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ED-ventures in Low-Fat Eating

Note from Caroline: This guest post comes courtesy of my good friend Rachel. Recently, Rachel’s partner received a medical diagnosis that required her to switch to a low-fat eating plan. This was a tricky situation to navigate, since she is recovered from an eating disorder and wanted to avoid triggering situations. Keep reading to learn how Rachel and her partner worked through these changes, and to see the delicious low-fat menu they were able to create.

The upper abdominal pain was on and off, seemingly random, hitting my partner in waves of discomfort that would keep her up at night. After several weeks, we deduced that gallstones were the likely culprit (and a few trips to the doctor confirmed it).

We were happy to have a diagnosis but also struggling — how can someone in recovery from an eating disorder (ED) safely go on the low-fat diet necessary to reduce gallbladder pain? 

My partner tried to do research for new recipes, but googling “low fat foods” led to endless websites with triggering language and flavorless, uninspired, meal ideas. 

I love food too much to allow it to become a source of despair. It has to taste good! I was confident that I could find good recipes that would satisfy our taste buds and needs. 

I’m no dietician, but I hope that anyone looking to lower the fat content in their food, or just looking for some variation in their quarantine cooking, will find some of our successes equally delicious.

Mushrooms

This portabella mushroom marinade is awesome – even if you all you can find are grocery store mushrooms (we are lucky enough to have access to high quality mushrooms through our farm share.)

We modify the recipe slightly by decreasing the wine and increasing the soy sauce, and we typically cook it by sautéing on the stovetop rather than baking.

We’ve used these marinated mushrooms as the starting point for three dishes: 

  1. Bowls – We typically pair mushrooms with quinoa, roasted veggies, and the spiced chickpeas mentioned below. You can also throw tofu in the pan after the mushrooms are almost done, and cook them together in this sauce to go with quinoa or rice.
  1. Salad –  The marinade doubles as a salad dressing. We sautéed portobellos and paired it with fresh spinach and strawberries.
  1. Pasta – For a special Valentines day meal, I sautéed a mix of local mushrooms and used them with their sauce on fresh pasta. (I didn’t have wine, so I used almost all soy sauce. Combined with the thickness of the pasta, this made it feel like an Italian-Asian fusion in the vein of pad see ew. If you kept the wine amount from the original recipe it would probably have more of an Italian flavor). 
Bowl with spiced chickpeas, marinated mushrooms, roasted broccoli, and quinoa

Tofu

Some folks are intimidated by tofu or think it’s flavorless, but both of these notions can be thrown away once you try preparing it at home. Tofu is cheaper, requires less cleanup, and is faster to cook than meat.

We like to get extra firm tofu, drain the liquid from the package, wrap the tofu in a clean dishcloth or paper towel and press it between two plates with a weight on top (like an olive oil container) while we prep other ingredients. Getting rid of the extra moisture helps it absorb the flavors of your sauce and crisp up. 

Here are some ways we like to use tofu:

  1. Stir-Fry – This is an awesome technique for cooking with little oil and maximum flavor. My go to combo is ginger, garlic, broccoli, carrots, and tofu. You can mix your own sauce or use pre-made (I like Soy Vey’s Teriyaki marinade).
  2. Experiment with texture – Tearing the tofu in craggy pieces can help it crisp up more, if you cook it separately. We also tried grating the tofu on a box grater (inspired by this recipe.) While the grating wasn’t that effective (I would rather smash it into small pieces with my fingers), it did create a cool texture that carried the sauce well for an udon noodle dish.
  3. This vegetarian banh mi recipe is fantastic, and you can use the extra pickled vegetables in salads or bowls.
Tofu banh mi

Beans 

During the early part of quarantine, when we were trying to figure out how to only grocery shop every two weeks, we quickly started experimenting with more shelf-stable recipes. Beans were already somewhat of a staple in our cooking, but these dishes really cemented their place:

  1. Spiced chickpeas – For the easiest and most flexible addition to bowls and salads, drain a can or two of chickpeas, put them in a non-stick pan, and season to your liking while they heat up and crisp slightly. Our favorite flavor combination includes dashes of mushroom powder (Trader Joe’s has a great blend), cayenne pepper, curry powder, and garlic powder. 
  2. Chili – Another super fast and easy weeknight meal. Here is one of our favorite chili recipes.
  3. Chickpea soup – We made this soup for the first time two weeks ago, and I just soaked more chickpeas to make it again tonight. I think it will still taste good if you drop the amount of olive oil in the soup, but the parmesan topping (mixed with lemon zest and black pepper) is worth budgeting for!
Chickpea soup with fresh bread rolls and parmesan lemon sprinkle

Think global for both home cooking and take-out

I tend to be skeptical of food that’s been altered to imitate something else (for example, I love vegetarian food, but I never crave a veggie burger). Taking the same approach to low-fat, we tried to avoid recipes where the “real thing” was missing.

Looking to food from around the globe has been super helpful, because many cultures do not center dairy and meat the way America does. Reading cookbooks from different cuisines is a great way to find delicious recipes without triggering diet-culture language.

Supporting local immigrant businesses for take-out has also been our favorite way to enjoy dinner on evenings we’re too tired to cook. We’ve had great success with:

  1. Ethiopian food – Most Ethiopian restaurants offer vegetarian platters, which are a great way to try a variety of different lentil and vegetable preparations.
    • Early in quarantine we were missing our favorite Ethiopian restaurant in another city, so we tried recreating some dishes from home. My attempt at turning frozen spinach into anything resembling collard greens was a total fail, but these lentils were excellent. Note that 2 cups of dried lentils makes a huge amount, so if you’re cooking for 1-2 people, you may want to cut the recipe in half. I didn’t have access to injera at the time, so we ate it with rice.
  2. Indian food – Although many traditional Indian sauces are quite rich, there are still some good options such as tandoori chicken and dosa.
    • For Indian food at home, Priya Krishna’s book Indian-ish is a great guide. We like her Aloo Gobi recipe (we just cut back the oil for roasting to the minimum it took to coat the veggies.)
  3. Arab food – Although olive oil features heavily in a lot of Arab cuisine, most Arab restaurants will also have chicken on kebabs or in platters that should be pretty low-fat safe (as well as juicy and delicious!)
    • Hummus is also easy to make at home, and you can adjust the levels of oil and tahini to your needs and taste. I haven’t used this precise recipe before (and I definitely have never bothered to cook my own chickpeas or peel them), but the order of ingredients is correct. Watching the tahini turn from brown to white with the lemon juice is magical.
  4. Chipotle – Chipotle is neither local nor really Mexican, but the fact that this is a chain means it’s easy to get the precise nutritional facts for their dishes. My partner’s favorite is a bowl, with steak, white rice, pinto beans, extra tomato and corn salsa and lettuce. (Yes – surprisingly, the steak at Chipotle has 1 fewer gram of fat than the chicken, and the white rice has 2g less than the brown.)
Aloo Gobi and Dal

I hope that some of our hard-won knowledge can help you to create your own delicious low-fat eating plan without all the struggle.

