Meet the GlowstarFleur Maat @themodelfooddiary

By Glowcation
25 June '18

Fleur Maat was born and raised in Rotterdam. In her gap year, she travelled and worked as a model in Milan before going to Utrecht University to study Global Sustainability Science.

She is passionate about healthy eating and is the founder of The Model Food Diary.

Why did you launch The Model Food Diary?

I started the Model Food Diary back in 2014, when I was in my last year of high school. I was trying to get into shape for modelling. I was scouted on the streets a couple of times at 15 and I was planning on taking a gap year to travel and give modelling a go. Living up to the standards of the fashion industry, however, took a lot of effort and dedication from my side. I had to lose weight, but I didn’t know anything about working out or healthy eating.

Besides learning more about healthy food I also had to learn how to cook

Instagram provided me with an endless stream of culinary inspiration. Cooking became my biggest passion. My healthy cooking got better and, influenced by the many food bloggers that I followed, I decided to start my own personal food platform in order to share my own food creations.

Describe your upbringing, how important was healthy eating?
Growing up we always had proper homemade meals and my parents made sure me and my sisters ate our fruit and veg. But there was always more than enough room for treats and not-so healthy foods. Baking is something I got from my mother, I used to bake every single weekend- apple pies, cupcakes, cookies – you name it. Baking is still one of my favourite types of cooking, but whenever I bake now, I try to make it as healthy as possible using whole grains, nuts, fruit and unrefined sugars. My mum has a passion for gardening and, when I am back home in Rotterdam, we often have fresh veggies from her garden- beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes and more, as well as fresh herbs. We also have two chickens.

There is nothing more fun than going into the garden to get fresh products to use in the kitchen!

How would you describe your blog and feed?

I have a weak spot for breakfast and especially pancakes! At the weekends, I’m always experimenting with healthy pancake recipes using different types of flour such as coconut and banana flour. My blog is for anyone who loves healthy food. I don’t follow any specific diet and don’t have any allergies that restrict me in my eating. Even though I am not modelling anymore, I still feel the need to eat healthy.

My cooking comes from all around the world.

 

I have travelled to many different places and, wherever I am, I try to learn as much as possible about the local kitchen and produce. This is both a big inspiration and it influences my cooking and my blog! I have been to Italy a million times and my recipes often have a Mediterranean twist but I also love authentic Chinese, Mexican and Malay cuisine.

What are you learning from your Instagram and blog  journey?

I am constantly improving my own cooking due to my blog. My favourite thing is to come up with new recipes – either new cool or crazy flavour or ingredient combinations or making existing dishes more healthy with clever tricks. There are many active food bloggers around, but there are also many who share false recipes! With that, I mean recipes that don’t make any sense!

Before I share any recipes of my own, I want to make sure that they are both easy to recreate as well as tasty!

I love it when I am doing my own thing in the kitchen and something super good comes out – that is real cooking for me. Using my intuition and good ingredients. What I have learned is that healthy eating does not have to be super complicated or expensive. Simplicity is often best! As a student this is also a good thing to remember.

What is the mission of The Model Food Diary?

My following consists of many young girls, many who are models themselves.  I understand what they go through in terms of work and having to stay in shape and I love to be able to give them some inspiration about their own healthy diets.

I’ve left modelling so I don’t have the pressure of staying in shape but I still value healthy eating a lot. I also value sustainably produced foods, so I try to cook with seasonal and local products, as much as my student budget allows me.

Why did you decide to collaborate with Glowcation?

Whenever I’m abroad the first thing I Google is where I can eat good and healthy food! Discovering new exciting hotspots is a massive hobby of mine.

Sometimes it takes a lot of work to find out information about a place. Glowcation is a platform that describes hotspots in full detail offering a great deal of food inspiration that saves time for any healthy foodie traveller.

Being able to give my own view of the places I visit is of course super exciting!

What are you excited about?

I’m excited about going into my second year of Global Sustainability Science at Utrecht University. I’m planning on following the business and economics path since I love entrepreneurship. Plus, The Model Food Diary has given me the chance to collaborate with some amazing sustainable and health promoting companies.

I hope to be able to do some surfing and of course: cook!

What are the top 5 things in life that make you glow?

Travelling
chilling with friends and family
surfing
going out for breakfast
AND baking healthy pancakes

 

 

 

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