5 Minutes with…Alex Beckett

The Probioskin mini blog series “5 minutes with…” is designed to introduce our readers to a range of health, wellness & fitness colleagues, athletes, practitioners and business people we feel align with our own wellness values and that we know have something to share with you. We cant wait to introduce you to our tribe of like-minded people! Oh and don’t forget to drop back to hear more from Alex. Lets get started….with Alex Beckett

Tell us a little about yourself / your lifestyle….

Well let’s start at the top! My name is Alex and I am currently living on the South Coast of South Australia, about an hour and a half out of Adelaide. I’ve been following a vegan lifestyle for the past 2 and a half years and it honestly has transformed the way that I approach life. I’m all about spreading positivity and making it known that happiness and health truly can come easily and are not products of luck or an unbalanced lifestyle.

 

What inspired you to begin your lifestyle?

It all started just before I turned 19. I’d been struggling with an eating disorder for the past 3 or 4 years and I had tried everything I could to recover but nothing seemed to work. On the outside, it all seemed fine but on the inside I was constantly consumed by guilt. I just didn’t know how I could possibly live the rest of my life being so scared of something that I needed in order to live. Transitioning to a vegan diet that was high in whole foods and plant-based carbs was the last thing that I tried and it changed the way that my brain functioned. In just a few short months, the guilt went away, the calorie counting stopped and I actually looked forward to nourishing myself. This change is what it took for me to realize how important nourishment is, not only to your overall health but especially to your mental health. So it started with the diet and the rest of my life followed. I would now consider myself an ethical vegan but it started with health.

 

What message do you hope to spread?

I want to show people in similar situations to me that life, as a whole, shouldn’t be hard. That isn’t to say that there aren’t challenges or bad days or bad weeks or sadness but I think that for so many people, even though they have good days too, it just all seems too difficult, too unachievable. I want to be relatable and prove that health isn’t hard. It’s also really important to me that we are always trying our best to cause as little harm as possible to our planet and the ones that we share it with, regardless of their species. I want to be a positive example and I want to inspire others to take control of their happiness and health.

How do you look after yourself?

I am tolerant and kind to myself. I remember to show myself the compassion that I show others in my everyday life.

What wellness practices do you bring to everyday life?

I really like to bring it back to basics and practice things that are sustainable for me because those little things that you do everyday are the things that are ultimately going to make the biggest difference. I start each day by walking my dogs along the beach before having a big, nourishing breakfast. I like to stay hydrated and do something everyday that gets me moving. Taking time out to appreciate nature is also important to my mental wellness. Gratitude is the attitude.

 

If you could only have 5 favourite foods what would they be?

Tricky! But I think I’ll have to say mango, strawberries, bananas, watermelon and vegan pizza hehe

What is your number one wellness tip when travelling?

I think that just doing anything that you can do to minimize stress is important. This is going to be different for everybody but for me, it’s all about packing lightly, wearing comfortable clothes, staying hydrated, arriving at airports early and ALWAYS packing snacks! Airlines are terrible at remembering prebooked meals (in my experience).

 You can learn more about this inspiring vegan angel here; 

https://www.instagram.com/alexbeckett_/     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJKuWPaY0uUBHeTDcPElsvw