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The Most Underrated Tip for Weight Loss

The first thing most people do when they decide to lose weight or build healthier habits is decide which foods to eat (or skip) and how much of them to include in their new diets.

It’s great to consider which foods work for you and which don’t. And it’s very helpful to learn about the calorie content of your favorite meals, or to focus on eating more whole, nutrient foods.

However, I think there is another factor that nearly everyone misses that may actually be more important to their long-term success.

You do not live in a vacuum; you’re highly influenced by the people and things around you at all times.

Therefore, in order to lose weight and keep it off for good, you need to change your environment to support your changing lifestyle.

There are a lot of great things about being a human in the modern world. Unfortunately, the same conveniences that help us live safer and less stressful lives also make it much, much harder to eat in a healthy, sustainable, and moderate way.

You can find cheap, delicious, and highly processed foods everywhere you look. They’re in the break room at work, in every corner store, at family get togethers, and even in our own homes.

These foods are engineered to make it difficult for us to stop eating them. They also happen to be high in calories and low in nutrition, a terrible combination for health and weight.

It takes way more effort to resist these foods than to just eat them. And it’s even harder to actively replace those foods with minimally processed whole foods, especially if you’re not used to the taste of these foods or don’t know how to cook them.

Many people fail in their weight loss efforts because everything in their world is conspiring against their attempts to make healthier choices. You only have so much willpower at your disposal before you start defaulting to easier options.

That’s why it’s so important to build a healthier environment as you’re working to build new eating habits.

Here are a few ways you can change your environment to support weight loss and improved health:

Don’t buy trigger foods.

I’m not the type of coach who says you can never enjoy your favorite treats again (in fact, I think that approach is actively counterproductive). However, you do need to get honest with yourself about your relationship with certain foods.

If you know you have a hard time eating just one serving of something, or if it tends to trigger binge eating or food guilt, you’re better off not keeping that food in the house. If you buy it, you will eventually end up eating it. 

Read More: A New Way to Think About Trigger Foods

Keep snack foods out of sight.

If you do buy treat foods, try to keep them tucked away in a pantry or cabinet where you don’t have to see them every time you go in the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Make healthy foods highly visible.

This is the flip side of the point above. I keep a big bowl of fresh fruits on my counter, and as a result I tend to reach for fruit when I want a snack. Some of my clients chop fresh veggies at the start of the week and put them in the front of the fridge. Now, when they open the fridge looking for a snack, the veggies will be the first thing they see.

I strongly recommend using a list to grocery shop so you already know what you need to buy and don’t need to make decisions at the store.

Be smarter about your grocery shopping.

Try to do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store (that’s where the produce, meat, fish, dairy, and eggs are located) and only venture into the aisles to replenish pantry staples that are on your list.

It’s also wise to have a snack before you hit the store and never grocery shop when you’re hungry.

Some of my clients have had a lot of success using grocery delivery services. They only order what they need and aren’t tempted by treats at the store. This option may be even more appealing during the age of COVID-19.

Read more: How I Learned to Love Grocery Shopping


Plan for your restaurant meals.

If possible, try to be the person who decides where the group is going to eat or order take out. This allows you to pick a place that will have healthy or on-plan options for you to order.

Take a look at the menu before the meal. If you have no idea what you’re going to eat until you’re about to order, you’re more likely to make an emotional decision or say “screw it” and order more than you want.

Read More: Eating Out on a Diet

Plate your food.

Have you ever eaten an entire bag of chips while you mindlessly watched tv? I’m definitely raising my hand here. This happens because we tend to keep eating until we’ve finished the food in front of us, no matter how hungry we are.

To solve this problem, always serve yourself food on a plate or in a bowl. If you want to have some chips, put what you want in a bowl and then put the rest of the bag away.

Minimize distractions while eating.

Many Americans eat as they work, watch tv, or scroll on their phones. You’re way more likely to overeat when you do this, and you’ll get a lot less satisfaction out of your meals.

Try to eat without distractions as often as possible. Pay attention to your food, eat slowly, and savor the experience.

Get your loved ones on board.

It’s very hard to make lasting nutrition changes if everyone else in the house is eating junk food.

I know it’s not easy to do – especially with kids – but you may need to sit down and have a conversation with the people closest to you about what you’re doing and why it’s important to you. See if you can get others to be a little more supportive, even if they aren’t ready to change their own eating habits. 

Changing your environment to make it easier to make healthy choices and harder to make not-so-healthy choices is one of the best things you can do to help you achieve your health and fitness goals. Remember, your life and choices are deeply connected with your environment. It’s impossible to remove yourself from this influence, but you can make changes that will make your journey a lot easier. 

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it off despite your best efforts? Join me in a free webinar to learn how to avoid the common dieting mistakes that are standing in your way.

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A solution for those who hate calorie counting.

There are a lot of strategies you can use to lose weight. Ultimately, success comes down to eating fewer calories than your body needs over a long period of time.

  • Lost weight doing keto? It’s because you cut out a lot of calories (from carbs) compared to how you were eating before.
  • Lost weight going vegan or vegetarian? It’s because you replaced animal products with lower-calorie plant-based alternatives.
  • Lost weight on Weight Watchers? It’s because the point system incentivized you to prioritize lower calorie, nutrient dense foods as well as limit you overall quantity of food.
  • Lost weight after you started hitting the gym? Perhaps you were eating around your maintenance calories and the increase in physical activity was just enough to put you in a deficit.

