Tips and tricks around nutrition or how I manage balanced eating habits - my fitness journey #2
What I’ve learned about macros, energy, and balance (plus my favorite tools, apps, and creators for making healthy food easier and fun).
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Some weeks ago, I published a very detailed post about how I transformed my relationship with exercise, and you can read it here. I talked about my mindset shift around exercise and the habits and tools that changed the game for me. And I guess when it comes to health, our eating habits are also a big part of that, but since that post was long enough, I decided to save the content about food for a part 2, and here we are.
As I mentioned on that post, I grew up in a very toxic diet culture - learning early on about "diet" meant restriction and starving, and seeing a lot of foods labeled as bad and good. I witnessed the first wave of "diet" and "light" products on the market and no one was talking about the importance of protein at that time…
At the same time, I also grew up around food. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, Christmas - not only mentioning birthday parties: Brazilian culture around food is strong, and I've grown up watching my mom and my grandma cooking a lot, and baking a lot of delicious things from scratch. I developed some interest in cooking early on - I loved to look into my mom's cookbooks and notebooks with handwritten recipes, and I wanted to make all those delicious recipes.
Perhaps this interest in cooking early on prevented me from having a toxic relationship with food - not saying that I've never restricted myself, or that I've never felt guilty after eating. My passion for cooking was also a gift that helps me to be creative with my meals today.
Until reaching this point today, I had many ups and downs with my nutrition and eating habits. The more I learn, the more I ask myself why we are not hearing more about nutrition in school, as well as exercise and financial education. It would prevent so many problems in our adult lives, lol.
Please note: I'm not a health advisor and while I would encourage everyone to talk to a registered dietician if you have the means for, I also believe we should be our own health advocates. Knowledge brings power. My goal with this post is sharing what has been working for me and, perhaps, inspire people to pursue a healthier life.
1. The change of mindset - food is fueling and balance is key
Again, it all started to change when I read Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, by Peter Attia. This book is like a longevity bible, and the topics that stood out the most for me were nutrition and exercise.
Also, I think there is a generation of us that learned to see food in very problematic ways. Terms like “cheating days” for eating until you feel physically bad, or that “diet” means restricting yourself or starving forever, or even seeing exercise as something you have to do to earn your right to eat. Over time, I think this way of looking at food is not healthy.
What I try to remind myself is that food is fueling. It's fueling to have a healthier and happy life, it is fueling to allow my body to lift weights and help me to build a strong body which is gonna help me to keep a sustainable lifestyle, it is fueling to keep myself active and doing the things I love - like running and hiking, for example.
On another hand, food is also a social ritual, it's joy, and also a love language for someone like me who absolutely loves cooking.
So, I guess that shifting the way we see food can be life changing. That doesn't happen overnight - and, like I mentioned: knowledge brings power. Understanding food - and being kind with yourself over the process - can lead to a better and healthy relationship with food. It's hard to stick to some habits - or change other ones - when you don't understand the reasons behind.
And that brings me to the next topic…
2. Macros or… you gotta hit that count!
I know it sounds like the entire world doesn't talk about another thing: protein. And I can understand how that can sound pathetic or silly, or perhaps you think that's something for bodybuilders. Truth is that we should think about protein, using Zach Rocheleau's words - one of my favorite influencers when it comes to recipes - "as the building blocks of your body. It helps you build and maintain muscle, supports your immune system, keeps you feeling fuller longer, and even helps repair cells after workouts."
But although a lot of people and brands on social media are only focusing on protein, you need to understand the importance of the other macros as well - read carbs (yes, carbs, let's not demonize them!), healthy fats and fibers. Not only because each of these nutrients have different benefits for our bodies, but also because it helps to make smart choices when it comes to food.
I know some people will say that they have eaten in a certain way for their entire lives and they are fine, but once you start to make some shifts and seeing the difference and the impact on your body and overall health (and I'm not talking about loosing weight here), it's hard to go back. Take alcohol, for example. I love wine, beer, and great craft cocktails, but these days, I'm very picky about the occasions I drink because I know how I feel the next day. I know how it impacts my body, my sleep, and my performance. I also know that I will probably need a nap if I eat a lot of red meat for my lunch. I know that if I have dinner late, I won't sleep well. So, perhaps a lot of our choices seem "fine" because we don't know the other way around, you know?
A registered dietitian can help you and come up with a plan that makes sense to your lifestyle - and goals - but, again: I really believe that understanding the whys behind nutrition and food helps us to really stick to better habits. And all that comes back to knowledge brings power - so, make sure to do your homework, meaning, do your research.
There are tons of people on the internet providing excellent free content -based on science - and I absolutely love Abbey Sharp and her approach. Highly recommend her videos on Youtube - and also her podcast.
3. Eating healthy doesn't need to be boring
I guess I have an advantage here cause I really enjoy cooking - and I believe that makes my life easier, cause it brings me joy to plan meals, discover new recipes, and try different things in the kitchen. It makes me sad when people say they don't know how to cook or they don't like to cook - it's not criticism. But perhaps cooking- I'm talking about basic skills, you don't need to be a chef! - is also something we should have learned early on.
