Eating like your life depends on it.

Since my last blog post a few weeks ago, I’ve been asked many questions about nutrition. What did I change about my diet? How does it affect my day-to-day busy life? How can I possibly live without bread? I'm happy share a few of the details about what I do in my own routine. There are many modifications to your diet that can benefit you-even some small things can make a huge difference! There’s so much ground to cover, so I thought I would break it down into topics that aren’t too overwhelming all at once. Each future posting will cover one topic, and we’ll build from there. 

Getting started: It's the hardest part.

The first thing that helped me the most was finding a wonderful nutritionist. Many health insurance plans now cover the visits 100%, so check into it. My nutritionist created a plan just for me, based on my height, weight, age and activity levels. Lifestyle is a huge part of it. Like most of you, I am on the go constantly, so I needed a plan that was do-able for me, or I wouldn’t pull it off. Organization is key. She gave me recipes that were quick, simple and nourishing. Short cuts and tips like crockpot meals and food prep on the weekend made everything less stressful. I created a weekly shopping list electronically that contains all of the go-to foods I would be buying every week. That way, when I choose recipes for the week, I can put together the list for the grocery store in no time. There are wonderful apps for your phone that keep all of this at your fingertips – genius.

Now for the hard part- the actual eating part. For me, gluten is the enemy. I have a pretty significant gluten sensitivity. I didn't know I had a gluten sensitivity until last year - more on that in a future post! My nutrition plan includes no gluten – Nope, none.  There are tons and tons of gluten free things available now, so this isn’t as bad as it could have been years ago. BUT, and this is a big one, anything in a package, box or bag is questionable. Those packages we buy all the time (and all those products we put into our bodies) are able to stay on the shelves so long because they contain lots of things that our bodies don’t need. Some of them contain things that can make us really, really sick. So what we really need to eat is food-REAL FOOD. Food is supposed to nourish our bodies so that we can live at an optimal level. That means eating lean proteins, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, fish oil and grass-fed meats. Some folks call this a Paleo diet, but there are modifications of my plan that stray from that a bit. 

Eeek! Now yes, I do know that means there are foods that are left out of that list and they are the tough ones- dairy, processed foods, sugar, starches etc. But don’t panic yet, because there are good alternatives and I was a big skeptic at first too – a REALLY big skeptic! I love bread and pasta and cookies and cake. No gluten? No way!

I was honestly totally overwhelmed with the thought of changing my whole way of eating, but rather than giving you the details of all the how’s and why’s, I think I will just give you the run down on what my diet looks like now and you can decide for yourself if you need to consider making a change.

Basically, it’s super simple. We want to eat lean protein, a healthy carb and a healthy fat at every meal. Yes, snacks are allowed, they just have to follow the same rules. If you follow these rules, you will find you are not hungry, don’t have cravings, and feel a lot better. If you are looking to lose a few pounds, this is a great way to do it and choosing to eat this way helps keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable and your body running as it should.

EAT:

            Grass-produced meats

            Fish/seafood

            Fresh fruits and veggies

            Eggs

            Nuts and seeds

            Healthful oils (Olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)

DON’T EAT:

            Cereal grains

            Legumes (including peanuts)

            Dairy

            Refined sugar

            Potatoes (My plan includes some potatoes and sweet potatoes.

            Processed foods

            Refined vegetable oils

   

Here’s just a few examples and some good recipes to get you started:

Breakfast: Breakfast was a hard one for me. I was a 2-3 cup-of-coffee-and-that's-it kind if girl. Here's what I do now:
A protein smoothie-1 ½ scoops good protein powder (I like Arbonne chocolate, but there are many good ones, just make sure they don’t have added suger)1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, ½ frozen banana, a teaspoon of peanut or almond butter and a few ice cubes. An alternate variation is change the banana to one cup frozen dark cherries, and substitute 1 teaspoon of chia seeds for the nut butter. I love these smoothies so much now I drink one every morning during the week.
Another good on-the-go breakfast is scrambled eggs made in muffin cups. Make them ahead and pop them in the microwave to reheat: Here's the recipe:

Good snacks - fruit and a small handful of almonds, procuitto and melon, healthy granola (Recipe) apple cookies (Recipe), veggies and hummus, cucumber or tomato filled with tuna or salmon, etc.

Happy Note: a small amount of dark chocolate is good for you, so throw a few dark chocolate chips on the apple and peanut butter and you will satisfy that sweet tooth.

And a few words about water… Water, water, water – all day long! I discovered that what I really loved about drinking Diet Coke was the bubbles! Once I replaced it with carbonated seltzer, I was just fine! Polar Seltzer is one of the only brands that doesn’t add other bad stuff to their beverages, so beware and check labels. Polar also has many tasty natural flavors (like orange-vanilla and raspberry- lime) that make drinking enough water much easier. 

More on water next time – how much, how often, what counts as water and what doesn’t, and some good tips on how to make it a bigger part of your life-Cheers!

So I'll stop here for now - I told you it was a lot to take in! In the coming weeks, let's talk more about the details of healthy eating and nourishing our bodies the right way. I'll share the basic food list for shopping, some more recipes in the lunch and dinner categories (including great crockpot dishes), an easy way to do your weeks' meal planning and food prep in a few hours on the weekend,  a good way to do a gluten elimination trial (and how to tell if you think you might need to give gluten the heave-ho) and many other fun tips. Till then, be well and remember to continue honoring your heart this month!
Melinda