The foundation of good health and weight loss is undoubtedly good nutrition. It’s insane how many diets are out there, and although I hate to admit it, I’ve probably, at some point, tried many of them.
It took me many trials and tribulations to realize that the best diet is just consistent clean eating with lots of moderation (because life happens!). You don’t have to be perfect. No one is.
For me, the most important part of sticking with nutritious eating is having a rhythm. There are certain foods I always have in the house and my diet is completely predictable. With three small boys, this has become increasingly more challenging. Why do babies always need you when you step into the kitchen to prepare food? I swear it’s a conspiracy against all moms!
Every morning I have a smoothie. The base is a banana, citrus (usually an orange or grapefruit, with the skin removed), a frozen green (spinach, broccoli or kale), a frozen berry (blueberry, strawberry, mixed berry), water and scoop of vanilla protein (my current favorite is Orgain). I use a Vitamix, which pulverizes smoothies to be completely smooth. I’ve used it daily, many times twice a day, since 2012 and it still runs like a champ and makes it easy to sneak any vegetable into a smoothie without my kids noticing.
For lunch, I usually make a tray of cheese, whole wheat tortilla or pita, nuts, fruits, and vegetables for me and the boys. It’s simple, and easy to prepare and they like the variety that comes with seasonal produce.
Our dinners are rich in whole grains and vegetables, but for the most part, include meat for my meat-and-potatoes husband. I’ve found that using meat inside a dish (as opposed to having meat as a side), we consume much less and I can still keep my husband full and satisfied.
When I make something like tacos, I often have another plan for me that includes extra vegetables. So on taco night, I make a taco salad while my family eats tacos.
Here is a list of my staple snacks that are almost always in the house:
- Nuts (variety is key!)
- Seasonal fruit (3 options)
- Seasonal veggies (3 options)
- Whole wheat pitas
- Whole wheat tortillas
- Hummus
- Cheese
- Popcorn (I use a Whirley Pop and store it in a tin for a few days at a time. Avoid microwave varieties with additives.)
- Triscuit crackers
- Almond milk
- Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
- Oatmeal
- Hardboiled eggs
The most important part of clean eating is to decide against rule-setting. Nothing is off-limits. Choose the options that are closest to nature, and don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go as planned. Figure out what happened, learn, and move on.
Every time you get hungry and eat you have a chance to start fresh and give your body nourishing foods. That means one cookie doesn’t turn into the whole package, or the whole day, or the whole week.
If you need help creating a rhythm, if you struggle with emotional eating, or if you struggle with binge eating, I’m here for you. Schedule a free coaching session below.