This is all to say you can use any number of diets and workout plans to achieve your fat loss goals.

The most important thing is to respect the laws of energy balance, and to do so in a sustainable, healthy way that aligns with your values, personality, and lifestyle.

For me, this has often meant counting calories. I’ve gone through a few major periods of successful weight loss over the last decade. For all but one, I’ve counted calories and used an app like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal.

One reason why counting calories or tracking macros is such a great tool for fat loss is because it shows you that you can eat all kinds of foods and see success, provided you hit your numbers most of the time.

I like to see the data and numbers so I can make adjustments to my approach when things aren’t working. And I like having some guard rails, because after years of battling an eating disorder I’ve learned that I personally can’t always trust the messages I get from my brain about food.

However, I’ve learned that most people don’t share my feelings about this kind of food logging. And I completely understand why.

Like everything else in your fitness journey, counting calories is a skill that takes time and practice. When you don’t have a lot of experience it takes a lot of time and can be very tedious and annoying. If you have young kids or a crazy work schedule, you likely won’t want to set aside the time it takes to figure this out.

Additionally, calorie counting isn’t a good fit for people who eat out a lot or don’t cook most of their own food. Using a food tracking app only works if most of the data is precise and accurate. You won’t be able to easily weigh and measure your food if you’re not eating at home. Therefore, you won’t be entering high quality information and it’s tough to draw meaningful conclusions about what’s working and what isn’t.

Here’s the thing: if you have a fat loss goal and aren’t seeing the progress you’d like, you’re probably eating too much food. (Sometimes there are also medical issues at play – if you suspect this please seek out a qualified physician.)

So what are you to do if you know you’re eating too much food, but you hate the idea of weighing, measuring, and counting calories?

Thanks to the super-smart folks at Precision Nutrition, there is an easy system you can use to identify proper portions no matter where you are.

The best part about this system is that it’s ultra low-tech. All you need is one hand and your eyes to make it work. Use the size of your hand (which, conveniently is bigger or smaller depending on your stature) to eyeball the portion sizes of different types of foods:

  • Protein: Animal proteins like meat, fish, seafood, and poultry. Plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, and legumes.
    • 1 serving = 1-2 palms, about the thickness of a deck of cards
  • Carbs: Rice, oats, and other grains. Potatoes and starchy tubers. Fruit.
    • 1 serving = 1-2 cupped handfuls
  • Veggies: Basically any low carb colorful plant.
    • ​​​​​​​1 serving = 1-2 fists
  • Fats: Nuts and nut butters. Olives and olive oil. Butter. Avocado.
    • ​​​​​​​1 serving = 1-2 thumbs

 This can be a very eye-opening experience for people.

One thing I hear a lot is that people eat nuts as a healthy snack, but realize that they are eating handfuls at a time instead of just one thumb.

Or, maybe you order a steak at a restaurant and it’s the size of three or four palms.

The latter example would be a great opportunity to practice boxing up a portion of your meal to take home and eat later.

If you have a weight loss goal and your progress has slowed, give this system a try for a few weeks.

Serve yourself by eyeballing your portion sizes using your hand. You may realize this is less food than you’re used to eating, which could be a clue as to why you haven’t been losing weight.

When in doubt, eat slowly and stop at just satisfied (as opposed to totally full.)

This system isn’t set in stone and may need to be adjusted based on how many meals you like to eat, activity levels, and more.

Experiment and figure out what works for you. I’m here to help if you need any guidance or support along the way.

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The problem with meal plans (and what to do instead.)

New fat loss or nutrition coaching clients often ask me to write them a meal plan.

I actually have a blanket policy against writing meal plans and I want to share why.

Meal plans can actually do more harm than good. Keep reading to find out why and learn what I think you should be looking for instead.

A meal plan prescribes an exact diet. They’re usually very precise – every last bite of food is to be weighed and accounted for and eaten at a specific time.

  • At 7am, eat 3 egg whites and 1 whole medium egg cooked in 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil with a 5oz apple.
  • At 12pm, eat 6oz plain grilled chicken breast with 1/2 cup steamed broccoli.
  • At 3pm eat a snack of 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese with 3oz berries.

You get the idea.

There is a time and a place for meal plans. For example, registered dietitians who are certified to provide medical nutrition therapy can use meal plans to help clients manage illness or chronic conditions.

If you fall into this group, you should absolutely seek the help of a licensed professional. Personal trainers are not qualified (or legally allowed) to write meal plans to address medical problems.

A-list actors, elite bodybuilders, and professional athletes regularly use meal plans to get in amazing shape and perform at the highest level.

Here’s the thing: you don’t live the life of a pro athlete or Hollywood star.

I work primarily with busy urban professionals. My clients work long hours, care for young kids and older parents, and enjoy active social lives and traveling (at least they did before recent events).

They don’t have private chefs and their lives and livelihoods don’t center around their bodies.

This is the first reason why I don’t write meal plans: they are completely unrealistic in real life.

If you try to follow a restrictive meal plan that doesn’t allow for the unpredictability of life, you are setting yourself up to fail.

What to do instead: Develop flexible frameworks that guide your eating in any situation.

For example, if you’re someone who eats out a lot but still wants to lose weight, you can use your hand size to eyeball portions instead of relying on a food scale.

Ask yourself: What are the most challenging nutritional situations I find myself in on a regular basis? What skills can I build to help me navigate these situations in a way that will move me toward my goals?

The second reason I don’t like meal plans is that they ignore individual differences.

Meal plans are heavily biased toward the preferences and experience of the person writing the plan. They fail to account for differences in:

  • Physiology. One of my biggest pet peeves in the nutrition world is that many coaches act as if there is only one way to eat for optimal health. Everyone’s body is unique and responds differently to different foods. I may be able to easily digest foods that tear you up, and vice versa.
  • Personal preferences. Many meal plan staples are bland, boring and tasteless. If your meal plan is full of foods you don’t really like, you’re not going to stick with it for long.
  • Cultural heritage. The foods I learned to eat growing up in a Jewish household are very different than those eaten by my Indian and Latinx friends. You can still lose weight or improve your health eating the foods that are meaningful to you. Just say no to whitewashed meal plans.
  • Food availability. What’s in season where you live? What foods can you actually buy at the grocery store where you shop? Your meal plan won’t do you any good if you can’t find the foods on it, or if they’re super expensive because they’re out of season.

