Girl on yoga mat meditating. Maintaining a healthy body is a lifestyle, not a destination.

Will This Make Me Fat?

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quiz with numerous foods like peanut butter and avocados asking which of these is fattening?

Answer: NONE of them! Read on for an explanation…

 

“Is ____________ fattening?”

Common question!
🤥 But– It’s a myth that an individual food is “fattening.”

Some foods contain more fat, carbohydrates or calories than others. Also, foods vary in nutritional value:

🥑🥜 A food high in fat (ex. avocado, nuts, peanut butter) can also contain beneficial nutrients making it a healthy addition to your diet. High-fat does not equal bad or fattening.

🍌🍠 A food high in carbs (ex. banana, sweet potato) can also contain beneficial nutrients making it a healthy addition to your diet. High-carb does not equal bad or fattening.

🍪 Some foods are more ultra-processed and have fewer beneficial nutrients (ex. cookies, brownies, ice-cream). These foods taste delicious and provide enjoyment! Lower-nutrient does not equal bad or fattening.

 While it’s smart to be aware of where different types of foods fall on the nutrition spectrum, you can still incorporate ANY kind of food into your diet without it being “fattening.”

 

Meme about how individual foods are not fattening or not. It's more about how taking in more calories than your body needs over a period of time that causes weight gain.

💫 Change your mindset from:
“Is it fattening?”
to…
“How does this food fit into my day of eating as a whole?” 💗

 

girl on yoga mat with a quote about how you won't get fat eating one bad meal and you won't get lean eating one healthy meal. You are what you repeatedly do.

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Bento box with carrots, blueberries, cottage cheese, turkey, banana, wrap and lara bar.

Bento Box Cheat Sheet: Printable!

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Lunch idea! 😃➡️ Make a BENTO BOX!

Bento box with carrots, blueberries, cottage cheese, turkey, banana, wrap and lara bar.

Bento Box with baby carrots, everything but the bagel cottage cheese, turkey slices, blueberries, banana, PB&J in sprouted grain wrap and a Lara Bar

Bento Box Cheat Sheet

Aim for variety & balance, not perfection:

🍎🥕🍍🥦 FRUIT AND/OR VEGGIE
(carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, jicama, cucumber, tomatoes, radish, strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, melon, mango, apple, orange, peach, plum, cherries, figs, dates, raisins, apricots)

🥚🥑🥜🧀 PROTEIN & FAT
(cheese, nuts/nut butters, tuna, chicken, turkey, tofu, tempeh, avocado, yogurt, cottage cheese, hard boiled egg, jerky, edamame)

🥪🍚🍿🫓 CARBOHYDRATE
(tortilla/wrap, whole-grain bread, popcorn, beans/bean salad, pasta/pasta salad, crackers, hummus, rice, potatoes, granola)

🍫🍪🍵 😁 ANYTHING ELSE THAT BRINGS YOU JOY!

Soooo many great possible combos…

Here are a few of my lunch boxes that I remembered to snap a photo of–

There is a bit of overlap. 😅 You’ll notice I have my go-tos :

 

 Chicken, cheese, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, dried apricots, carrots, celery, Tahini Medjool Date Cookies & an apple:

Bento box with tahini medjool date cookies, turkey, cheese, macadamia nuts, carrots, celery, dried apricots and an apple. 

 

Beef jerky, Laughing Cow Cheese, mixed nuts/seeds/coconut, apple, peanut butter, peppers, cucumbers & a couple of chocolates:

Bento box with cucumber, peppers, apples, peanut butter, cheese, beef jerky, trail mix and chocolate.

 

Turkey, Mary’s Gone Crackers, strawberries, tomatoes, carrots, celery & peanut butter:

Bento box with turkey, crackers, peanut butter, strawberries, tomatoes, carrots and celery.

 

Chomps meat stick, grapes, Babybel cheese, walnuts, wasabi almonds, Mary’s Gone Crackers, carrots, celery & peanut butter:

Bento box with meat stick, cheese, grapes, crackers, carrots, celery, nuts and peanut butter.

 

Tuna salad wrap, Babybel cheese, blueberries, blackberries, carrots, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts & dates:

Bento box with tuna wrap, blueberries, blackberries, carrots, cheese, dates and nuts.

