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Nutritious Meal Plan

This post was written by our Blogger Ambassador, Kate Hiipakka of The Four Percent. Enjoy!

You can work out all you want, but if you’re eating sh*t, you won’t get anywhere. There is a fitness adage that states, “Abs are made in the kitchen”, and a (unofficial) ratio that claims weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. It may seem extreme, but it’s true. Nutrition has to be aligned if you want to see results in your body. This is coming from a girl who could eat French fries and ice cream with every meal, so believe me, I feel your pain.

Eating clean is more than just incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your daily meals. A lot of thought and preparation is required so it’s important to make your meal plan as efficient and effective as possible. Personally, I am not vegan or vegetarian, I don’t follow a specific diet and I do not have any dietary restrictions or allergies.  I structure my meals to be consumed every 2-3 hours – each including a protein source in combination with fruits or vegetables, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. I’ll add some fine print right here – I am not a nutritionist, but I’ve play around with A LOT of nutritional components and have done a lot of research. I’ve found the below outline to be really effective.

Breakfast: protein + fruit (or veg)
Snack: protein + fruit + healthy fat
Lunch: protein + vegetable + carbohydrate
Snack: protein + fruit
Dinner: protein + vegetable + carbohydrate

Good-Food-Fridge-Healthy-Eating

Check out this very BASIC breakdown for more deets:

Protein

This can be anything from beans, fish, poultry or lean beef. A major benefit of any protein source is that it keeps you full and provides vital nutrients to build muscle and keep your metabolism charged. Protein is essential for muscles to gain mass (read: “tone”) and recover after hard workouts. Load up!

high-protein-diet
Carbohydrates:

I’m talking about starches, fruits, whole grains, or vegetables. Basically, carbs provide the energy that fuels muscle growth. After consumption carbohydrates breakdown into smaller parts that get absorbed by our bods and are used as energy.

fruits-and-vegetables

Healthy fats:

Think oils, avocados, nuts or seeds. Healthy fats benefit our bodies, but should be consumed in moderation, so go easy, a table spoon of olive oil or almond butter, half an avocado, or a handful of almonds does the trick. These babies will help aid heart health, keep arteries flexible and support overall health.

healthy-fats
Regardless of eating habits the golden rule should be: eat when you’re hungry, and stay hydrated.

Please note: the above are all whole food sources, the less crap from a box labeled “low fat” or “fat free” you put into your body the better. True story.

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Foods that have been linked to skin related issues

It’s often said that “we are what we eat” and with countless studies to substantiate these claims, we are now more than ever, aware of all the consequences to our daily diet. We’re breaking down for you the most potent food culprits that leave pure skin anything but glowing. There are easy ways substitute these foods with healthier skin-friendly alternatives, as featured below.

– Alcohol: All in moderation and if possible try to stick to red wine. Alcohol contains a ton of sugar which can cause glycation (the breakdown of the proteins in skin (collagen and elastin), ultimately causing skin to sag and age. Glucose also causes cells to be malformed and irregular thus creating free radicals.

Substitution: Drink 1 – 2 X per week!

– White Sugar: Leading the cause glycation breakdown, this is a big one to stay clear of. Try adding non-processed sugars or fruits into your diet.

Substitution: Cinnamon can also be substituted and it helps with inflammation! Honey and/or Cacao are great alternatives to actual sugar and they are both super foods.

– White bread: Contain extremely high glycemic levels. Foods that have a high glycemic level raise blood sugar and can cause inflammation. This can cause a puffy look to the skin and face.

Substitution: Look for breads listed as low glycemic. Our favorite is Ezekiel bread!

Fried foods: Fried foods also have high glycemic levels and can be full of preservatives which can cause bloating.

Substitution: If you are cooking with oil, try and use olive oil or coconut.

Soda: Whether it is the sugar or the artificial sweetener, stay away from drinking soda. Soda causes bloating and can dehydrate the skin.

Substitution: Kombucha or Sparkling Water

Preservatives:  can cause inflammation. Inflammation inside the body is a very bad thing and looks pretty bad our your skin too. Preservatives are in many foods. Stay clear of deli meats, pre-packaged snack foods and try cooking from scratch instead of reaching for the chines food.

Substitution: When cooking at home use natural ingredients buying processed food. Use ingredients to season food like garlic, tumeric and ginger. All three are extremely healthy and aid with inflammation.

Meat: All meat if not organic will contain hormones that the animal has been fed. Hormones can need to eat organic in order to not ingest hormones the animal has been fed.

Substitution: Aim for fish instead. Salmon, arguably the most healthy food, is the best because of omegas.

Dairy: Does nothing but cause inflammation.

Substitution: There are so many dairy alternatives including almond and coconut derived non-dairy products. For a complete listing see here: Non-Dairy.

Our “IT” List: Water, oily fish such as salmon and sardines, avocado, berries, citrus fruit, nuts, seeds, green vegetables, red wine in moderation, green tea, rooibos tea, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and plain yogurt.

 

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Slow Down Aging Skin with Three Food Tips

By Rhea Cortado

Photo Jun 17, 11 12 29 AM

You’ve been there—working extra long hours, you order greasy takeout on the regular and the stress breaks out in pimples on your skin. Or the morning after a bingefest, those dark bags under your eyes look like you got punched in the face. It’s clear that what foods you put into your body affects your skin.

To find out more about how to prevent skin aging through the right foods, I asked my friend Dr. Michelle Davenport who is the Director of Nutrition at Zesty, Inc., a mobile app based in San Francisco in which you can find healthy take-out food.

Michelle specializes in the aging compounds called advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and says, “Aging of skin is caused by (AGEs) that can: 1) cross-link to collagen in our skin and make it weaker and 2) cause inflammation and skin damage.”

To lower the amount of AGEs that exist in our bodies, she gives these three tips to remember when cooking at home or going out to eat.

1. Avoid foods that have been cooked in high, dry heat. For example, swap out the barbecue for the steamer, or incorporate more raw foods into your diet (i.e. sashimi vs. teriyaki salmon). Also, I don’t advocate for a raw diet, just incorporating more raw foods into our diets overall.

2. Cook with water and lemon. Water-based cooking methods (i.e. steaming) and acidic marinades (i.e. lemon or lime juice) can inhibit the formation of AGEs throughout the cooking process.

3. Eat your fruits and veggies. These superfoods contain properties that can fight the damage caused by AGEs and slow the aging process.

And lastly, not food related, but Don’t Smoke! Cigarettes are basically little AGE sticks. The curing of tobacco forms AGEs, so it’s not surprising to find chronic smokers look much older than their identical non-smoker twins, as recent studies have found.

Visit drmichelledavenport.com for some healthy recipes and stay tuned for more food tips for anti-AGEing from Michelle soon.

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