What’s the most important decision you will make today? It turns out, what you eat is pretty high on the list. What we eat or our nutrition habits are the biggest determinants of our health outcomes. I have many clients ask what they should eat so I thought it would be helpful to share a day of my meals.
Breakfast
Green smoothie
This is my typical weekday breakfast and I make enough for the whole family. It’s quick, portable and provides a balanced meal full of high quality nutrition. My go to recipe is 1 cup of frozen berries, 1 cup frozen spinach or kale, 1 small banana, a couple tablespoons of almond butter or hemp hearts and unsweetened vanilla almond milk but, I often change it up and throw in any fruit or veggies I have on hand. I love to mix orange or apple with beets, ginger and carrots and add pumpkin seeds for protein and healthy fat. On weekends I will typically change things up and make eggs or high protein pancakes made with almond flour or cashews and have fruit on the side.
Morning Snack
Greek yogurt made from almond milk sweetened with, yes, a baby food pouch
Sounds strange I know, but it is super portable and a great way to sweeten plain yogurt while also adding in some veggies. And, it’s delicious I promise! I love the Kite Hill brand Plain Greek yogurt. It is made with almond milk, has 11 grams of protein, minimal ingredients and only 1 gram of sugar! Other go-to snacks for me include carrot sticks with almond butter, fruit with nuts or veggies with hummus. The key to planning any meal or snack is balance. You want protein, smart carbs, healthy fats and produce!
Lunch
Fruit and veggies with protein and healthy fat
This is a typical weekday lunch. It’s super quick and easy to toss together on the go and provides a delicious, colorful, balanced meal that sticks with you throughout the afternoon. My dressing of choice is olive oil, red wine vinegar and a little Himalayan sea salt.
Afternoon snack
I always have an afternoon snack to stay ahead of hunger and prevent over indulging at dinner. This varies quite a bit and could be anything from a couple squares of Lily’s dark chocolate which is sweetened with stevia, so no added sugar with plenty of healthy fats and antioxidants. I may add a handful of walnuts to this or have an apple with an Artisan brand walnut butter squeeze pack or any of the snacks mentioned above. Again the key is to have a balance of healthy fat, protein, smart carbs and fiber to keep your energy level up and prevent crashing.
Dinner
Baked sweet potato with Mexican spiced beef and cilantro, avocado cream sauce
I love trying new recipes to make dinners interesting for me and my family! I found a recipe similar to this online and tweaked it to make it work with ingredients I already had. It was delicious! I made the cream sauce using my Vitamix (hands down the most used kitchen gadget in my house!), with cilantro, avocado, garlic, sea salt and lime juice. The beef was a very simple recipe that involved adding pureed red pepper, onion, jalepeno and spices to a crock pot with the beef and forgetting about it for 5 hours. I added the purple cabbage for extra nutrition. For weeknight meals my strategy involves planning 2 meals each week that make leftovers. I make the most involved meal on Sunday and have leftovers for the first part of the week, then throw something in the crockpot mid-week to cover the rest of the week. I usually plan a “free night” to do something super quick and easy if we get tired of or run out of leftovers. On that night, I may saute some Bilisnki’s organic chicken sausage and top it with sour kraut and broccoli sprouts with steamed frozen peas on the side and call it a night! I use broccoli sprouts anytime I can because they are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet!
Evening snack
I’ll be the first to admit, I like a little something sweet after dinner! My go-to…
Wild Friends Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter
Just 1 tablespoon is all it takes to provide a deliciously satisfying treat with only 2.5 grams of sugar! If I don’t do this then I’ll add about 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries to the blender with unsweetened almond milk, stevia and vanilla extract to make a “milkshake.”
So, there you have it. I hope this sheds light on how simple eating healthy can be! Stay tuned for what I pack in my son’s lunchbox coming soon!
