Healthista Internship

For this article I had to read a press release and research the study - from this I found that research proves that dining out can make you put on weight. It shocked me that you can eat an extra 200 extra calories per meal out, especially as I was eating out for my Mum's birthday diner that evening... At the end of the article I wrote five top tips on how to avoid the extra unnecessary calories.

Although I read this from a press realise all of the writing was mine, I did all of the research and I created the top tips myself. I also chose and resized the pictures.

Creating this article was very similar to the one above, I received the skeleton information from a press release - I then did my own research on the study and wrote the story. The research showed that having a glass of wine every other day is good for you, compared to drinking once a week. However, drinking every day and drinking a lot every day is not good for you - I thought that was pretty obvious, but it did make a good story.

For this article I researched the story, wrote it, created the pull-out quotes, created a little check list on how to drink alcohol healthily, chose and resized the photos.

For this article I interviewed Vicky Pattison (Geordie Shore star) about her amazing weight loss; she was just about to have her autobiography published so it was a perfect chance to chat to her and promote her new book. I had watched a few series of Geordie Shore and although I wasn't a huge fan of Vicky - I thought she was gobby and judgemental, I was keen to know her tricks behind the weight loss and also the gossip with Ricci who was on Celebrity Big Brother at the time (her ex-boyfriend).

As soon as Vicky said "Hello Pet" all of my pre-judgements of her had disappeared. She was a sweet girl, she wasn't gobby she was just honest. I was slightly worried about accidentally saying the word 'fat', because I knew she could beat me up no problem - but she was so lovely and was a good laugh. More importantly she was a great interview and I got so many brilliant quotes from her - "RIP VIcky's boobs" was a favourite of mine.

I knew this was going to be a long feature for Healthista, so to make sure I was completely prepared for the interview I read her autobiography in two days before the interview.

For this story I organised the interview, held the interview, transcribed it, wrote the story, gathered the photos, resized them and created the slider on Photoshop.

Vicky also retweeted the story - this gave me confidence and made me realise how many of her fans might have clicked on the link.

This short article was from a press release, I researched the study to find out more and create a story from it. The researchers proved that if you sit near a window and have access to natural sunlight you do better at work; your concentration levels are higher, speeds up metabolism and it helps you have a better nights sleep.

For this article I did all of the research, wrote the copy and I chose and resized the photos.

This long feature was actually an accident, it was a rainy Thursday and I had a billion and one things to do, but of course that's the day that most of London had no internet. So instead my boss gave me a book to read and review. The book's called 'The All Day Energy Diet' and is by a guy called Yuri Elkaim. I have always struggled with having energy, I'm always tired and constantly run down so this book was interesting to me. Not only was it interesting learning scientific things (in a simple form) about my body, but it was also interesting knowing about Elkaim's life and why he decided to become a nutritionist.

Some of his ideas were a bit "out there" though, I'm not prepared to go gluten, sugar and caffeine free. However, increasing the alkaline in my body through green vegetables, having a liquid meal and eating less made sense. Since reading that book I now have a green smoothie every single morning, and I instantly feel energised after drinking it.

After reading the book I put together 11 of his top tips I found stuck out the most. From this I created a long feature and I really did enjoy writing it. I read the book, created the copy, chose and resized the photos. Elkaim retweeted the story which gave me confidence that I had done a good job.

This was my first long feature and completely overtook my life for about three days. It had to be done very quickly and precisely as The Sunday Telegraph were choosing the top ten health websites, and my boss demanded that this feature had to be in it when they were ranking Healthista. I had to review 5 fitness apps; for this I downloaded them all individually and researched them too.

I enjoyed writing this as all of the health apps were really interesting and fun to use - they did create some laughs in the office.

For this I wrote all of the copy and was very much left to my own devices, I also chose and resized the photos and created the slider on PhotoShop.

This was one of the last features I did: Fit women's food diaries. I e-mailed many different women and asked them to send me their food and fitness diaries in a week. These were 'real women,' who are healthy and fit. I also got them to e-mail me over pictures of them and their food (which I resized) and I also got them to share with me their favourite recipes and fitness secrets.

This was a success and was completely in my hands, I had about three posts published for three different women. My internship was over before finishing all of the posts, but l hope I left the rest of the feature in safe hands.  I had to keep chasing up for information and pictures and thoroughly enjoyed putting the posts together.

The smoothie challenge

Whilst I was doing a four week internship at Healthista (a women's health website) I was really struggling to find a breakfast which would give me the healthy energy I desperately needed. I didn't want anything high in carbs, and I really struggle to eat cereal first thing in the morning. One day in the Healthista office the internet was down, my boss gave me The All Day Energy Diet book to read and review. Since reading this wonderful book, it has changed the way I look at food and since then my diet has changed.

The book is very "out there," Elkaim (the author) feels very passionately about giving up gluton, caffeine, sugar and dairy. For me, that's impossible - I love pasta, coffee and the occasional biscuit. But it did make me realise how changing your diet can make you feel energised and a happier person.

From reading the book I realised that smoothies/juices were the way forward, it's an easy way of getting 4-5 of your day in one sitting, and it also gives you the essential energy your body needs. I liked the look of his recipes, but as I am on a very low budget at the moment (I'm a poor graduate) I just started using whatever was in the fridge which is mainly green vegetables.

I decided to make a smoothie every morning and see how this improved my energy, how long it filled me up for and whether it made my skin clearer.

The smoothie challenge

My first smoothie consisted of: a handful of spinach, handful of kale, handful of blueberries, half an avocado, a swig of coconut water and a pinch of porridge oats (just to fill me up).

I drank this smoothie everyday for a week and it really did work - I felt full up until lunch time and I found I was awake for the entire commute to London, rather than struggling to keep my eyes open on the train and panicking that I would miss my stop.

Since experimenting with different ingredients for about six weeks now - adding nectarines, pears, apples, raspberries and squeezing lemons and limes. I have finally found my favourite recipe.

The smoothie challenge

This does look like a glass of green grunge, but it is totally delicious. The recipe is so simple and it takes under two minutes to make: 1 banana, a handful of spinach, a handful of kale, a handful of blueberries and a splash of soya milk. I find this is the smoothie that fills me up the most and it tastes more like a milkshake than a ridiculously healthy smoothie. I decided to choose soya milk instead of coconut milk for two reasons - 1. coconut milk is really expensive and getting through about two cartons a week was a burning a hole in my already empty pocket, and 2. soya milk makes the smoothie more creamy and fills me up for longer.

I strongly recommend doing the smoothie challenge, it's a great way to start your day off healthily and is a huge energy booster.

Read my review on Elkaim's All Day Energy Book here: 11 ways to stop feeling so tired.