What do do instead: The unsexy truth is that everyone needs to experiment to find a way of eating that works for their unique situation.

Some people can eat grains and dairy, others should avoid them. Some people prefer to eat big meals, other prefer smaller meals and snacks. Some people eat a lot of meat, others remove it from their diets entirely.

You need to make these decisions for yourself, not rely on a piece of paper to make them for you.

This brings me to the last problem with meal plans: they prevent you from building the skills you need to think and make decisions for yourself.

“If only I had someone to tell me exactly what to eat, then I’d finally achieve my goals.” 

I’ve heard the above statement more times than I can count. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking that isn’t rooted in reality.

People actually do best when they feel they have autonomy in their lives.

This means decisions you make for yourself are much more powerful and will have a much bigger impact on your actions than decisions a coach makes for you.

My clients who’ve experienced the most success over the years are the ones who took the most ownership over the process. They got curious about themselves and experimented to find their own unique path.

Failure is part of this process, because you often have to weed out the things that don’t work to find those that do.

Although I encourage you to ditch the meal plans, you don’t have to go through this process all by yourself. You can hire a coach who listens to you and helps you build habits and skills as opposed to just telling you what to do all the time.

If you’re interested in my online coaching program, you can learn more here.

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How to accept and deal with hunger

Let me be the first to admit I’ve always struggled with hunger.

I rarely get a growling stomach like most people. Instead, I get very edgy, irritable, and short tempered. I like to think I’m a pretty laid back person, but watch out if I’m hungry. On more than one occasion, I’ve done or said something I regretted because I wasn’t thinking straight and didn’t realize it until after I’d eaten.

Over the years, I learned to attack my hunger as soon as it appeared to avoid these undesirable side effects.

I’d snack and overeat all day long because I was more comfortable with being overfull than feeling even the slightest hint of hunger.

I also spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. Why did I always get so hungry? Why did hunger seem to affect me more than other people? If only I didn’t feel so hungry or if it wasn’t so uncomfortable, then I’d be able to finally lose weight.

I’ll never forget my first experience working with my long-time coach Bryan Krahn years ago. I complained to Bryan because I was feeling pretty hungry during the day in between meals. He was pleased and told me that feeling the hunger was a good sign!

Although hunger was still uncomfortable for me, I began to see it in a different light. I begrudgingly made friends with my hunger because I realized it was indicating that I was heading in the right direction with my fat loss goals.

Hunger is not an emergency.

Here’s the thing: some hunger is not a bad thing. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s an inevitable and necessary part of your journey.

When I stopped my personal pity party and accepted this, I was able to focus my energy in a more productive direction, namely learning to get more comfortable with discomfort in the name of my bigger goals.

I realized that my hunger was not an emergency (even through it felt like one) and that I could survive to my next meal without snacking.

Perhaps you’ve heard that you should never feel hungry. There are a lot of misconceptions about hunger and what it means.

Like anything, hunger exists on a continuum. It’s normal to experience some hunger in between meals. In fact, if you’re not hungry at all, you probably shouldn’t eat much (even if it’s supposed to be meal time). This is true for everyone except people who are actively trying to gain weight.

Those who are trying to losing weight will likely experience higher levels of hunger. This hunger may start sooner after meals or be more intense than if you’re eating at maintenance.

However, if you take it too far and chase hunger for its own sake or try to see how little you can eat, then you’re starting to enter the realm of disordered eating.

I am in no way telling you to starve yourself or that the hungrier you feel, the better your results will be. But I do encourage you to get honest with yourself about your relationship with hunger.

These days, I still struggle with the way hunger affects my mood and energy levels. The difference is that I no longer delude myself into thinking I’ll be free of hunger if I want to get and stay lean.

Some tips for reducing and managing hunger

Routine is a very powerful tool to help you manage hunger. If you can eat your meals at the same times, your body will adapt and you may start to experience less random hunger throughout the day.

On a related note, sometimes changing your meal timing can help with hunger. For example, if you aren’t hungry when you wake up but feel extremely hungry later, try fasting in the morning and pushing your regular meals later in the day.

A diet that consists of mostly whole foods will fill you up a lot more than a diet filled with processed foods. Protein, fiber, and healthy fats can be particularly satiating. Solid foods are also more filling than liquid foods like shakes and smoothies.

Read more: How I overcame my dislike of vegetables

Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Aim for half your bodyweight in ounces every day. In a pinch, black coffee or tea can also help dull hunger pangs.

When you do eat, practice eating slowly and mindfully. Chew your food and pay attention to the experience of eating. Don’t wolf down your meals because that often leads to feelings of dissatisfaction and false hunger after meals.

Read more: Make this change to feel less hungry and more satisfied

Practice sitting with hunger when it arises. Set a timer for 20 minutes and do something else before deciding if you want to eat. Hunger comes in waves, and many times you may find you can wait longer to eat.

Start asking yourself if you’re really hungry or just craving something. One mental test I use on myself is to ask if I’m hungry enough to eat a plate of plain chicken and broccoli. If I say no, then I know I’m experiencing a craving.

Have some perspective. It may seem preachy, but it’s helpful to me to remember that choosing to go without food in the name of fat loss is a luxury. Many people in the world – including in my own city and country – are regularly forced to go without food for extended periods of time. This stops me from feeling so sorry for myself.

I know talking about hunger is not very sexy, but I strongly believe getting more comfortable with hunger is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your efforts to lose weight or maintain your weight.

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Four Foods You Should Never Eat

Anyone who’s ever been on the internet has seen clickbait articles sharing foods to avoid. These usually feature arbitrary lists of specific foods supported by cherry-picked “research” and dubious-looking doctors.

During the early days of your fitness journey, you may fall prey to these lists. I know I did. In time, however, most of us learn that very little about food and nutrition is so black and white.

As a general rule, I’m not a fan of restrictive behavior around food.

I don’t believe foods are inherently good or bad; so much depends on the individual person, circumstances, and environment.

However, this doesn’t mean I don’t use food rules with myself or my clients. It’s still up to us to figure out which foods work for us and which do not.

