Here at Mindful Chef, we’ve been celebrating the joyful ritual of healthy eating and asking everyone what they eat for. So when we sat down with former Olympic athlete and Mindful Chef ambassador Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, it was only fair we posed the question to her too. We caught up to talk about how her relationship with food has evolved throughout her life, from finding balance and letting go of perfection to eating in a way that makes her feel her best.
“I eat to feel good,” Jessica tells us. "I love food and trying different things, it allows me to have the energy levels to be active, to enjoy my life in a fuller way.” And that joy starts in the kitchen. “I love cooking, having dinner parties and seeing how food brings our family together when we cook together.”
This is a mindset that’s evolved over time. For Jessica, being an athlete on the public stage of the Olympics meant what she ate was tied to productivity and success. “It was all about having this kind of rigid schedule of performing, hitting targets and always getting better,” she says. Nowadays there is more flexibility. “Now, I feel that everything that I do is all about enjoyment. It's about exercising, fuelling my body in a way that feels good, brings me happiness and enjoyment – it allows me to do more of what I love.”
Her fresh outlook is largely thanks to her secret weapon: balance. “Balance is something that's really important in my life. It means I put weight in the things that are important to me, like being active, having a nutritional, balanced diet, spending quality time with my family and working.”
| 
|
|---|
Juggling so many plates requires a little forward thinking – whether that’s a meal plan or simply carving out time for the things that matter most. “It's about finding how all the parts of your life fit together and being organised is something that really helps me do that.”
With so much noise around healthy eating, Jessica’s advice is surprisingly simple: don’t make it harder than it needs to be. “Celebrating the little things and small wins in life is really important. You don't have to do everything yourself! Know that you can lean on meal delivery services like Mindful Chef to help you lighten the load.”
Be kind to yourself because all those small wins in life build up to something quite great
Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mindful Chef ambassador
Ultimately, eating for joy isn’t about following a rigid framework. It’s about feeling good, making time for things you love and recognising every success, no matter how small. “Be kind to yourself,” she concludes, “because all those small wins in life build up to something quite great.”
Eat like an athlete
Choose from 28 healthy, flavour-packed meals.
