You know how squirrels in the fall are constantly picking up treasures and burying them in special little hiding spots around the yard? They are stocking up for the cold winter ahead. Saving the abundance of now for later.
I am exactly like that with my freezer. I am constantly finding little culinary treasures and tucking them away.
Read MoreI have found that having gentle parameters or themes can actually be incredibly helpful for fostering creativity, including when it comes to meal planning. Instead of restricting, it’s about focus. It means picking a food category or ingredient you’d like to explore more of and looking for fun ways to make that happen.
This summer, I am taking a focused approach to add interest, excitement, and creativity to the table. My summer meal planning theme is sandwiches.
Read MoreOnce people learn that I am a professional recipe developer and nutritionist with a focus on meal planning, they often assume that I have a sprawling kitchen and walk-in pantry. In reality, I live in a small house with a small kitchen, and I don’t even have a dishwasher!
That’s right, I have developed over a thousand recipes and have hand-washed every single measuring cup, bowl, and pan along the way. Over the years, I’ve had to find ways to make my limited space work to reduce the friction of cooking and keep the joy in making and eating. Here is how I make it happen.
Read MoreSeasonal changes always tend to be a little bumpy. Be it what to wear or what to eat, it is hard to remember what worked last year. Spring, as we transition from long dark winter to brighter days, can feel particularly jarring.
From a diet-culture view this is also the time that “spring detoxes” start to gain steam. Diet culture is predictable; it capitalizes on these moments of uncertainty to make us collectively feel bad about our bodies and worried about our health.
But we aren't doing that here. Instead of a "cleanse," let's talk about a refresh.
Read MoreThis post was first written in 2021, but my view on meal planning has evolved since then. Through my own recovery from rigid, orthorexic eating patterns and my work as a clinician, helping others find confidence in food without restriction, I’ve learned that a “perfect” plan is often the enemy of a sustainable one.
I still contend there are as many ways to meal plan as there are meals in a week. The key is finding what works for you.
The single biggest factor in long-term health isn't a specific diet but rather eating a wide variety of foods consistently. To do that without losing your mind, you need a system—not a set of rules.
Read MoreWhether you are single and cooking feels like a hassle for just one person, or a parent fielding a million questions a day (why do we have eyebrows?) along with alllllll the household food opinions, we’ve all been there: staring into the fridge, too tired to think, too hungry to wait (bonus points for a toddler in meltdown).
And that is just dinner. It is easy to feel resentful of the fact that we need to eat so many damn times each day.
Read MoreAn overly simplified definition of body image is how you picture yourself in your mind’s eye. This often has strong focus on appearance – looks, height, shape, size, and other physical attributes.
And, yes, how you picture yourself is part of the equation. However, that definition falls short of the complex (and sometimes contradictory) way you think, feel, and perceive your body in this world. These beliefs about your body can be both positive and negative and can change over time as you are exposed to new information or experiences.
Body image is a deeply personal internal experience that can be heavily shaped by external influences.
Read MoreSince eating is required for survival, feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and comfort related to it are hardwired into humans to make eating a desirable activity. Many of us learn to use food to help soothe or distract ourselves from uncomfortable emotions because food is readily available and reliably provides, at least momentary, comfort and distraction.
Read MoreIn the long term, improving your relationship with food makes food-centric celebrations easier to navigate and more pleasurable. The challenge with changing your relationship with food is it doesn’t happen quickly. However, if you are reading this just weeks or days before the holidays, all is not lost. There are some simple things you can do now that increase your short-term pleasure in holiday foods and lay the groundwork for deeper work in the future.
Read MoreSocial media is a hot topic these days. It is both blamed for the downfall of humanity while at the same time providing life-affirming connections for those who may be otherwise isolated.
My decision to quit social media took a few years and a good amount of personal reflection. For me, I found the toll it took on my mental and emotional health was greater than the benefits I gained from being on it.
Read MoreWhat we eat does impact how we feel. If we skip regular meals and prop ourselves up with caffeine, sugar, and refined snack foods, we are not only missing important nutrients, but we are also causing blood sugar, our brain’s preferred energy source, to erratically spike and drop throughout the day, which is very stressful on the body.
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