Having a little bit of structure can help us make good choices and not feel so lost in a sea of options. The four categories below can help guide you as you decide which foods to eat and which to skip (at least most of the time).

Foods that don’t agree with you

Although some scoff at the preponderance of food allergies these days, the struggle is real for many people.

I’ve worked with dozens of clients who experience physical distress in response to certain foods. This distress can present as stomach or digestive troubles, acne, joint pain, asthma, or an uptick in allergies. Some people have only mild symptoms, others suffer severe discomfort.

In order to feel their best, these clients need to remove certain foods from their regular meals.

Through a combination of food logging and experimentation, you can identify which foods are making you feel bad and gradually replace them with other things.

If you suspect you may have a food allergy or intolerance, it’s best to consult a nutritionist or doctor who can help guide you through the process of identifying problem foods.

Foods you don’t like

Many people have a lot of outdated ideas about what it means to diet or eat healthy.

If I had to eat nothing but bland baked chicken breast and soggy steamed veggies, I never would have stuck with healthy eating over the long term.

You can improve your eating habits without sacrificing flavor, taste, or diversity.

This is why learning how to cook can be so helpful for those trying to lose weight; not only do you have more control over the calorie content of your meals, you learn what it takes to make delicious food.

Your meals should taste good and make you feel good. It is possible to have both.

Foods you can’t stop eating

Some people excel with a moderation-based approach to food. If they completely remove trigger foods (like chips, ice cream, peanut butter, pastries, etc.), they feel deprived and are more likely to overeat those foods later. These people do better when they eat small amounts of treats on a regular basis.

Other people, myself included, do better with an abstinence-based approach to trigger foods. If there’s a food you can’t stop eating, it’s easier to stop yourself before you take the first bite.

I’m willing to bet you already know if this is you. You plan to have a small amount of a food, but it only triggers you to want more and more. Before you know it you’ve eaten way more than you intended and you feel physically and mentally gross.

Read more: Five tips to help you stop stress and emotional eating

If this sounds like you, removing these foods from your house or not ordering them can be a helpful first step in your journey to combat stress or binge eating.

By the way, this can change over time. With increased self-awareness, some people will be able to reintroduce certain foods to their diet in moderate amounts.

The important thing is to be honest with yourself about what will help you feel your best.

Foods you don’t want to eat

Have you ever had a well-meaning friend or family member pressure you into eating a certain food?

This is one of the biggest challenges of losing weight or getting in shape, one that’s not talked about nearly enough.

So much of our history, culture, identity, and emotions can be tied up in food.

Other people may feel resentful, confused, left out, or just oblivious when you’re eating in a new and different way. This leads them to consciously or unconsciously pressure you to eat certain foods or eat more than you’d like.

If you don’t want to eat something – for any reason – it’s okay to say no. It’s not always easy to do, but learning to say no can improve both your fitness outcomes and your relationships. 

I hope this gives you some things to consider. Whenever possible, eat foods that taste great, make your brain and body feel good, and support your long-term goals.

Would you like some help figuring out the best nutritional and dietary approach for your unique goals, personality, and lifestyle? Apply for my online training program and I can help.

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Grocery Shopping

I didn’t learn to cook until I moved into my first apartment the summer after my freshman year of college. I was incredibly excited to enjoy my newfound independence, which included preparing my own meals. I could no longer rely on my mom or the Northwestern dining hall for food. Around the same time, I decided I wanted to dramatically change my eating habits to lose weight and improve my health. With these two goals in mind, I headed to Jewel for my first solo grocery store trip.

I had been to grocery stores plenty of times before. However, I never had to buy all my own food and so I had no idea what I needed to feed myself for an entire week. During my first time at the store, I spent over an hour wandering around trying to figure out what to buy. I spent way too much money and bought tons of food I didn’t need. I also forgot some essential items and ended up having to return to the store later in the week to fill in the gaps. The whole process was overwhelming, frustrating, and totally inefficient.

Over time, I managed to develop a grocery store routine that was both efficient and enjoyable. Now I actually look forward to going to grocery store. My weekly trips take around 30-45 minutes depending on when I go. I usually spend between $40-60 to feed myself for the entire week and I rarely throw away rotten or unused food. So how did I make the switch from slow, frustrated shopper to grocery store pro? Keep reading to learn the tips, tricks, and strategies that made the biggest difference for me.

Grocery shopping: Much less scary than nuclear war

Have a plan.

If you’re new to grocery shopping, it’s essential to have a plan of attack. Showing up without a shopping list leaves you vulnerable to impulse purchases and almost guarantees you will forget crucial items. You’ll likely waste tons of time making decisions at the store which could have been made more efficiently in the comfort of your kitchen.

Start by making a list of all the ingredients you need for the week. If you’re a novice cook, it’s helpful to do some meal planning ahead of time. Write down exact quantities of fresh produce and meat you need to avoid food waste. If you’re trying out a new recipe, be sure to list the ingredients you don’t have on hand.

As you become more experienced in the kitchen and at the grocery store, you don’t necessarily need to make a detailed list every time you go the store. Instead, you can establish a plan like my current strategy:

  • Each week, I buy more or less the same quantity of fresh fruits and veggies. Since I use meal templates for breakfast and lunch, I know I’ll be able to eat a certain number of each item during the week no matter what. The exact fruits and veggies I buy depend on the season and what’s on sale. For example, although I always buy at least 10 fruits to have with two meals per day, I may buy apples in the fall and berries in the summer. I know I’ll eat about three bell peppers each week, but I buy different colors week to week depending on what’s cheapest.
  • I’ll try to buy proteins that are on sale. Because I rotate between 5-10 different dinner meal templates, I decide what to cook during the week based on what I buy.
  • Before I go to the store each week, I do a quick survey of my fridge and pantry. Do I need to replace any cans I used last week? Am I running low on staples like rice, olive oil, spices, or hot sauce? I’ll jot down the items which need to be replaced so I won’t forget them at the store.

Read More: Master Meal Prep

Strategy inside the store

Once you’ve created your list (or plan), it’s time to go the store. Two important tricks can help you buy only what you need and avoid overwhelm:

First, don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. This is especially important if you’re prone to buying junk food. Instead,  schedule your shopping tips right after a meal. If you haven’t eaten in a while, grab a small snack to take the edge off your hunger before you head to the store.

