The Perfect Meal Plan Made for YOU!

You read diet books, you scour Shape magazines, you watch Dr. Oz, you read your favorite blogs, and all the conflicting nutrition dogma’s get somewhat jumbled in your head.  “Eat low carb!” “Watch your portions!” “Count Calories!” “Calories don’t matter, just eat what you want!” “Coffee is good for you!” “Coffee is harmful to your heath.”  “Eat low sodium meals”.  “Use Celtic Sea salt!”  “You must get 5-9 servings of grains per day!” “Grains cause inflammation!”  And on and on… How will you ever tackle your health issues when you are so confused.

It’s time to take the guess-work out of your nutrition.

It’s time for common sense with a little dash of science and research.

I’m going to just lay out the bare bones basics of what all dieticians, nutritionists, doctors, and anyone with their common sense still in tact can agree on when it comes to creating optimal health.  By focusing on these few key things, my hope is that you will throw out the dogma and use true facts, as well as your own common sense approach about what works for you individually.  In this way, you can develop YOUR OWN PERFECT MEAL PLAN or “Diet” as it were that you can reap heaps of benefits from and get the results you are looking for.  Diet, after all, isn’t a bad word or something you “go on”, but rather, the definition of it precisely is:  (Merriam Webster Dictionary) “food and drink regularly provided or consumed”.  Period.  You choose what that is for your health based on common sense and the undeniable truths that I have listed below:

1.  Vegetables.  No one under the sun will deny that we should eat vegetables.  Drs, nutrionists, dietitians, and scientists all agree that the human body was designed for vegetables, as we are by nature “Omnivores” which are humans or animals that eat both plants and animals.  Vegetables contain the necessary nutrients for cellular energy, cellular function, and cellular regeneration.  Now for the common sense approach:  Which ones work for you? Which ones make you feel the best?  Without reading a lot of mumbo jumbo about which are the highest in anti-oxidants, which prevent this or which help with that, listen to your body and eat the ones you enjoy and the ones that make you feel like you can digest well, eliminate well, and perform well.  Jodelle’s bonus tip:  Flavor them up right.  Many dark leafy green veggies contain calcium which is important for bone health.  So cook them up in some butter, for flavor, yes, but also for the fact that butter contains both Vitamin D3 and K2 which are essential for helping absorb the calcium from foods.

2.  Water.  No health care practitioner of any kind would negate the fact that we need water.  50-70% of the human body is water, and the body always wants to stay at a constant ph of 7.4 and needs water to do so.  Water is necessary for every cell of the body every second of the day.  3 days of severe dehydration can shut down the human body. So part of your meal plan should not only be to take in adequate water throughout your day, but also to consume foods that contain water, namely vegetables.  (Hey there’s that word again.) Vegetables have a high water content and if you don’t like to drink water, simply adding in a lot of watery foods can help with hydration.  Fat loss, metabolism, sleep, and immune function will all be optimized by consuming adequate water.  Common sense approach:  No need to carry around an Igloo thermos of water to drink each day, just drink often and when you are thirsty. Aim for half your body weight in ounces as a general rule, since half your body weight is water, and if you don’t quite get there, don’t “sweat” it (literally, ha, you’ll lose water). Just drink what you need when you need it.  Avoid over-hydrating with water, as you can actually flush out key electrolytes and minerals and do more harm than good. Jodelle’s Bonus tip:  add a pinch of sea salt to your mouth just before drinking water first thing in the morning.  You lost minerals all night while you slept and sea salt contains 82 vital minerals to fuel the body, not to mention help the water get into the cells where it is needed. Don’t believe me?  Taste your tears, lick your sweat,… you are not just losing water, but you are losing salt which needs replenished too.

3.  Protein.  While you may find differing opinions about how much protein, what kinds of protein (vegan, vegetarian, or animal), and when to consume protein, the bottom line is everyone in the health field will agree it’s necessary.  Amino acids in protein are crucial to every cell, and  in fact In the form of proteins, amino acids comprise the second-largest component (water is the largest) every cell of the body. Common sense approach when it comes to what kind of proteins, how much, and when: Patient know thyself.  If you don’t enjoy or feel comfortable eating animal protein, then stick to other great vegan sources like hemp, chia, and sesame seeds.  If you adore meat, then get the highest quality grass-fed animal protein you can find and eat a “common sense amount”…meaning, if it looks like it’s too big in regards to how big your stomach organ is, then it’s probably too big.  And common sense tells us that a fluid stream of amino acids from protein would be optimal to keep building good cells and creating neurotransmitters like serotonin (your feel good neurotransmitter) all the live long day.  Therefore, get in small amounts of protein throughout your day, when you can in a way that fits your lifestyle. Jodelle’s Bonus Tip: Focus on real sources of protein, not protein bars, “protein chips”, or “protein water”.  Real food is always best, and is easy to prepare when you make health a priority. Focus on grass-fed meats, pasture-raised chickens, organic seeds, and if you do dairy, always make sure it’s organic and hormone-free to avoid ingesting too many ‘growth hormones’.  For we as adults no longer grow up, rather, we grow out, and we grow tumors. 

