Joe Wicks Feel Good Food

Introduction

Welcome to Feel Good Food. I’m so excited to share a new collection of incredible recipes to get you and your family feeling energized and happy. Food really does have the power to change our mood for the better. I believe this is more important now than ever.

It’s often overlooked just how much the food we eat changes the way we feel on the inside and how this affects our mental health. Good food makes us feel fantastic. It nourishes and energizes us and unlocks more potential in us every day. When you really commit to a healthy diet, it can transform your life in so many ways beyond just the physical changes you will see on the outside.

Putting good food in your body every day will increase your energy levels, improve your focus and productivity, help you feel calmer and less stressed, improve your gut health, and help you sleep better. Just imagine if you had all those things in your life today. It would not only improve your confidence and benefit your mental health immensely, but it would also have a positive impact on so many others around you. When you feel happier, less stressed, more patient, and calmer, your relationships with others will improve, so everyone wins.

It makes so much sense, doesn’t it, when you read all those wonderful benefits, and it seems so easy? Yet eating healthily and being consistent with food is the one thing people struggle with the most. There are times during the year when I find my motivation dips and I have to work harder to get back on track. One thing I’ve learned about myself, though, is that my motivation to stay active and eat well has changed. My focus used to be on getting lean, staying in shape, and looking good, but now it’s all about feeling good. I really am a better and happier person when I’m putting good food in my body.

My philosophy around food and nutrition hasn’t changed since I started out as a trainer ten years ago. I still believe a balanced and flexible approach to eating is the most sustainable and enjoyable way of living. By keeping things simple and easy in the kitchen, you are able to enjoy the foods you love without restricting yourself.

The key to long-term success is simply learning to enjoy cooking. When you enjoy the process of getting in the kitchen and preparing delicious home-cooked food, you soon realize that you don’t have to rely on takeout, ultraprocessed foods, or ready meals on the go. As you learn new recipes and styles of cooking, you start to feel empowered and look forward to getting in the kitchen. It’s a wonderful feeling to be in control of the food you eat, knowing exactly what it’s made from, and it allows you to gain a much better understanding of your body and what it needs to feel energized.

Home cooking, and specifically batch cooking, also leads to a really positive side effect: you are setting yourself up for success. When you make a big portion of curry or chili, for example, you can store the rest in the fridge and eat it the next day. This is such a simple strategy once you get into the swing of it, and is really transformative. It takes some of the stress out of cooking the following day and means you know you’ve got a healthy meal ready to go the moment you arrive at work or return home. This habit can really help you stay on track with your health and fitness goals.

In Feel Good Food I want to bring a bit of joy back into eating and home cooking. I’ve created these recipes with ingredients that improve your mood and energy levels and help you get healthy for the long term.

I’ve made the recipes simple and quick, which I think is the most important factor when trying to live well. They also won’t stretch your budget or require top-notch kitchen skills, meaning you can get healthy food on the table fast, whether you are cooking for one or for a whole family.

The recipes are tasty and packed with flavor, and are also full of awesome nutrition. With largely inexpensive ingredients, basic cooking techniques, simple steps, and minimal cleanup, my recipes will make your life in the kitchen easier.

I hope to show that eating to feel good is not just about eating the things that are good for your body (although that definitely helps!), it’s about learning to enjoy the process and appreciate both the food you eat and the fact that you’ve made it yourself. In these new recipes, I’ve tried to combine the most nutritious ingredients in exciting and inventive ways so you get maximum flavor and maximum enjoyment out of them. You can feel good on the inside and happy on the outside, too!

Here’s to feeling good with Feel Good Food. Thanks again for trying my new recipes. I hope you love them all and enjoy the journey to a healthy, happy mind and body.

Love,

Kick-Start Your Positivity: Joe’s Building Blocks for Feel Good Eating

The Link Between Food and Mood

Do you notice a positive shift in your mood when you have a day of healthy eating? Have you ever wondered why it makes you feel good—not just physically, but mentally? Feeling more energized is obvious because we know that the food we consume is fuel for our bodies, but did you know about the link between the gut and the brain?

When you hear the word serotonin you might initially think of the feel good chemical that is released in the brain after physical activity. You may be surprised to learn that that 90 percent of serotonin is actually produced in the gut. I couldn’t believe this myself and only found it out very recently. Knowing this, it’s easy now to see just how much the food we eat can affect our mood and mental health, both positively and negatively based on the choices we make.

In my personal experience, whenever I have a proper blowout and just eat everything in sight, I feel the physical effects almost immediately. Things like fizzy drinks, tubs of ice cream, and deep-fried foods probably do me in the most. I usually become super-bloated, with uncomfortable trapped wind, feel really lethargic, and sometimes can even get cramps and diarrhea in the night. I feel absolutely no guilt emotionally when this happens because I love my food and think it’s nice to have treats from time to time. However, these symptoms serve as a reminder as to why I want to eat better and put good healthy food in my body most of the time. It gets me back into the kitchen the next day to prepare a nutritious meal, that’s for sure, and I get back on track.

Aside from the physical impact that sugary, ultraprocessed, and deep-fried foods have on my body, I also feel what can only be described as a food hangover the next day, where I feel a noticeable shift in my mood. I’m usually feeling really tired even if I’ve had a good night’s sleep, my mood is low, and I generally feel flat. I am less patient with people around me and get irritated easily. This is without doubt a result of the direct link between my gut and my brain—affecting my serotonin levels.