 

Tempeh and guacamole in sprouted grain wrap, apple, carrots, cottage cheese, dried apricots & brazil nuts:

Bento box with cottage cheese, tempeh and avocado wrap, apples, carrots and brazil nuts.

 

Cottage cheese, grapes, carrots, celery, apples, oranges, Crunchmasters crackers, peanut butter & a TRUBAR & banana that I had for an afternoon snack:

bento box full of veggies, fruits, cottage cheese, peanut butter, crackers, protein bar and banana

 

Peanut butter, jelly and arugula in whole grain tortilla, orange, grapes, carrots & Babybel cheese:

Bento box with peanut butter and jelly wrap, cheese, carrot, grapes and orange slices.

Once you know the basic combo of foods to include for balance, you can easily build yourself a tasty, nutritious bento box from foods you (hopefully) have in your kitchen. Most require little to no prep time.

Remember: Fruit/Veg, Protein/Fat, Carbohydrate & anything else you love that makes you look forward to lunchtime. 💗

Print your Bento Box Cheat Sheet here!

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List of vegan breakfast ideas.

Vegan Food Ideas

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Fun fact about me: I was vegan for over 12 years! 😲

It’s been more than 10 years now since I returned to being omnivorous, but I am supportive of anyone who chooses to follow a vegan diet and wants to learn how to do it in a healthy way. 💓

Here are a few important nutrients you want to ensure you are getting adequate amounts of in a vegan diet:

✔️ B12 (you will need a supplement)
✔️ Iron
✔️ Zinc
✔️ Omega-3 fatty acids
✔️ Protein
✔️ Calcium & D

You may wonder… What do vegans eat?

In a nutshell, anything not containing animal products. Vegans eat 100% plants!

Here are a few examples of some balanced, nutrient-rich vegan breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks:

List of vegan breakfast ideas

 

list of vegan lunch ideas.

 

List of vegan dinner ideas.

 

List of vegan snack ideas.

👉🏻 Vegan does not necessarily equal healthier.

There are high-nutrient vegan diets as well as low-nutrient vegan diets. 😊

(Just like there are high-nutrient omnivore diets and low-nutrient omnivore diets.)

And just like with any way of eating…

✨Variety and balance are key!✨

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Motivational quote that says If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.

5 Reasons You’re Overeating

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We all overeat sometimes.
And it’s OK! 👍🏼

BUT… If it’s happening over and over and you want to stop…

Then it only makes sense to look at ✨WHY✨ you’re overeating so you can make a change.

There are many reasons for overeating, but here are 5 that are biggies:

1. SKIPPING MEALS OR UNDEREATING AT MEALS. 🍎
Under-fueling/inadequate calorie intake will catch up with you, often resulting in overeating later. Plan ahead so you don’t miss meals and ensure you’re eating enough to satisfy you.

2. IMBALANCE OF MACROS AT MEALS. 🥗
Macros (=macronutrients) are carbs/protein/fat.
No, you don’t need to count them, but if you’re lacking any one of them, you may find yourself overcompensating later. Strive for balance and variety.

3. YOU’RE TIRED. 🥱
When you’re sleep deprived, food can be seen as a quick energy source. It’s easy to overeat when what you really need is to rest.

4. WAITING TOO LONG TO EAT BETWEEN MEALS. 🕒
Not everyone needs a snack between meals, but if you’re ravenous when it comes time for lunch or dinner and end up overeating, you might find having a snack in between helps.

5. EATING WHILE DISTRACTED. (phone, TV, etc) 📺
 If your overeating correlates with scrolling on your phone, playing on your computer or watching a show, then try putting the screens away and paying more attention to your food when you eat.

 

🫢 Surprised that I didn’t mention lack of willpower?
Overeating typically has nothing to do with willpower.
Telling yourself you have no control is disempowering.
Get curious about other potential reasons and make changes!

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Meal idea: Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, toast, fruit, green smoothie.

Meal Idea: Breakfast for Dinner

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Eggs, toast, fruit, green smoothie.

🥚 Do you love eggs but have a time crunch in the morning that prevents you from eating them for breakfast?

👉🏻 Enjoy them at dinner!

Eggs are a ✨nutrient-rich✨ food to include in a healthy diet.

An average egg contains ~6g of protein. So if they are your main protein source at a meal, you may want to eat 2-3 (depending on what else is in your meal).

