Deliciously Ella
British beauty, Ella Woodward, is a #glowgirl through and through. She healed her body through home-made plant-based foods, and shares her journey with the world via her incredible food blog, Deliciously Ella.
Ella started her food blog Deliciously Ella as a way of dealing with a relatively rare illness, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, which she was diagnosed with in September 2011. The illness had a pretty devastating effect on her life, causing her intense chronic pain. She tried healing through conventional medicine for about six months but it had little effect on her symptoms. She thus set out to research holistic, natural healing approaches, and learned about the power of food (trust us, we know a thing or two about this process ourselves, food IS medicine!)
Overnight Ella took up a whole foods, plant-based diet and gave up all meat, dairy, sugar, gluten, anything processed and all chemicals and additives, which was a pretty drastic change. This new way of eating allowed her to take control of her illness and really let herself heal.
Her blog is now a beautiful forum to share easy, delicious, and always healthy recipes with others. It’s all about sumptuous desserts, delicious dips, raw treats and rainbow bowls of incredible veggies. Everything made with nature’s most natural ingredients. She's a girl after our own hearts-- this way of eating is absolutely not about deprivation and starvation but instead it’s about embracing a positive, healthy way of life and savoring every bite!
Ella just finished writing her first cookbook, which was just published! We really can't wait to get our hands on it :) She's now living between London & LA spreading her glow even further. Be sure to check out her incredible Sweet Potato Brownies recipe she shared with us!
HOW THEY GLOW QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: Ella Woodward
WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? London, England
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? This year I’m living between Venice Beach and London – two of the best places in the world!
WHAT IS A TYPICAL...
BREAKFAST: I love oatmeal and smoothies. When I’m in England and it’s cold I often have oatmeal for breakfast with almond milk, sliced banana, fresh berries and almond butter – it’s so delicious! Since it’s so sunny in LA I like having smoothies for breakfast, I love blending spinach, oat milk, dates, banana and almond butter for an easy breakfast smoothie.
LUNCH: my lunch varies so much, I’m writing my second cookbook at the moment, which means I’m always recipe testing so lunch is nearly always different. If I’m not trying something new though I’ll have something like a marinated kale salad with avocado, chickpeas and pumpkin seeds.
DINNER: I love warm dinners, at the moment I’m really into veggie curries and stews. I made a turmeric, quinoa and chickpeas curry last week with spinach, potatoes and lots of spices – it was so good and I’ve wanted to cook it almost every night since!
SNACK: hummus or gaucamole with crackers, medjool dates with almond butter and fresh juice are the best snacks
FAVORITE SPOTS TO EAT HEALTHY ? I’m so lucky and live right next to Café Gratitude and Moon Juice, so I go to both all the time. I’m obsessed with the Whole bowl at Gratitude and the green shake at Moon Juice, plus both places have the best desserts. In London I love Nama, it’s an awesome raw restaurant that makes the best veggie sushi and kale salad in the world.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INDULGENCE? Anything sweet, I have a big sweet tooth so I’m all about dessert. I love apple crumble (which I think you call apple crisp) and sweet potato brownies
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR LAST MEAL ON EARTH? That’s such a hard question! I would want all my favourite foods, so a huge plate of sweet potato wedges with guacamole and hummus. Followed by a great smoothie and an apple and blackberry crumble with coconut ice cream.
FAVORITE RECIPE? It’s so hard to pick one but either my turmeric and quinoa curry or sweet potato brownies
WHERE DO YOU GROCERY SHOP? Whole foods, it’s just the best
WHAT IS YOUR FITNESS REGIMEN? I do an hour and a half of yoga everyday, it makes me feel so great. I tried the gym for a few months but it just wasn’t for me so I now make time for my yoga practice and I try to walk everywhere.
WHAT IS YOUR SKINCARE ROUTINE? I like to keep my skincare routine really simple. I use coconut oil as my body moisturizer and make a brown sugar and coconut oil scrub a couple of times a week to exfoliate. I wash my face in the evening with Dr. Haushka’s cleanser, which I love and moisturize with Dr. Haushka’s rose day cream, which smells so delicious. I exfoliate my face with a simple Oat Scrub every week too – just mix a small handful of oats with some warm water and a pea sized amount of coconut oil, massage the mix into your face for a few minutes and then was it off – it makes your skin so soft and smooth!
FAVORITE NATURAL MAKEUP/BEAUTY PRODUCTS? I love RMS, I use their bronzer, mascara and illuminator, all three are incredible and they’re the only products that I really use – I don’t like the feeling of wearing lots of make up
IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT THREE PRODUCTS WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU?
1. Coconut oil
3. A hairbrush
WHAT PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY/FITNESS/HEALTH GURUS DO YOU SWEAR BY? I follow Tara Stiles for yoga inspiration and Kris Carr for wellness – both have really inspired me
FAVORITE SONGS?
1. The Beatles, "Twist and Shout"
2. The Beatles, "Here Comes The Sun"
3. Mumford and Sons, "Little Lion Man"
MOST LIFE-CHANGING BOOK? Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet, it inspired me to change my diet and get excited about plant-based food
COOLEST PLACE YOU'VE EVER VISITED? Cartagena, Coloumbia – it’s the most beautiful place with the best food and amazing weather
DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY. Waking up to a warm, sunny day with my boyfriend, doing a great yoga class followed by smoothies and then a whole day of hanging with friends and family surrounded by awesome food
WHAT IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE BEAUTY TIP/SECRET? Sleep, it’s the best cure for anything!
FAVORITE QUOTE? "You get back what you put in," my mum used to say it to me everyday as a child and it really stuck with me. The more love and energy you put into anything the more you’ll get back.
WHAT MAKES YOU GLOW? Being happy, nothing makes you look glowier then when you’re feeling totally happy and at peace with yourself and the world around you.
Photography by: Sasha Young & Emily Knecht