Second, stick to the perimeter of the store. Almost all of the healthy foods, including fresh fruits and veggies, meat and fish, eggs, and dairy products, are located around the outside edges of the store. When you do venture into the aisles, make sure it’s only for items on your list or to replace pantry staples. Avoid any aisles that house problem foods for you, such as the chip and candy aisles.

grocery store healthy eating

Develop a routine.

In addition to planning what to buy at the store, it’s helpful to plan when you’ll do your shopping. It’s easier to build new habits when you keep as many variables the same as possible. We are much more likely to make changes when they fit within the context of our existing routines. 

If you’re struggling to go to the grocery store on a regular basis, try setting aside a designated day and time for shopping. Weekends work best for most people, but pick whatever time makes the most sense with your schedule. There are definitely advantages to going to the store at off hours: it will be less crowded and you may find extra discounts on meat and produce.

You may also experience more success if you make several smaller trips per week. This can help reduce food waste, especially if you’re only shopping for one or two people. I typically do one big grocery store run on Sundays and one smaller run Friday night to fill in any gaps for the weekend. Experiment to find what works best for you, then stick with it for several weeks to build the habit.

If your biggest concern is time, pick the grocery store most convenient to where you live or work. If you have more time but want to save money or find the best quality food, do some research and try out different stores in your area. You can read more about how switching grocery stores helped me save thousands of dollars on food every year at this link.

Know when to outsource.

Even if you utilize all of the above tips and tricks, you may still dislike grocery shopping or find it simply doesn’t fit in your busy schedule. There’s nothing wrong with hiring a meal or grocery delivery service as opposed to going to the store yourself. Outsourcing your shopping is a great option if you value your time more than your money.

For a small extra fee, you can hire a company like Peapod or Instacart to delivery your weekly grocery haul directly to your house. If you want to do even less work, a meal delivery service (like Sun Basket, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, or Green Chef) will send you recipes and the exact quantities of ingredients you need for your meals. Meal delivery services range from sending raw ingredients you assemble and cook, to sending you fully cooked meals you can just pop in the microwave.

Ask your friends which services they’ve tried and shop around for different options online. If you’re unsure whether a service is a good option for you, start with just a few meals per week. Plenty of my friends and clients outsource some of their weekly meals and do a small grocery store trip for everything else.

meal delivery service
You can get a big box of fresh food delivered directly to your door.

Putting it all together

Learning to cook for myself was one of the best things I ever did for my overall health and wellbeing. But in order to prepare healthy meals at home, I had to go to the grocery store. Once I learned how to reduce waste, spend less money, and get in and out of the store in less time, grocery shopping became a much more enjoyable experience. You can experience a similar change if you follow the steps outlined above.

If you want more help figuring out how to put together easy home cooked meals, you should grab your free copy of Eleven Easy Meal Templates. I put together this PDF guide to share my go-to meals and demonstrate just how easy it can be to prepare healthy and delicious meals even with minimal cooking experience. Sign up using the box below.

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How I Learned to Cook (And You Can Too)

When I moved into my first apartment just after my freshman year of college, I had no idea how to cook. Most of the food I had prepared up to that point in my life was made in a microwave. My idea of grocery shopping included buying bags of chips, instant oatmeal and maybe the odd piece of fruit.

Moving into my apartment also coincided with the start of my weight loss journey. I not only needed to prepare more of my own food because I no longer had access to a dining hall, I also wanted to learn how to make healthy meals.

I had no idea where to start, so I walked to a local used bookstore and browsed the cookbook section until I found something that seemed easy enough for a novice cook. I took the book home, read the appendices in the back, and started trying some simple recipes. I slowly started to learn what I liked and became more efficient.

During the years since this first foray into cooking, I’ve gained competence in the kitchen. I now enjoy preparing food and trying out new recipes. I’ve even hosted dinner parties where I cooked nicer meals for larger groups of people.

Learning to cook has also been an invaluable skill in my journey to lose weight and keep it off. I have much more control over the quantity and quality of food I’m putting into my body because I prepare most of it myself.

In this week’s blog post, I want to share the four strategies which helped me the most when I was first learning how to cook. I know many busy people struggle to cook meals they actually like to eat. After reading this, I hope you have the tools you need to make more healthy and delicious food at home.

Learn Basic Cooking Techniques

In order to cook with ease, you need a solid grasp of certain essential kitchen skills. No one likes to fumble around the kitchen because it takes them forever to chop vegetables or figure out the best way to cook a certain type of meat.

I recommend starting with basic knife skills. Next, learn techniques like steaming, roasting, sautéing, and grilling. With these basic skills, you can prepare almost any simple meal. You can also invest in a few kitchen appliances to make cooking easier.

YouTube is a fantastic place to learn any unfamiliar cooking techniques. The Kitchn also has a 20-day email course teaching you about kitchen basics.

knife skills cutting board home cooking
Chopping veggies is one of the most time-consuming parts of cooking. Learning basic knife skills makes it much easier.

Use Recipes and Templates

As I mentioned in the intro, I learned to cook using a cookbook. These days, you don’t even need to purchase a cookbook because there are so many great free resources online. Start with recipes requiring just a few ingredients and minimal hands-on time. Many online recipes tell you exactly how long they take at the top of the page. If the ingredients list includes too many unfamiliar items, look for something else.

Although I don’t follow a paleo diet, I find lots of healthy recipes on paleo cooking blogs. These recipes focus largely on protein and veggies and many are quite easy to make. Avoid recipes that try to recreate complicated dishes using paleo ingredients.

Once you get a bit more comfortable in the kitchen, you can develop some flexible, go-to meals you can make with whatever you have on hand. I call these templates and use them for most of my meals these days. Recipes are great, but they can handicap you if you’re not able to put together meals without them. My personal favorite templates are scrambled eggs with veggies, salads, and stir frys.

homemade salad healthy lunch
I make a salad every day for lunch. The beauty of meal templates is you can change textures and flavors without changing the entire meal.

