By the time you read this I’ll have been in France for a few weeks, spending quality time with my kids and drinking lots of red wine (funny how those two seem to go together).

We’re celebrating my dad’s 70th birthday with family from England, Hungary, France and Australia, so it will be a crazy gathering and I can’t wait!

We’ve been counting down the days for months so it’s strange to think that by the time this prints we’ll be close to coming home. Ah well, it’s not exactly a hardship coming back here. I often count my lucky stars that I fell for a boy from Bermuda.

I remember looking through a picture book after my grandparents came home from a cruise. I was five and so jealous of their “I survived the Bermuda Triangle” sunhats. I remember thinking how brave they must have been and how exotic Bermuda seemed.

If someone had told me then that this is where I would work and cook and clean and live my regular domestic life, I am not sure I would have believed it!

Doesn’t it go to show that we have no idea what the future holds? It’s tempting then to throw caution to the wind with our health, to say “life is for living” and eat as much dessert as we can.

But if life is for living then it also makes sense to live in a way that optimises each and every day. Eating well isn’t just about adding years to your life, it’s about getting the most out of every single moment we have.

Living with more energy, a better mood, less stress and pain-free. The problem is, we rarely understand how lucky we are or how precious our health is.

Only if we’re hit with injury or disease, either personally or close to home, does the message sink in. I wish we could learn the lesson early on, without the unfortunate trigger. For those of you who are on the preventive band-wagon, as I mentioned last week, eating your five-a-day is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do.

But lots of you said you found it hard to squeeze in all those servings, or that you found vegetables boring, so I have a bacon and avocado breakfast bowl for you that will knock your socks off! Best of all, it’s easy to make and the ingredient list is nice and flexible.

Bacon is hardly health food but here’s my perspective. If you are going to eat a large bowl of veggies for breakfast, it’s perfectly OK to have a little bacon too — especially if that bacon is Canadian or English-cut.

That reduces your bad fats significantly, and it’s even better if you pick an ethical brand such as Applegate or Niman Ranch.

Both brands do have a Canadian-cut option and Supermart has the Duchy Organic English-cut bacon which is great, too. If you are vegetarian, try popping a poached egg on top instead!

Ingredients:

• 2 rashers bacon

• 2 cups thinly sliced raw vegetables eg peppers, cucumber, red cabbage, carrot and thinly sliced bok choy (or use whatever you have in the fridge)

• Handful cherry tomatoes (chopped as they are or roasted whole if you like)

• 1/2 small avocado, ripe

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Lemon juice

• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Grill the bacon

2. Slice up the raw veg and place in a bowl

3. Peel and slice the avocado

4. Add the tomatoes, bacon and avocado to the veggies

5. Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon

6. Season to taste

7. Optional add-ins: extra green leaves or fresh herbs

8. That’s it! Serve immediately. So easy!

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the managing director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified nutritional therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a registered dietitian. For details, please go to www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda