nutrition

Mar 03 2023

Recurring Meal Planning On Auto Pilot

Recurring Meal Planning is a great way to save time, money, and stress throughout the week.

Having a meal plan goes a long way to making your life simpler and run more smoothly. Without a meal plan, it’s easy to buy groceries you don’t use, resulting in wasted food. Or not having the ingredients on hand you need, making it more difficult and frustrating to prepare a meal. It is also easy to order take-out more often than your health or budget might like!

Recurring meal planning can be challenging but it is possible to make it easy and recurring. It is definitely worth the work up front to have a stress-free week getting meals on the table.

Getting Started

The first step in recurring meal planning is deciding which days of the week you want to cook what type of meals. Depending on your available time, you may have some nights where the cooking is more involved than others.

Plan Ahead and Get Creative

Think about what meals you like. Gather favorite meal ideas and/or recipes. Once you know what type of meals you want to make each week, get creative with how you prepare them. For example, if tacos are one of your go-to meals for the week, switch up the protein or try different spices or toppings. This will give you various flavors and textures while still sticking to the basics of your regular meal plan.

Take Advantage of Leftovers

Leftovers are a great way to save time and money. Once you have cooked a meal, think how those ingredients could be used in other dishes. For instance, if you roasted chicken for one night’s dinner, shred some extra chicken for salads or sandwiches for during the week. This will help stretch your ingredients so that they last longer and give you more variety than just having the same dish every night/week.

Make Use Of Your Freezer

Freezing food is a great way to ensure that nothing goes bad before its expiration date. However, freezer meals can make meal prep so much easier. If something on your meal plan freezes well, you can double the batch and freeze half for later in the month. You can also prepare “freezer dump meals” for busy days. This will give you a break from prepping and cooking while ensuring that something nutritious is available.

It is essential to stick with your meal planning even when things get hectic. Simplifying life in the long term often requires some planning and forethought in the short term.

Having a long-term, rotating master meal plan in place makes recurring meal planning easier.

I have put together a free recurring meal planning template you can use to create your own master meal plan.

Grab it here!

Nov 10 2022

Mindful Eating for the Holidays

Mindful eating allows you to naturally control portions, choose healthy options, and avoid emotional eating.

Mindful eating has been shown to reduce the amount of calories people eat, as well as improve food choices and increase satisfaction with their choices. Mindful eating is great for the holidays, letting you fully enjoy your celebration meals and balance pleasure and health.
The following tips can help you eat mindfully for the holidays:

Start your day with activity.

On the morning of the holiday party or holiday meal, move your body. For example, go for a brisk walk or run, or participate in a fun activity. This will reduce cortisol levels which can help prevent holiday stress eating.

Make a plan for social distractions.

When we are engaged socially we cannot be completely focused on what we are eating and drinking. As you gather with family and friends during the holidays try some new behaviors. For instance:

- - alternate drinking glasses of adult beverages with drinking glasses of sparkling water.
  - move away from the food table at cocktail parties while socializing
  - at a sit-down dinner, put your fork down between bites of food while conversing

Assess your hunger before you take your first bite.

Be aware of your hunger and fullness cues before you begin eating. Ask yourself how you will feel if you eat the food in front of you. Will you feel satisfied and content? Or, will you feel full, bloated, and exhausted? Now you can choose if you want to eat, what you want to eat, and how much you want to eat.

Eat slowly and savor the food.

The most important thing you can do to eat mindfully is to learn to slow down and really taste the food. Before you begin to eat take a moment to smell the aromas and see all of the colors on your plate. Chew thoroughly savoring the experience. Aim to chew each bite 30-40 times. This practice will give your gut time to tell your brain that you are full.

Check-in with your body during the meal or during the party.

As you eat, pay attention to any signals from your body. Recognize when you feel comfortably satisfied.

Eating can become a mindless act during the holiday season causing bloating, fatigue, and unwanted weight gain. Eating mindfully takes practice before you begin to see the benefits. I recommend you start using some of the above strategies at meals and snacks now so that you are more aware of your body’s signals before the start of the holiday meals and parties.

Would you like to feel great this holiday season? No more overeating, feeling stuffed, and gaining 5-10 unwanted holiday pounds?

Sign up for my free 14-Day Mindful Eating Challenge – Receive daily strategies and practice exercises straight to your inbox.

Jul 26 2021

Weight Loss Plateau? Beat It in 5 Doable Steps

A weight loss plateau is frustrating: You start working out regularly and you clean up your diet. You lose weight, you gain muscle mass, and you have tons more energy. Great job! Then, all of a sudden – BAM – everything comes to a screeching halt.

The good news is that you can overcome a weight loss plateau and reach your goal weight.

Here are 5 steps you can take:

Eat A Healthy Breakfast for Weight Loss

Studies show that the habit of eating a healthy breakfast is key to losing weight and keeping it off. Your plateau-breaking breakfast should be low in carbs and high in protein.

Try these:

Protein takes longer to digest and it can also help slow down the absorption of any carbohydrates that might be in your meal.

Add Protein To Every Meal & Snack

Eating more lean protein will help to increase your metabolism because it takes more energy for your body to digest the protein than digesting fat or carbohydrate. You will also feel full longer, and possibly see more benefits from your strength training sessions. After your high protein breakfast, give these a go:

Drink More Water for Weight Loss

I know. How many times have you heard that? But even mild dehydration can slow down your metabolism. To ensure you are staying hydrated, include a glass of water before every meal and snack. Staying hydrated also keeps you from feeling bloated and puffy.

Get Adequate Sleep

Sleep deprivation causes your metabolism to slow down which will slow or reverse your weight loss. When you are tired you do not feel like preparing a healthy meal and you are more likely to grab a quick unhealthy fix. You also will likely skip your workouts.

The amount of sleep you get can also affect your hormone levels which could inhibit your ability to burn calories. More about hormones in a future post.

Build More Muscle

Muscle burns more calories than fat. Every pound of muscle uses approximately 6 calories a day while each pound of fat burns only 2 calories daily. Aerobic exercise will not build muscles but you will continue to burn more calories in the hours after a workout. It is a good idea to switch up your routine. Keep your workouts fresh and challenging. Your muscles can get used to the same repetitive daily exercise and after a period of time will not respond.

Most of us will face a weight loss plateau before we reach out goal weight. Finding support from a professional can help keep you accountable and help get you over the finish line.

Maybe you have struggled or are struggling with a weight loss plateau. I would love to hear any tips you might have from your experience.

If you are having trouble reaching your healthy weight goal please grab my FREE eBook:

7 Steps That Make Weight Loss Easier & Effective

Jun 07 2019

Genetic Testing for Weight Loss

It is no secret that genetic testing is the newest trend in health and wellness.

For good reason.

Genetic testing can tell us a lot about ourselves…from our ancestry to our ability to lose weight. The quality of genetic testing is at its peak. The price of testing is at its lowest.

Research studies find that genetic testing for weight loss can be helpful. In a study conducted by Stanford University results were striking:

participants on genotype appropriate diets shed 5.3% of their body weight…however,

those on diets not matched to their genotype lost only 2.3% of their body weight

The results of the study were even more striking when specific diets were considered:

participants whose genotypes matched the diet, such as low carb, lost 6.8% body weight…but,

those whose genotypes did not match the diet lost only 1.4%

This means you no longer have to guess which diet is best. Low-carb? Low-fat? We are all made up differently. Therefore, some of us will lose more weight on a low-carb diet. Others will do better with low-fat.

We are led to believe that gaining weight is the result of two primary factors – eating too many calories and not exercising enough. However, now we know other factors can contribute to your being overweight or obese.

Is your body resistant to losing weight? Perhaps you have been eating the wrong way for your body.

Learn how your genes determine your ability to lose weight.

Grab your FREE Report 7 Ways Your DNA Influences Your Ability to Lose Weight

Jun 28 2018

Eat Clean and Healthy at Your Summer Barbeque

Summer Barbeque time is here!

If you are trying to eat clean and healthy, a summer barbeque may seem like a challenge. With a few easy strategies, you can eat clean and healthy all summer long.

Strategy #1

Choose quality meat. Whether you are cooking steak, burgers, chicken, or pork, buy the best that you can.

I recommend grass-fed beef, free-range, organic chicken, and pastured pork. They are higher in nutrients and free of antibiotics. Simply put, they are healthier for you to eat.

Strategy #2

Use spice rather than sugar. To add great flavor to your meat, hold the sugary sauces such as BBQ sauce, and use spice rubs instead. Spices are loaded with flavor and good nutrition. They have great taste without the additives and excessive sugar in bottled sauces.

Strategy #3

Use high quality oils. Choose the best healthy oils such as avocado oil and coconut oil for cooking and real extra virgin olive oil for dressings and drizzling on grilled vegetables after cooking.

Strategy #4

Choose dessert wisely. For many of us dessert is the best part of the summer BBQ. A sweet taste at the end of a meal is truly a treat but it doesn’t have to be “junk.” Try this: brush a small amount of coconut oil on half a fresh peach, sprinkle with cinnamon and grill until tender. Drizzle with a bit of honey before serving. Other fruits that grill nicely are: pineapple, figs, and plums.

Summer barbeques mean good company, good times, and clean, healthy eats!

See more clean, healthy barbeque recipes here