4.  Pay attention to all 3 macros. While some will say “Count your calories” or “eat low fat” or “eat low carb”, all nutrition experts will agree that there is a necessary need for at least some of each of the three main macros: protein, carbohydrates, and fat.  Thousands of people speculate on how much of each, but no one can negate the fact that every cell of your body needs all three.  In fact, a cell is literally made up of 50-60% fat, 20-30% carbs, and 15-20% protein. So it can be factual that we need to consume those foods in order for our cells to regenerate healthfully. But how do you determine what’s right for you and your unique chemistry? Should a book tell you? A magazine? A doctor who spends 7 minutes with you the first time they meet you?  No.  Only you know.  So begin to trust your inner knowing.

Common Sense Approach:  Think back to a time when you looked your best, felt your best, and actually were at your best.  What foods were you consuming?  What ration of macros worked for you at that time?  Chances are going back to that amount of food, and those amounts of macros are what your body works best on, and everyone’s needs are different.  If at that time you weren’t necessarily eating REAL foods but instead a lot of processed foods, maybe simply eating those same macronutrient ratios swapped out with REAL unprocessed food will put in you in the best shape of your life!  For example,  if you were in the best shape of your life when you ate cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a pasta for dinner, then at least you know you’re body type seems to function well on a higher carbohydrate intake, but perhaps simply swapping out the cereal with some black beans over some eggs in the morning, swap out the sandwich with a loaded baked potato with whatever you would put on the sandwich for lunch, and swap out the pasta for brussel sprouts and parsnips underneath your pasta sauce and cheese, would fuel you with the same macros but more helpful and healthful food choices, and finally help you find your way to the perfect meal plan for you! Jodelle’s Bonus tip:  Don’t be afraid to “be your own scientific experiment” if you have never been what you would consider a shape you desired to be.  Try a low carb approach for while and see how you feel.  Then try a higher carb, lower fat approach and see what happens.  Try some intermittent fasting.  Try swapping out caffeine with water for awhile.  Try new things to find your way, rather than standing in your own way with defeat on your face.

5. You need structure.  No diet guru, doctor, or health practitioner of any kind would agree that you should just throw caution to the wind and not implement some sort of consistent plan and strategy. You need a start date, a clear cut way to live out each day with your kinds of foods on hand, time to prepare, a time to have indulgences here and there, and time to rest from the thoughts surrounding food and food prep altogether.  What’s Noah’s ark built in a day? No.  Plan ahead. After seeing the above and knowing what small but simple truths there are surrounding food, you can begin to think about and strategize what would be appropriate for you and your lifestyle.  Write down what you know you can begin to implement and then get started.  Common Sense Approach:  If you don’t know, then ask.  Instead of listening to ALL the dogma and hype out there, find that one trusted source that seems to resonate with your inner knowing, and go to them for help.  Then turn on your blinders to all the other “Lecturing Lucy’s” out there, and trust your source and yourself. Ask them to help you create a healthier lifestyle and meal plan that would be a perfect fit for you.  Jodelle’s Bonus Tip:  It doesn’t have to be me, but I do offer ready-made meal plans that can help give you a jumping-off point as well as some structure, and there are many plans that can apply to a wide array of issues and needs. Check them out on my SHOP page.

Finally, apart from food, and literally I mean, apart from food, you need to part from the stressing thoughts, obsession with meal prep, and worry and wonder with different foods, and find something else to focus your mind, heart, and hands on.  If your doctor told you, “You can’t ever eat again, so we will be feeding you intravenously from now on…” what would you fill your thoughts and life with, apart from food?  What hobby’s would you enjoy?  What ways would you serve your community?  What things in this life would bring you pleasure?  Think about that, and then begin to implement those things back into your life as well.  Vitamin P, I think all would agree, is another nutrient we could all use a bit more of…Pleasure, Passion, Purpose.  

Now if you’ve made it this far, GOOD FOR YOU, you little reader!