life. She had
changed her diet to manage her cancer and had
written a wonderful book all about it, so I ordered
the book and immediately realized that if she could
come back from that, I could absolutely come
back from where I was. So, overnight I started
a whole-foods, plant-based diet and gave up all
meat, dairy, sugar, gluten, anything processed and
all chemicals and additives. As you can imagine it
was a really difficult change for someone who had
never eaten fruit or vegetables before, let alone
quinoa, buckwheat and chia seeds! Ill never forget

my story

the looks on my familys faces when I told them I

was becoming a gluten-free veganI dont think
Ive ever seen people so surprised and confused.
Im not sure they believed Id last a day, but I was
very determined to really give it a try. The only
problem was I didnt have a clue what to eat!

HEALING FOOD
I was all ready to go with my healthy-eating
healing regime until it suddenly occurred to me
that not only did I not know what to eat, but I
also couldnt cook! I mean I could boil pasta
and scramble a couple of eggs, but that was really
about it. Nonetheless I really wanted to try this
new way of life, so for the next three months or so
I literally ate the same thing every day. Breakfast
was banana and blueberry porridge, with the fruit
added in right at the beginning to ensure it fully
disintegrated (little did I know that this method
actually gives more flavor). Lunch was buckwheat
toast with mashed avocado and roasted tomatoes:
totally delicious but a little repetitive every day!
And dinner was brown rice pasta with some form
of veggie sauce.
As you can imagine I was suffering from some
serious food envy as everyone around me tucked
into a fantastic array of different foods and I
continued with the same meals day after day. Yet
something amazing was happening: I was starting
to feel better! My symptoms were diminishing
and my energy was returningit was just the
most incredible feeling. It was slow, but it was
unbelievably exciting and so encouraging. It really
inspired me to get more into what I was doing and
thats where my blog, Deliciously Ella, came in. I
thought that if I kept a blog and promised myself
that Id try three new recipes a week, then I would
start really loving this new way of cooking, which is
exactly what happened.
I had some funny reactions from people when
I told them I was starting a food blog, mostly with
people saying But you dont cookwhich up

until that point was absolutely true. In fact, the

first time I offered to cook for my boyfriend he
even had dinner before coming over. So I decided
to keep the blog private but promised after twenty
posts that Id show it to a couple of friends, and
it all just grew from there. As my readership
slowly increased, so did my knowledge and my
confidence in cooking in a completely new way,
and eighteen months later the blog had had over
five million hits, which was quite a surreal feeling.
Readers started to get in touch to tell me how my
recipes had changed their lives, which was incredibly
inspiring. In fact, Ive decided to share some of
their favorite comments in the book.
Anyway, as if all that wasnt exciting
enough, something even more incredible had
happenedIfelt healed! My healthy eating
adventure had really worked and in less than
two years I was off all the medication I should
have been on for life. It felt like a miracle: my
symptoms had all but disappeared and my selfesteem was rebuilt, all thanks to the goodness of
plants. It was amazing. I felt free and truly like
myself again.
The decision to change my diet really was
single-handedly the best thing Ive ever done.
It allowed me to take control of my illness and
get mylife back, which was so empowering. Its
been quite a journey and Ive learned so much,
which is why I wanted to write this bookso that
Icould share all my findings with you. Its my way
of turning a negative into a positive. I know how
daunting healthy food can be and I want to make
iteasy for you.

A WORLD OF GOODNESS
As I have discovered, there are ways of making all
your favorite foods healthy and delicioushello,
brownies, pizza and ice creamits just a question
of learning how, and Im going to share all the
tricks Ive learned with you here. I also want to
emphasize that Im not a chef, Im a cook, and

everything comes from experiments in my own

kitchen, which I hope will make it seem even more
accessible to you.
It took me about six months to really get the
hang of cooking this way, and every time I tried a
new recipe I couldnt believe how well it worked.
There were two things that really stood out. First,
that it was all really easy. I mean seriously easy.
I couldnt believe that we werent all enjoying
the simplicity of this way of cooking. The other
thing I was really surprised about was that it was
all so incredibly quick to make, which I especially
loved. Im not a fan of spending hours cooking
it always seemed a little crazy to me to spend
five hours cooking one meal! But I was turning
around insanely delicious dinner parties, which
all my friends loved, in just half an hour or so.
Theyd all be so excited and impressed by what
I was serving, so much so that I almost felt like I
was cheating as it had been so straightforward to
prepare. My other favorite thing was that I was
whipping up awesome weekday suppers for one in
just ten minutes. I loved coming home at the end
of the day knowing I was going to eat a sumptuous,
insanely nutritious feast!
I know this kind of plant-based, whole-food

my story

living does has some slightly negative stereotypes

attached to it, which I absolutely fell for too. I
mean I would never have believed you if youd told
me five years ago that today Id be a gluten-free
vegan! But I really hope that this book will change
your perceptions, just as mine have changed along
the way. I hope that my recipes will show you that
healthy food is so much more than bland salads,
boiled veggies and iceberg lettuce. Its gooey sweet
potato brownies, carrot cake with caramel icing,
silky chocolate mousse, beautiful rainbow salads
with creamy dressings, perfectly seasoned roasted
veg with homemade pesto, zucchini noodles
with avocado cream, sweet potato fries and spicy
coconut curries.
All my recipes are both gluten-free and plantbased, as well as refined sugarfree, but I promise
you that I absolutely havent written this with the
intention of converting you all to veganism. Im
not a huge fan of the word vegan anyway, as you
can also be a very unhealthy vegan. Instead Im
all about whole, natural foods that nourish your
body. Im really not here to point fingers, though,
or encourage feelings of guilt, and Im absolutely
not expecting you to start eating entirely this
way tomorrow. Instead this book is meant to be
flexible and adaptable; its just about showing how
amazingly easy and delicious plants can be so that
we can all start enjoying more of them. However,
you dont have to eat this way all the time. You can
make it work for you, adding cheese to your baked
sweet potato, a side of salmon to your quinoa,
some yogurt to your smoothie or some milk to
your teathats just not a problem. As long as
youre loving your plants, Im happy!

A NEW WAY OF EATING

My biggest advice would be to start making small
changes first. Try adding in one new serving of
fruit or veg a day to start. Blending up a smoothie
in the morning is another way to get on the
right track for a positive day, while giving you an

10

my story

abundance of goodness and making you glow from

the inside out.
The other thing that I want to stress is that
the Deliciously Ella lifestyle is about counting
goodness, not calories. Were not focusing on
dieting and deprivation here, which I know are
things often associated with healthy eating. Instead
Im hoping that this book might help to change
your mind-set in the way that it did for me, so
that we can all celebrate amazing food and feel
incredible about ourselves at the same time. We
all get sweet cravings. Its completely normal, and
Im really not here to say that you shouldnt have
that something sweet. Im simply saying that there
are amazing, natural alternatives that taste just as
goodif not betterthan the processed, sugarladen desserts everyone is used to and theyll make
you feel so much better too.
With any luck I can also dispel myths that eating
things like avocados and almonds will make you
fat too. Everything you see in here is so amazingly
good for you that you really can and should eat
as much of these things as you like, as your body
absolutely loves them and theyll energize you
more than you can imagine.
I love the way I eat now. Its become an
incredible new way of life and Im honestly
happier than Ive ever been. I feel fantastic and
everything tastes better too; my taste buds are so
much stronger and Id take a batch of sweet potato
brownies over pick n mix candy any day! I hope
my book helps you fall in love with natural food in
the way that I have and that through cooking
my food and trying new things you will feel
amazing too.

Ella x