 

 

Stock Your Kitchen

It’s tough to cook at home if you’re purchasing every ingredient you need each week. Build up a supply of basic oils, spices, and acids. If you don’t have much at your house right now, start by grabbing one or two new items each week. Over time, you’ll pick up all the things you’ll need on a regular basis.

Here’s a list of some of the kitchen staples I use most often:

Oils

Olive oil

Coconut oil

Avocado oil

Spices

Chinese five spice powder (great for making stir frys)

Chili powder

Cinnamon

Cumin

Curry Powder

Dill

Garam Masala (great for making Indian food)

Ginger

Granulated garlic

Ground black pepper

Kosher salt

Lemon pepper

Old Bay (great for seasoning seafood)

Oregano

Paprika

Steak seasonings – Montreal, Chicago, Mesquite

Whole dried bay leaves (great for soups)

Acids

Lemon juice

Lime juice

Apple cider vinegar

Balsamic vinegar

Read More: Stock Your Pantry and Freezer for Easier Home Cooking

pantry spices home cook
A shot of my pantry in my old apartment. Notice the top rack of spices and the bottom rack of oils and acids.

Eat What You Like

Lots of people give up on cooking for themselves because all the food they make is bland and boring. This makes me sad because good cooking isn’t as difficult as people think. If you follow the first three steps in this blog, you’ll already be well on your way to making great tasting food at home.

One thing that’s helped me is seeking out recipes that imitate my favorite restaurant meals and styles of cooking.  I love Asian and Latin food so tacos, stir frys, pho, and various Indian dishes are all in my regular dinner rotation. Think about which of your favorite foods can be adapted into relatively easy home-cooked meals. A quick google search will likely turn up dozens of food bloggers who’ve had the exact same idea and already did all the hard work (experimenting and creating the recipe) for you.

As you start to cook more of your own food, pay attention to what you like and dislike. You’re an adult and you don’t have to eat any food you don’t enjoy. This is true even if the food in question is supposedly the healthiest food on earth. There are so many options for healthy foods. Get creative and try new things. If you don’t enjoy the way you eat, you won’t be able to do it for long.

If you want more help learning to cook, check out Eleven Easy Meal Templates. This free guide shares my favorite easy, healthy, homemade meals. Sign up in the box below.

 

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Plan Ahead to Exercise and Eat Right Over the Holidays (Or Any Stressful Period)

The last few months of the year are anything but relaxing for many people. Despite the bombardment of seasonal advertisements promising joy, togetherness, and peace, this is the time of year when many of us feel the most unhappy, overwhelmed, and stressed.

As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, many people start to feel down in the dumps. Motivation to exercise and eat healthy wanes accordingly.

Additionally, holiday events and family time can create tons of extra stress. Even if you adore the holidays, you may still worry about purchasing gifts for your list, managing seasonal obligations, and making healthier choices amidst a never ending supply of drinks, sweets, and fried foods.

Regular exercise and healthy eating are often the first things to go when you’re stressed and short on time. The good news is, since you’re already aware of this risk, you can take steps ahead of time to make your life easier as you move into the fourth quarter.

Here are three steps I recommend you take now, before things get crazy:

  • Adjust priorities. For most people, the last quarter is a bad time to chase a fat loss goal. You will drive yourself crazy trying to avoid every tasty treat that crosses your path between October and December. Rather than setting yourself up to fail with too much restriction, change course and try to maintain your physique or use extra holiday calories to build strength or muscle.

Read more: Seasons of Lifting

  • Ask, “What does success look like for me?” We all have different struggles. For me, success during the holidays means avoiding binging. For you, it may mean staying consistent with your exercise regimen, even when you’re traveling. Yet another person’s vision of holiday success includes keeping their drinking under control. Determine what is most important to you so you can prioritize the behaviors and strategies that get you where you want to go.
  • Manage your minimums. I learned this phrase from Precision Nutrition and I think it’s especially relevant in this context. What are the bare essentials you must do to keep yourself on track? Once you’ve figured these out, direct most of your effort into knocking them out consistently. Everything else you do is just an added bonus.

Below, I share specific strategies for managing training and healthy eating during the fourth quarter (or any other period when you’re under a lot of stress). Just remember to focus on the things that matter most to you. You don’t need to do everything I’m suggesting here to stay on track this holiday season.

stressed out holidays
Don’t let this be you come October, November, and December!

How to exercise over the holidays

Do less, but do it consistently.

I’ve written about this over and over and over, but it bears repeating here: you do not need to spend hours and hours each week exercising. This is especially true if you’re just trying to maintain your current level of fitness during a period of stress. You’ll see better results by being consistent through the end of the year than you will by occasionally following the “perfect” workout plan and giving up by December.

You also don’t need a full hour for a great workout. If you only have 30, 20 or even 15 minutes to exercise, you can still do something worthwhile. When you release yourself from the need to train for long periods of time, you may actually find more time during the week for exercise.

Plan ahead.

Sit down with your calendar for the remainder of the year and determine how many workouts you can realistically commit to every single week. For most of you this will be just two or three workouts.

You should also consider the length of time that works best with your schedule. For example, if you have to train over your lunch break but can’t be away for more than an hour, you’ll do better with 20-30 minute workouts than 45 minute workouts.

Whenever possible, schedule your workouts into your calendar the same way you do with any other obligation. This helps protect your time and demonstrates to yourself you’re committed to training.

Read more: 13 ways to find more time for exercise

Get creative when you’re away from the gym.

Many people struggle to come up with workout ideas and inspiration when they’re away from their regular gyms. I wrote an entire article about training on the road. Check it out for lots of ideas about modifying your workouts when you’re traveling this holiday season.

How to eat healthy over the holidays

Plan ahead.

When you’re overwhelmed and stressed out, the last thing you want to do is spend precious time cooking food every single day. If you’re not already batch-cooking some of your weekly meals, now is a good time to start. Here are two approaches you can use:

  1. Set aside a few hours on the weekend to prepare as many full meals as possible.
  2. Prepare some items to use in multiple dishes. Make a batch of shredded chicken in the slow cooker, roast a pan of veggies, hard boil a dozen eggs, prepare a bunch of quinoa in the instant pot, etc. You could also chop up raw veggies to throw into soups, eggs, salads, and stir frys throughout the week.