 

💡 Ideas for making eggs into a balanced meal:

🍳 Cook an omelet, scramble them or fry ‘em up. (This is your protein & fat)
🍞 Pop some whole grain bread in the toaster or make home fries. (Carbs with fiber)
🍍 Whip up a fruit salad or green smoothie to round it out with colorful produce. (Micronutrients and fiber)

 

😋 Or try my favorite:
2-Egg Banana Pancake Roll-Ups!
🥚🥚🍌
https://btcnutrition.com/2-egg-banana-pancake-roll-ups/

🥰 And the answer is YES– the yolk IS nutritious and delicious so please eat that too! Almost half of the protein is found in the yolk, not to mention important nutrients like choline as well as fat-soluble vitamins A ,D ,E & K.

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Cover for a 4-step guide to building a balanced bowl.

Build a Balanced Bowl

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Balanced bowl of food containing protein, vegetables and carbohydrates.

✨Create a delicious, balanced bowl in 4 easy steps.✨

These balanced bowls give you an ideal combo of carbs, protein, fat and fiber to stay full.

They’re a perfect way to get a wide range of micronutrients (vitamins & minerals).

Memorize this template and you’ll be able to put together dozens of different meals!

Pick one carbohydrate source or combine 2 or more.

Rice + beans pair well as do quinoa + winter squash.

Aim for a variety of veggies over the course of the week.

Steam, oven-roast, grill or saute them.

Frozen are fine too- microwave or steam & they’re ready in just minutes.

If you’re looking for a vegan meal, choose one from the bottom 3 and keep in mind that many of the carbohydrate sources like lentils, beans, quinoa and some pastas are actually pretty decent sources of protein… so mixing and matching these can meet your protein needs.

Flavorful sauces & crunchy, salty, sweet and spicy toppings will boost the nutritional value as well as keep your food interesting.

🍠🥦🍗🥑🍚🥬🍄🧄🍤🥜

There you have it:  Pick a carbohydrate, protein, veggies and fat/flavor!

✨Get creative and discover the combos you find the most satisfying.✨

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Hunger scale.

Hunger Scale (printable!)

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printable hunger scale.

Years of dieting can cause a disconnection from your internal signals.

A Hunger Scale is a tool to help you connect to your hunger & satiety cues.

It’s a way to increase awareness, which is the first step towards behavior change.

 

3 Ways a Hunger Scale can be helpful:

 

1️⃣ Do you go too long without eating, often finding yourself at a 0-2?

Use it to check in with your body earlier to notice signs that you need to eat.

 

2️⃣ Do you tend to overeat to the point of feeling uncomfortable (8-10)? 

Use it to check in with your body while you are eating to learn when you’ve had enough.

 

3️⃣ Do you find yourself mindlessly reaching for food between meals?

Use it as a pause button to check in with your body & identify what’s triggering the urge to eat.

The scale can help you decide if you need food or if you are actually comfortable and could respond differently.

 

 

 Aim to stay within 3-7 most of the time.

That being said, there are going to be times when you may need or want to eat when you aren’t hungry and that’s ok.

There are going to be times when you eat beyond a 7 and that is ok too.

There are many factors involved besides hunger/fullness when it comes to eating.

Look at it as a tool to get curious & gain insight into your habits and behaviors.

At first you may not know how your body feels or what it needs.

Practice and it will get easier and easier.

 

💗 Reconnect with your body and eat for the way you want to feel!💗

 

Print your FREE Hunger Scale here!

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Understanding the delay between eating and satiety to help choose the right amount of food.

Wait 15 Minutes

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Is this you? 👇🏻

You’re hungry.

You enjoy a delicious dinner.

You finish your plate.

You refill your plate with more food.

You’re FULL.

Man feeling too full.

You wonder why you ate so much…

AGAIN. 🙄

Let me introduce you to a little tip that can help.

Quote: The better you understand the delay between eating and the feeling of satiety, the more confident you'll get at choosing the right amount of food for your body.

Doesn’t it feel nice when you eat just the right amount of food?

When you reach that point where you’re no longer hungry, yet you’re not uncomfortably overfull.

It’s easier said than done.

Most of us have eyes bigger than our stomachs.

Let’s face it, food is delicious and brings us great pleasure.

We are extremely fortunate to have access to such abundance.