And I know, I know. It's not easy to find the energy or the time to cook when we are so stressed with out professional lives with little or non work-life balance + other responsibilities like taking care of your home and, in a lot of cases, your family (kids are a full time job!).
But, I think when it comes to our health, we need to find systems that work for us. Being ordering from meal plan services (which can be expensive, but super convenient if it fits your budget), meal prep for some hours a week or every 2 weeks, etc.
On my post about how my husband and I choose to spend our money living in NYC, I mentioned we don't spend money with food delivery and prioritize cooking our own food - and splurging at restaurants here and there.
And while I don't like to spend hours and hours cooking dinner every night, there are tons of ways to make simple, quick, and delicious meals at home.
In our case, we try to optimize meal prep to the maximum. We always have prepared food in our freezer - things like quinoa, brown rice, farro, beans, and stews, plus frozen veggies and fruits. This way, it's easy to put together a salad, a wrap, or a bowl for healthy and quick dinners during the week. So, as I mentioned in that post, knowing how to cook is beneficial not only for your health but also for your bank account.
And while I don't do meal prep per se, I try to take advantage of the time I'm already in the kitchen to optimize and automate some processes. For example, when I'm preparing dinner, I always try to at least cook the double to have leftovers for lunch next day.
4. Inspiration is everywhere
Creativity is a muscle that needs to be stimulated. From styling clothes to writing, from shooting a video to cooking: everything involves creativity and the more you practice, and the more you research, the more you get inspired.
Here what I use to find and organize my recipe ideas:
Pinterest - it's probably my favorite place to look for recipes cause it is a search engine and I can look for ideas with specific ingredients. Also, the more you search for a topic, the more the algorithm is gonna show you content related to that. I like to organize my pins into folders and subfolders, so it's easier to look for a recipe/idea/inspiration when I need it.
Instagram / TikTok - I follow a lot of creators who post recipes, and I save a lot of recipes. I also organize into folders - but, unfortunately, I don't think the IG interface is good to find old recipes. There's no search - on Pinterest, for example, I can choose to search for recipes that I've already saved. So, although I love the ideas and inspo I find on Instagram and Tik Tok, I was constantly overwhelmed and frustrated by the experience. Basically, the older the recipe I saved, the less were the odds that I would ever do that recipe… which leads me to the next topic..
ReciMe - this is a recipe organizer that allows you to import recipes from Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, blogs, screenshots and pictures. I'm obsessed with this app and now, every time I find a recipe I like on social media, I just copy/paste the link to save on ReciMe. The paid version has unlimited features - while the free version only allows you to save 8 recipes per month.
Youtube - probably the best resource for recipes along blogs because of the long form content. I absolutely love to watch step by step recipes, “what I eat on a day” - I see this kind of video as inspiration and ideas for meals, but I understand it can cause triggers to some people - and also cooking hacks and tips.
Here are some of my favorite creators:
Mike Greenfield's content is precious. He shares so many good hacks for meal prep, quick meals, and zero-waste recipes. I've learned a lot from him.
Besides being super fun, Joshua Weissman and sharing challenges and food around the world, he also shares incredible tips so you can become a better cook.
Zach Rocheleau's content is focused on "macro-friendly” recipes. He believes that eating healthy doesn't need to be boring, and you don't need to give up on your favorite foods to achieve your goals. Think about foods like pizza, burgers, and brownies with another approach - lower in calories, and rich in protein. I highly recommend signing up for his newsletter - great content and recipes in your inbox.
As someone who also loves to explore plant-based protein recipes, I really enjoy Sophie Waplington's recipes. She just launched her cookbook.
Carleigh Bodrug is another creator sharing plant-based recipes online - she also gives a lot of ideas and recipes to avoid food waste.
5. Make your life easier with kitchen gadgets
I love kitchen gadgets - not only because I love cooking - but also because, when you choose the best kitchen gadgets, they end up providing more cooking possibilities and make your life easier.
Here are my top 4 favorite kitchen gadgets:
Air Fryer - I not even love this for cooking, but also for reheating some foods - so much better than the microwave. It's such a powerful tool to make delicious, healthy and quick meals. This is the one I use.
Ninja Creami - yes, it's so worth the hype. This machine totally changed my snack game - I can basically have ice cream every day with protein powder. There's a learning curve until you nail your favorite recipe, but once you reach that… It's just happiness.
Immersion blender - my favorite immersion blender also comes with a mini-food processor and it's perfect for smoothies, soups, creams, sauces, and also to chop veggies quickly.
Panini Press, Stainless Steel Griddler - love to use this one to grill veggies but mostly to make pressed sandwiches and wraps (it's basically my lunch every day!).
I really hope this post can bring some inspiration to your life regarding nutrition - and as I mentioned on my post about exercise - it's a marathon, not a race. Nourishing our body properly and exercise often is backed by science as a powerful for a healthier longer life.