Read more: How I learned to cook (and you can too)

Use a delivery service.

Not everyone has the time or desire to grocery shop or cook all of their meals. If this sounds like you and you have the means to hire a delivery service, you’ll save a ton of time and hassle. You can find services that send you raw ingredients, fully cooked meals, and everything in between. Do some research to decide which option makes the most sense for you.

healthy eating thanksgiving holidays christmas

Make healthier choices when eating out.

It’s unrealistic to expect to eat only healthy home-cooked meals this time of year. If you’re eating out at a restaurant, attending an event, or simply navigating the buffet at family Thanksgiving, try following these tips:

  1. Prioritize protein and veggies and be sure to eat some with every meal.
  2. Take just one plate of food, and try to use smaller dishes when possible.
  3. Eat slowly and stop when you’re 80% full (not stuffed).
  4. If you’re going to eat junkier foods (sweets, fried foods, etc.), make sure it’s something you really enjoy. Don’t eat the store-bought cookies just because they’re there.

Read more: How to eat healthy when you’re eating out

Be mindful of alcohol.

It’s common to reach for a drink when you’re feeling stressed. However, some people lean more heavily on alcohol during the holidays than the rest of the year. Alcohol flows freely at holiday parties and family gatherings, and it’s tough to say no.

If you know you have a tendency to drink more than you’d like, try following one of these strategies:

  1. Decide ahead of time how many drinks you’re going to have and stop once you hit this number. Recruit an accountability buddy at the same event to help keep you honest.
  2. Drink a virgin drink (like soda water with lemon or coke zero) to make it seem as if you’re drinking. Some of my clients feel peer pressure to drink at work gatherings, and this strategy makes it easier to fit in with the crowd.
  3. If you’re drinking as a response to stress, try to find alternative releases. Go for a walk, take some deep breaths, converse with a friend or loved one, read a book, exercise, meditate, take a bath, journal…the list goes on and on. Experiment to find what works for you.

Read more: 3 Strategies to Successfully Navigate Holiday Eating

With everything else, do your best.

You can’t do everything all at once. When dealing with lots of stress, your exercise and eating routines can easily fall by the wayside. It’s important to focus on the most important things and forget about anything not essential to your success.

Adjust your priorities and figure out what success looks like for you. Determine the one or two things which will make the biggest difference. Nail these as consistently as you can and do what you can to manage stress in the rest of your life, then try to relax and enjoy the season. If you prepare ahead of time, it’s much easier to thrive through a stressful period.

If you’re worried about staying in shape through the end of the year, I’ve got your back. Fill out an application for my online training program and we’ll work together to create a plan to keep you on track without losing your mind.

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Got New Year’s Resolutions? I’ve Got Resources

As 2017 comes to a close, I want to take some time to reflect on everything I’ve covered this year. Since launching this website in mid-April, I’ve written 37 articles covering a wide range of topics related to training, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle. It’s been such a joy for me to use my passion for writing as part of my fitness work, and I’m grateful to everyone who has read and shared my posts.

My two most popular posts this year told the stories of two different phases of my ongoing fitness journey. The first post, How I Lost 30lbs Without Counting Calories, revealed the habits that allowed me to lose weight with minimal stress while living in San Francisco in 2014 and 2015. The second post, 6 Things I Learned From a Year of Online Training With Bryan Krahn, explained some lessons I learned in 2016 and 2017 when I hired a coach to help me get in my best shape ever. I hope some of my experiences can provide insight and clarity on issues you may be dealing with as you chase your own goals.

My objective is to provide clear, simple, actionable tips and inspiration to help you navigate the confusing and contradictory world of health and fitness advice. With that in mind, this week I’ve put together a year-end guide for you. I reviewed my 2017 posts and organized them by topic. Many of you probably have New Year’s resolutions related to health and fitness. However, it’s likely that you aren’t 100% sure what steps you need to take to realize those goals. Skim through this post, look for the articles relevant to you, bookmark them for later, and share with others. I hope this guide can help answer some of your questions and give you the resources needed to take the first steps toward a fitter and healthier 2018.

Note – hyperlink text does not appear in another color. Hover over the text to find links to each post

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Healthy eating

Year after year, weight loss is the most common New Year’s resolution. If you want to lose weight, take control of your eating. Calories must be managed to create a deficit. This requires you to cook more, manage portions, choose more nutrient-dense foods, and combat destructive eating habits like emotional eating. These are all great skills to master even if you are happy with your physique.

  • Cooking more of your own meals is an important step in making healthier food choices. Check out these articles for tips on how to become a better home cook:
  • It’s not always possible to prepare your own food. This post provided strategies for eating out at restaurants when you are on a diet.
  • One of the easiest ways you can improve the quality of your diet, regardless of whether you want to lose weight, is to eat more vegetables. In this post, I explain how I overcame my dislike of vegetables and transformed them into a centerpiece of my diet.
  • Finally, for many people healthier eating means taking control of destructive eating habits such as emotional and stress eating. Check out these posts for tips on combating these challenging obstacles:

Training

It’s no secret that I think everyone should perform some kind of regular resistance training. Strength training builds strong muscles and bones and makes our bodies more efficient. However, it can be confusing, overwhelming, and intimidating to get started with lifting weights. Check out some of these resources if you want help establishing a new routine or improving your current routine.

  • If you want more information on how to train around pain and injuries:

Consistency and Routine

Many New Year’s resolutions fail because people are too ambitious right out of the gate. If you aren’t in the habit of coming to the gym every day or prepping all of your meals, you should set more realistic initial goals. First work to build better systems and develop consistent routines. Real change is made by developing sustainable healthy habits. Start where you are and take one small step forward every day.

  • If you struggle to have healthy food available when you need it:
  • This post on seasons of lifting provides ideas and inspirations for organizing a year’s worth of training. This is a great strategy to ensure your fitness goals mesh well with your life outside of the gym.

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Mindset and More

Mindset is the secret sauce to achievement. You can have all the practical knowledge in the world, but if you don’t surround yourself with good people, practice patience, believe in yourself, and choose goals that resonate with your values, you will never truly succeed.

That’s a wrap on 2017. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas for a future blog post. If you are interested in working with me, please fill out an application for my online training program here. Thank you all for your continued support!