at home with deliciously ella
Every so often, you hear about a miracle of medicine that restores your faith in science, technology and, well, humankind. In Ella Woodward’s case, the miracle was less about medicine and more about willpower, positive thinking, and mindful living.
Ella is the 23-year-old, sparkly-eyed brunette behind the Deliciously Ella blog (that 150,000 people devour each day), not to mention an eponymous recipe app and new cookbook (which, when it launched in January in the UK sold 32,000 copies in its first week; it launches in the North America this month). She single-handedly turned her life around by making two simple changes: how she eats and practicing restorative yoga.
Eighteen months ago, Ella was living a life of constant physical pain from a rare condition called postural tachycardia syndrome: she was chronically fatigued, and felt dizzy and had heart palpitations every time she stood up. “My life was all about, ‘can I walk to the shower to take a shower,’” she remembers. Yet unlike others with the illness who manage their symptoms using medications that decrease heart rate, Ella says that today “I wouldn’t be classified as having the illness at all—no medication, nothing.” It’s not magic, though, it’s conscious living.
Ella eats no meat, dairy or eggs, no gluten, no refined sugars, no processed foods, and no alcohol (bar a sip or two during an extra-special occasion). Don’t mistake her lifestyle as boring, though. Her most popular recipe is one for sweet potato brownies, and her raw blueberry cheesecake is chock full of flavor without an ounce of dairy. Plus, she’s happy. “My life is different. I technically got better in September 2013, but it took me awhile to be emotionally better. When I was sick, I isolated myself—I basically disappeared for third and fourth year (of university) and lost all my self-esteem.”
Her blog, which she launched in 2012, was cathartic—a way for her to open up gradually and regain her identity. “Today I’m content; I wake up feeling really good,” she says. “And now that I’m eating well, it makes me want to exercise. It’s a really positive cycle.
“One of the main lessons I learned was that actually, you have to do what makes you happy,” she continues. When Ella attends a dinner party, for instance, she skips any apologies or awkwardness by being upfront about her diet and bringing her own food or helping out in the kitchen. “I’ll make vegetables with olive oil and herbs, and then we all still sit and eat together. It’s much less uncomfortable than sitting there with an empty plate!”
Such a relatable approach to life is why Ella appeals to such a large audience. “I just try and listen to my body and not push past every signal.” Last summer, feeling overwhelmed from her rapidly snowballing success—her app shot to number one in the Apple Store in its first week and she has over 300,000 Instagram followers—she decided to take off all of August to regroup. “It was the best thing I’ve done, ever,” she recalls. “I realized that I do love what I’m doing, and came back stronger, with a new energy, more comfortable with saying no. Up to that point, I’d literally never said no and was completely overstretching myself. Yes is definitely better than no, but you can’t keep giving and giving and giving.”
She also makes a point to take 30 minutes to an hour every day to herself. “Whether it’s exercise, or a bath, or whatever, I try to take the time—without my phone, completely switched off—where I’m just with me.”
Rebecca is a fashion writer, editor and avid traveller currently based in London. She’s written for The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail, Wallpaper, FASHION Magazine, ELLE Canada, enRoute, and the Vancouver Sun. You’ll also find her out shopping, in the kitchen, slow-juicing carrots or spiralizing zucchinis (or “courgettes”, as they say in the UK), or practicing her headstands at her local yoga studio. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter.
