Healthy Eating and Sample Meal Plan

As a fitness expert and certified nutritionist, I get asked everyday “…how can I know that what I am eating is healthy and will support healthy natural weight loss?”  Instead of meal planning for my clients, I give them a list of great healthy foods to look for at the supermarket, and tips on learning portion control and meal timing.

One of the most important things you can do with regards to nutrition is eating small meals often.  To keep your body from getting hungry and then overeating, eat 4-6 small meals per day.  Most people turn off right away when they hear this.  This doesn’t mean that you need to “cook” yourself extraordinary meals several times per day, but simply that you need to starve off hungry so that you keep your metabolism up and active, and so that you don’t overeat later.

Each “meal” should have about 30-40% vegetables and fruits, 30-40% lean protein, 20% grains, 5-10% fats.  Think small portion sizes.  Never stuff yourself full.  Meat portions should be the size of a deck of cards, vegetables should be 1 cup’s worth, with a tablespoon of olive or canola oil, and a half cup of grains.

Here are some examples of good forms of carbohydrates, proteins and fats to look for at the supermarket. 

Proteins

fish, tuna, white fishes, salmon, crab,  

beans

lentils

chickpeas

eggs

dairy such as yoghurt, milk and low fat cheese

whey protein to mix into fruit smoothies

Carbohydrates/Grains

whole grain bread

brown long grain rice (the kind that takes time to cook)

fresh baked brown whole wheat bread (no packaged foods…no added glucose-fructose)

100% whole grain plain rice cakes…not the ones with MSG (great with hummus, peanut butter or plain)

a variety of dark, leafy green vegetables

red and orange vegetables

Fats

Nuts

Avocados

Olive, coconut and canola oils

Natural peanut butter

Low fat cheeses (1-2 tablespoons per day max if trying to lose weight)

Example of a day of healthy eating

Breakfast 

Full 8 oz glass of water before anything else (try this with a straw)

2 scrambled eggs (only 1 yolk) 

1 piece 100% rye toast

Half a piece of fruit

Mid-Morning snack

Small whey or soy protein smoothie (mixed with water, milk, soy or almond milk) and your favourite fruit.

Lunch

Spinach salad with other colourful veggies, with half a can of tuna or chicken breast no bigger than the size of a deck of cards

Late Afternoon Snack

Half cup of hummus on celery sticks, carrots or ricecake

Dinner

Baked or steamed cod filet (deck of cards)

1-cup green beans drizzled with olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar

Half cup of brown rice spritzed with olive oil (Rice tastes great with hot dijon mustard)

If you must have a dessert or sweet, one small square of dark 70-80% chocolate.

Healthy eating does not have to be time consuming or expensive.  You just need a little preplanning and thought so that you’re not grabbing for anything when you get hungry.  The farther ahead you plan your meals and snacks, the better off you will be.

For more information on eating well, or to book a healthy eating grocery store tour with a nutritionist, contact us at Fitness Anywhere.  www-fit-anywhere.com

Feeling …bla? How to get something out of those low motivation days.

It’s inevitable and it happens to the best of us. We all experience those low days when we know we need to get up and get active, but we just don’t have the drive to do it. We put off training, making excuses for doing it later, or even the next day, saying to yourself… “I’ll wait til it stops raining, til the traffic dies down, or I’ll go after work instead of going before.”
Sometimes it has nothing to do with energy levels or fatigue, but the continuous argument between your body, your brain and your schedule that keeps you from getting it done. My advice…get up and do something….anything. If’ you’re having this argument with yourself, and you really don’t feel like training, give in with a compromise: Tell yourself that you’ll do something for 15 minutes and if you still feel the same, then you can quit and call it a day.
Chances are, that when you start to exercise the increases in blood circulation and oxygen to your brain will change your mood. In other words, once you feel the effects, you probably won’t want to stop. And if it turns out that you still do, well at least you performed 15 minutes of exercise. Something is better than nothing!