Deliciously Ella: Why Diets Feel Impossible & How To Enjoy Food Again (It’s not your willpower)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
We are in a kind of national health crisis where our health is the worst it's ever been.
How did Ella's sudden illness lead her to rethink diet and health?
Our diets get worse by the year. People think it's expensive and then it feels time consuming because you've got so many steps. I think we just set ourselves up for failure. And you don't want to feel like a failure in January.
No! Since your illness you've built an enormous empire just trying to help people be more well.
What was your diet like then? If you had asked me at the time, I would have said it was quite good. And then really out of nowhere, I got really, really ill. I had gone from completely normal, university student, living my best life, and then I was in hospital having MRIs, ultrasounds, swallowing cameras, you name it. The doctors said, like, you just don't have anything else to try anymore. The kind of fear of that really woke me up. What kept you going? One of the biggest markers of longevity and health span is I felt able to kind of live a normal life again. But then the world of wellness has exploded. But it's almost become a kind of marketing gimmick. All these kind of gadgets and gizmos. You don't need to buy any of those things.
I didn't particularly like fruits and vegetables. And I swear to you, if I can do it, you can do it. I got to my perfect weight when I stopped dieting. Yeah, I bet you did. Wow. And I'm taking control of my narrative and my life. What are your top tips?
I think the first thing is... Eleanor Mills, also Deliciously Ella. Hi! Hi! So nice to have you here. I mean, what haven't you done, really? You know, the blog, the podcast, the empire, plant-based empire, helping us to all... be, I kind of want to say more well, because it's such a holistic view that you take that I really like. But welcome to the podcast. Thank you. And thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. I knew you, obviously, and probably mostly through your brand when your brand came out. But my daughter, who's a dietitian, she loves, loves your podcast. And so she used to talk to me about that quite a bit. Then I kind of looked into you a bit more and realized that actually since your illness, you've really kind of built an enormous empire just trying to help people through food.
And it had such an enormous impact on your health. in, when was it, 2012? Yeah, that's right. That's when it all started. Yeah. So can I ask, first of all, what happened to you and how did you get ill those years ago?
Gosh, it's such a long story. So then the year before that, so 2011, I was at university. I was studying history of art, nothing to do with food. I really wasn't interested in food. It just didn't play a big role in my life. What was your diet like then? Well, it's really interesting because I think if you had asked me at the time, I would have been like, nah, it's normal. Like, you know, I don't get a sandwich. I buy some cereal and just order what I fancy. Like, I just didn't give it much airtime. And I would have said like, yeah, it's quite good. And I think now with the lens that I have, but we all collectively have in terms of starting to think about ultra-precious foods and realising like some sandwiches have 38 ingredients in them.
It's mad, isn't it?
What problems does Ella identify with ultra-processed food and food marketing?
Insane. And, you know, same with like cereal. There's a health claim on the front and then you turn over the back of the pack and you're like... oh, OK, there's nothing in here nutritious whatsoever. And most of it's like food like substances, not actually food. And so actually, I think if I look at what my diet was, it was heavily ultra processed, actually like massively lacking in fresh fruit and veg and whole grains and whole foods. But it wasn't like I lived in McDonald's and only ate pick a mix kind of thing. Like I wouldn't have thought it was unhealthy. But actually, if you look at a I think it was that prime example of why food's so hard to navigate, because actually there was little nutrition in most of what I was eating.
This is the problem, really, and I know we're going to really dig deep into this today, but it's just so frustrating.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:04
2
How did Ella's sudden illness lead her to rethink diet and health?
0:04–3:25
3
What problems does Ella identify with ultra-processed food and food marketing?
3:25–5:56
4
How did Ella discover community and use blogging to change her lifestyle?
5:56–13:14
5
What practical steps did Ella take to heal and taper off medication?
13:14–15:31
6
Why did Ella start a café and how did it test her brand idea?
15:31–18:12
7
How did Deliciously Ella scale from a tiny cafe to a natural food business?
18:12–19:29
8
What are Ella's simple food rules from her manifesto and 'Quick Wins' cookbook?
19:29–1:07:30
Speakers
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