The two biggest questions I get usually have something to do with finding healthy meals & determining effective workouts. I have built everything that I do around trying to help people have access to tools that answer these two questions.

Today I want to address the healthy meals questions in a little bit more depth. I can understand why people have so many questions about food. There are about a million different fad diets, methods of eating, different opinions, & meal plans to implement. However, I’ve found that helping people understand the basis and SCIENCE of the food that is going into their healthy meals, can make a huge difference in their choices of what to eat.

2012

I have ALWAYS been mindful of what I eat. I have had to be. My body is super sensitive to what goes into it. However, my option on what made up the “healthy meals” I was eating has definitely changed over time. In 2012 I felt like I had been relying too much on processed foods, & so I decided to go completely Paleo with my eating. I am one who doesn’t do anything without knowing the research, & science behind it. I was eating healthy meals up to this point, I felt like I’d allowed in a lot of sugar free/low fat/no fat foods as well.

I wanted to allow my digestion to improve, & help my body to learn to reediest REAL food. I also wanted to stop counting calories, & I felt like if I stuck to a paleo diet I wouldn’t need to. Paleo eating eliminates all processed foods, all grains & legumes, any processed sugar, & dairy. I wanted to clean things up, & this made sense to me. I maintained this method of eating for about 3 years. That being said my newfound healthy meals were all made up of lean protein, LOTS of veggies, some fruit, & healthy fats. 

2015

In about 2015 I realized that my paleo eating had dropped my caloric intake to about 1200 calories per day… I noticed that if I ever did start to exceed that amount, my body would hold on to every single extra thing. I did some more research, & had a hunch that I’d done a real number on my metabolism. So, I decided I needed to up my intake. It is hard to get a lot of calories from straight up veggies and protein, so I added in some (a very minimal amount) of whole grains & legumes back in. I still kept my sugar intake low…oh and can I mention that having not had grains for 3 years, I was TERRIFIED of them.

2016

From about 2015-1016 I put on about 15 lbs. It didn’t matter how hard I worked out, (we are talking like 90 mins to 2 hours per day) or how clean I ate, My body just continued to put on fat. I dropped the grains again, & nothing changed. Mathematically my caloric burn vs my caloric intake just wasn’t making ANY sense. I was tracking meticulously, & nothing was changing for me.

When working with clients, I think it is important to eliminate all possibility that weight gain/loss is because of food intake before seeking out other reasons. I was tracking my intake perfectly, and I knew it wasn’t the food I was eating. At that point, I KNEW something wasn’t right, so I went to my doctor and had some blood work done.

The blood work revealed that I was VERY insulin resistant…this means that the body has stopped responding to the hormone insulin. Insulin’s role in the body is that of storage of glucose and fat. It also helps our cells function as they should. If there is too much insulin in the body (commonly a result of the food we eat) the body starts to become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance very likely means inefficiency in how the cells of the body are working & excess fat storage. Sugars & carbohydrates are the foods that will spike insulin.

My dr suggested that I follow a ketogenic way of eating to help reverse the insulin resistance. I did a LOT of research about it first, & the principles behind it made sense to me. Ketogenic eating is a high fat, VERY low carb, minimal protein way of eating that keeps your insulin levels from spiking by avoiding the foods that have a higher carb & sugar content.

Remember, I don’t believe in jumping into some extreme fad diet to lose weight. I didn’t want this to be that for me. However, I trusted the process, and ate ketogenic for a little under a year.

2017

I did see some initial progress with this way of eating, but keto way of eating was really hard for me. I don’t have an affinity for fatty foods. I don’t love dairy & cheese. I am not into bacon, & fatty cuts of meat. It just isn’t what I like to eat. I did lose about 10-15 lbs, but I got a Dexa scan, & my body fat still was higher than it should be. Then my body just stalled out. I couldn’t get my body to go into ketosis, where it has to be for the body to be burning fat. For the last 2 months of my keto eating, I was working with keto specialists to try & figure out why it wasn’t responding…I tried intermittent fasting, a broth fast, and at the end of the day they kind of threw their hands up & didn’t have an answer for me. So it was back to my basic eating clean again. 

