Quick Start Guide
1. Clean out the house of processed food
Remove any foods from the house that will tempt you and throw you off track and away from your goals. Remove all refined foods, processed packaged foods and so called “healthy” foods. Get rid of all food with ingredients that you can’t name or pronounce. Put it all in bags and boxes and take it to a food bank. Bag it all up, quick chuck it all in now, and get rid of it.
2. Go shopping
Now its time to start your health journey. Be excited! Fill your trolley with good food. Shop around the outside edges of the supermarket and find the food that is good for you and your family’s health and will get you all in great shape for life.
The majority of your meals should look something like this:
1. Approximately 150grams – 250grams of lean protein such as chicken, lean beef, or seafood
2. Several servings of multicoloured vegetables, raw, steamed or lightly cooked.
3. Round out the meal with good quality fats from avocado, olive oil, coconut oil or a handful of unsalted nuts such as almonds, macadamias or walnuts. If fat loss is your goal post-pregnancy then stick to one tablespoon per meal of oil or approximately 8 nuts.
4. Eat this way 3-4 times each day.
Protein
1. Lean out. Find leaner cuts of conventional meats and stock up. Lean minced beef, whole or pieces of chicken, lean steak and organic free-range eggs.
2. Grass-fed. Grass-fed, free-range meat and poultry is by far superior to conventionally raised, factory-farmed animals. It’s healthier for you, it’s better for the animals, and it’s better for the planet.
3. What if you can’t find or afford grass fed, organic meat? Just go with lean cuts of conventional meats. Don’t over think this. Buy the best you can. I don’t want you to freak out about eating conventional meats and instead eat bread and cereal. Don’t do it.
4. Purchase the best meat you can. Buy on special and stock up. Get thrifty and plan and shop around before you purchase. Buy in bulk and online. There are heaps of online butchers and they have free delivery.
Vegetables
1. Focus more on veggies than fruit if your goal is fat loss post-pregnancy. Source what you can afford and look around for deals.
2. Eat seasonally. Buy what is in season. If you have a local farmer’s market, go there and you’ll be buying what’s local and in season. You can also grow your own and swap with neighbours for more variety.
3. Eat a rainbow of colours. Work to get colour from the whole rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. You might not get every colour in one meal, but over a week you should see variety from each of these colours and the produce they represent.
Fruit
I recommend you eat 2 servings of fruit per day during pregnancy and make these choices mainly from berries and melons. Keep in mind, you will be eating plenty of nutritious fresh vegetables, but limit your fruit post pregnancy to 1-2 servings. If you are concerned about weight-loss post pregnancy, in order of preference these fruits are best for weight loss: berries, melons, citrus, apples, pears.
Herbs and spices. Go wild here. Stock up on at least 20 herbs and spices and get creative. Herbs, curries, garlic, ginger, cilantro, garam massala, tumeric, chilli powder, black pepper, lemon zest, all spice, cinnamon, cumin, onion powder, rosemary, oregano, basil, nutmeg, cacao etc.
3. Start Cooking
Even better than shopping is cooking. It’s is time to get creative in the kitchen. Most of your meals need to include protein and vegetables. So get started, cook and prepare some great food.
Happy Cooking ☺