But the problem with this is:

Our waistlines are expanding and we have astronomically high rates of diet-related diseases because of overeating.

The key is to be able to enjoy enough food to satisfy without going overboard. ⚖️ (Balance!)

This is not easy for most people, but with some appetite awareness and mindful practice it can be an achievable goal.

 

Check out this study where subjects were given snacks in either a small portion or a much larger portion size.

The snacks included chocolate, apple pie and potato chips.

These are all very tasty foods that are also easy to overeat.

We’ve all been there!

Study outcome showing that both groups felt equally fulfilled with different sized snacks.

Something to think about, hmmm? 🤔

Each group ate their snack and then waited 15 minutes. ⏰

✨There is a delay of about 15-20 minutes for your brain to register that your body has had enough.✨

  ➡️This is good to know because if you are aware of this you can consciously decide to stop eating before it’s too late.

We all know that feeling of wanting to continue eating, thinking we need more, or maybe simply just wanting more, only to realize later that we overdid it and should have stopped eating much earlier.

✨We can feel satisfied after eating less food than we think we need.✨

Strategy for overeating.

👉🏻 Chances are good that by then your stomach will have sent the signal to your brain that it’s had plenty & the desire for eating more will have faded.

✨You may be surprised to learn that you didn’t need as much as you thought you did.✨

 

You can also try this if you tend to over-snack in between meals!

Consciously decide to have a smaller snack than you normally would.

Give yourself 15-20 minutes to begin to digest and metabolize your food.

Then reassess your need for more food. 🤔

 

Be patient with yourself because like learning anything else new, this takes practice.

You’re essentially trying to change a habit (overeating) and that’s not easy to do.

You might find it tremendously hard to stop eating until you get that too-full feeling if that’s what your body is used to experiencing.

But each time that you are able to eat a little bit less, you are reinforcing the fact that you really do not need such large quantities of food to feel satisfied.   You will gain confidence.  It WILL become easier and easier with each success you have. 💪🏻

We never repent of having eaten too little. – Thomas Jefferson

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Baking sheet of roasted vegetables and a roasted chicken.

Oven-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables (Easy!)

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😨🐔 Intimidated by the thought of roasting a whole chicken?

I used to be, but I’ve found an EASY and incredibly delicious way of doing it and I’m going to walk you through it step-by-simple-step so you can do it yourself…

👩🏼‍🍳 Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees.

Next, it’s time to get chopping. 🔪

Fill a large roasting pan with chopped veggies.

🥔🥕🍠🥦🍆🫑🍄🍅🧅🧄

Ideas include: Onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, carrots, celery, tomato, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cauliflower– really, just about anything goes.  I also like to include hearty tubers like potatoes and/or sweet potatoes.

Make a lot!  You don’t need to do anything to them.  They are going to take on  amazing flavor from the chicken in the roasting process.

You’ll want plenty to enjoy eating with your chicken.😋

You will need a 5-6 pound whole chicken…

…and some olive oil and seasonings.

I like poultry seasoning, salt and garlic powder:

Rub the oil and seasonings onto your chicken and place the chicken right on top of the veggies/potatoes:

Place the pan into the preheated oven and roast for about 90 minutes.

(Your house will smell AMAZING!)🥰

Use a meat thermometer to ensure your chicken has reached at least 165 degrees.

You’ve got all the components for a complete, balanced and satisfying meal:

🍴 Enjoy! 🤗

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Two egg banana pancake peanut butter and jelly roll up.

2 Egg Banana Pancake Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs 🥚🥚
  • 1 banana 🍌
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or other nut butter) 🥜
  • 1/2 cup berries or 2 tablespoons of your favorite 100% fruit jam 🍓
  • Coconut oil or butter for greasing your pan 🧈

Directions:  

  • Heat your pan on medium-high and add a pat of butter or oil.
  • Blend the 2 eggs plus banana in a mini food processor.
  • Pour your egg/banana mixture into the hot pan and cook until you see small air pockets form.  Flip pancake and cook on the other side until done.
  • Remove from the pan with a spatula and spoon the nut butter and berries (or jam) onto your pancake and roll up!

✳️ Your pancake texture will vary depending on the banana’s ripeness.  Over-ripe and you will get sweeter, softer pancakes; under-ripe and they will be firmer and less sweet. They come out best when the banana is at the perfect ripeness for eating. 🍌

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