2018

At this point I was INSANELY frustrated. I was back to meticulously tracking my macros, & trying to figure out what the issue was. I decided to go to a hormone specialist who could give me a full panel of my blood work, and look more in depth at what the issue was. This blood work showed that I was still very insulin resistant, and that my testosterone was about 4 times higher than it should be. The doctor told me that there it was a super unique situation, and he had no explanation for it. With the combo of insulin resistance + high testosterone, my body was being told to store EVERYTHING. The reason I kept putting on excess fat was because of my hormone imbalance. I started some hormone therapy. I decided I was tired of being afraid of eating grains or carbs or fruit for that matter. I learned that what i’d been preaching all along applied to me too.

MODERATION.

2019

Fast forward to today. My healthy meals are still built around lean protein, lots of veggies, & healthy fats. I still know that my body doesn’t respond well to sugar, so I watch my sugar intake. However, I don’t have a fear of what I “can’t” have. I have taken tools from all of these different methods, & found some tools that I think can help me & for those that I work with. Let me explain.

From eating paleo, I learned:

• Whole foods are SO important – your body will appreciate you so much if you watch the amount of processed foods you put in your body. Think about it…in your day, how much of your food that you eat comes from a box or has a nutrition label? How much of it is FRESH? How much of it is processed? It does matter. I think the more whole foods you eat the better.
• Grains aren’t bad. It is just a matter of what grains you are eating. Choose whole grains.
• Veggies rule. I always feel better when I am eating more vegetables. The end.
• Protein is very important.  Your body needs it to rebuild, build, & if you make your protein a priority, you will be far likely to eat a lot less crap.

From Keto, I learned:

• Fat isn’t bad. You shouldn’t be afraid of good fats. It can help you to feel satiated and stay full.
• The effect of sugar on the body. I knew this, but it was made MUCH more apparent to me when I couldn’t let my insulin spike because of my carb intake. I don’t think people realize what an effect sugar can have on their bodies.
• Not to be afraid of carbs. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but eating keto made me FEAR carbs with my whole soul…because they raise your blood sugar. I had to re-learn (post keto) that I can still have carbs and I won’t ruin everything. I can tell you the carb count of just about every food  now, because I had to know…but now I am smart about which carbs I choose.
• I love veggies so much. I was VERY diligent on my keto when I did it, and I stayed under 20 grams of carbs per day to insure I was in ketosis (many keto eating people don’t realize that they are kicking themselves out of ketosis with too many veggies or too much protein – both of which can spike your blood sugar) I hated that I couldn’t eat a lot of vegetables. I missed them!
• Intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone. I did intermittent fasting every day for 3 months, & I didn’t love it. I LOVE breakfast. I don’t like feeling hungry.

From macro counting, I learned:

• Every food has a caloric value, and many people don’t realize WHAT they are eating.
• I learned NOT to be afraid of foods.
• I recognized that macro counting doesn’t work if you are only going to do it 3 days out of the week. YOU HAVE to actually count ALL your macros to know if your numbers are working for you or not.
• There are foods that are “worth it” to me, and some that aren’t.
• MODERATION

Can I say it again…moderation. If your method of eating isn’t sustainable…it isn’t worth it. Chances are you will drop it after a few weeks or a month, and go back to your old habits. Why not, instead, make some healthy changes that will LAST!

Choose healthy foods most the time, & the consistency of choosing healthy foods most the time will allow you for a little wiggle room when you don’t. Food is meant to be enjoyed, but if you are ALWAYS choosing processed foods that are packed with sugar and little nutrients, you can’t expect your body to perform it’s best for you! Fuel yourself with the foods that will help you to feel good, & I promise the physical benefits (like weight loss & inches lost) will follow after.

xoxoxo Megs

P.S. It’s from all these years of learning that I came up with a super simple, clean, livable, TASTY, & easy to follow meal plan that you can see HERE I wanted to create something that had recipes you could use to see progress, but that you could also use to feed your whole family! It is a simple 8 week plan that makes cooking healthy meals so easy!