Ultimately, no one has a perfect diet 365 days a year, but it’s good to know that we have the ability to control the way we feel and give ourselves a chance to boost our mood with good food and exercise. It’s very easy to turn to junk food when we feel down, stressed, anxious, or depressed, but if we learn to turn to the good stuff instead, we can really change our vibe and lift that cloud in our mind. And even if it’s only temporary, it’s worth a try, right? We deserve to be happy, so let’s give our gut a chance to tell our brain we are in a good mood.

Food fuels both body and mind. We eat nutritious foods so that our bodies can grow, repair, and function well, but our brain needs nutritious foods too, accounting for about 20 percent of our daily energy requirements. When we choose nutritious foods, we’re providing our bodies and brains with the building blocks we need to be at our best. From vitamins and minerals to healthy fats and fiber, all nutrients play a role in brain health and function, and therefore impact our mood.

So, what foods should we be eating to support better mental well-being? A big part of having a healthy diet is eating a wide variety of different plants. Eating more fruit and vegetables, as well as being extremely good for your body, has been linked to lower rates of depression, so it’s good for your mood too.

Here are some known mood-boosting ingredients. Try them out whenever you are feeling in need of a bit of positivity and see how they make you feel good:

Bananas: These are a great source of natural sugar, prebiotic fiber, and vitamin B6, which work to keep your blood sugars and mood stable. Low blood sugar can lead to mood swings and irritability. So, a banana a day can really make you feel good.

Oats: Another stabilizer of your blood sugars and an excellent way to start a day, the fiber in oats can help stabilize your mood and keep you full up and less likely to snack. They are also full of iron, which has been shown to turn around fatigue, sluggishness, and low mood.

Dark chocolate: This is rich in compounds that increase the feel good chemicals in your brain. It’s also sugary, so while you do get a mood-boosting hit from it, limit it to a few small squares at a time.

Why We Choose Healthy Options

Choosing heathier options doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor or enjoyment. Instead, it means choosing the things that will make you feel better and more energized in the long run. The more consistent you are with healthy choices, the easier it becomes—you’ll get into good habits. Eventually, it becomes a lifestyle you love living.

Berries: Fresh berries, particularly blueberries, are rich in antioxidants and other disease-fighting compounds that can reduce the risk of depression and inflammation and help combat oxidative stress in your body.

Nuts and seeds: As well as being high in plant-based proteins, healthy fats, and fiber, they also provide tryptophan, which is an amino acid responsible for producing serotonin—the mood-boosting chemical. Good sources are almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Beans and lentils: Full of feel good nutrients, as well as being excellent sources of plant-based protein and fiber, pulses are superfoods. They are full of B vitamins, which are key mood-boosting nutrients, as well as being good sources of zinc, magnesium, and selenium, which are also known to elevate your spirits.

Fatty fish (such as salmon and tuna): These are full of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain development and are now known to be linked to reducing the risk of depression. Try to eat at least 3.5 ounces a few times a week.

Fermented foods (such as yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and miso): It has been suggested that the probiotics in fermented foods can also boost mood while improving your gut health, since serotonin is largely produced in your gut. Research is beginning to show a link between healthy gut bacteria and lower rates of depression.

Eggs: Eggs are a fantastic source of nutrients that are linked to improved brain health, including vitamins B6, B12, folate, and choline. Choline is particularly important for our bodies to regulate mood and memory.

Oranges: Foods that are high in vitamin C can help defend your brain against the damaging effect of free radicals—which can cause oxidative stress—and improve focus and decision speed. You can get almost all the vitamin C you need in a day from eating just one orange. Other foods rich in vitamin C are bell peppers, strawberries, and tomatoes.

On Comfort Food

With this book, I wanted to find options that made me feel like I was treating myself, but that didn’t make me feel lacking in energy afterward. A treat should be just that—a comforting lift for your mind that’s also good for your body!

I have included a chapter on how to make healthier versions of common takeout foods. Foods that we often crave or those that we grab when we’re out and about or in a hurry: tacos, burgers, pizzas, even prepackaged health snacks, such as salted or flavored nuts. These meals and snacks can easily be prepared at home for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the calories, and with many more health-beneficial ingredients included. With my versions, you lose none of the pleasure or comfort and none of the flavor, but you satisfy that craving with something that’s good for you too.

On Family Food

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my children, Indie and Marley, enjoying food and being adventurous with new things. From the very first few months that they were eating as babies, we were introducing them to new herbs, spices, and textures. This has led them to be really brave when it comes to trying new recipes and flavors. We love sitting and enjoying food together, so we aim to eat the same meals at the same time. We rarely make a separate meal for them, and I think this is really important when it comes to children’s nutrition and avoiding fussy eating in kids. I’m really passionate about sharing this message because, as parents, we are their biggest role models and they constantly learn and take inspiration from us.

I believe the most effective way of encouraging healthy eating is by getting children involved in the cooking and having some fun with it. My kids won’t go near boiled or steamed veggies, but when I let them sprinkle some Cajun spice or paprika on their broccoli and cauliflower and roast it in the oven, they absolutely love the stuff. If you can engage your little ones in food from a young age, you are setting them up for a healthy future, too.

To help with this, I have created some really simple and fun child-friendly recipes to get you going. It can be a messy business, but just see it as a fun activity and a chance to connect with them. Even the simplest of things, such as letting your kids stir the porridge or add berries on top, can sometimes be enough to light up their little faces. Indie and Marley have helped me make pasta,