Leveling Up Your Food Game

Having prepped my food most Sundays since 2012, my nutrition is 75% on cruise control. The other 25% is a mixture of positive and negative foods but I tend to take my liberties with cheese, sweets and other little treats in any given week.
Many of the clients and friends I spend time with each week eat well and have a similar mantra of all things are allowed, in moderation. However, it is a rare opportunity for me to actually share a meal or multiple meals with any of them. I had the opportunity this week to break bread (so to speak, there was no bread to speak of that day) with a good friend/personal trainer/integrative nutrition coach. We co-worked at her new place and shared lunch, dinner and a few snacks in between.

Bunless Beef Cheeseburger w/ Tomato and Mustard  Dill Pickles  Steamed Broccoli  Steamed Haricot Verts with Coconut Oil and Sea Salt Beets, most likely boiled or steamed prior to packaging
Bunless Beef Cheeseburger w/ Tomato and Mustard
Dill Pickles
Steamed Broccoli
Steamed Haricot Verts with Coconut Oil and Sea Salt
Beets, most likely boiled or steamed prior to packaging

 
 
While the above hamburger dinner isn’t far from my normal, there were noticeable difference from my usual plated pics. My plate consisted of three different, separately prepared vegetables, pickles and a beef hamburger patty. Although she doesn’t eat cheese anymore herself, she had some on hand. Mustard and tomato for topping (there also was sauerkraut) but no ketchup or bun to speak of.
Here are the differences I noticed and am encouraged to do on my own:

  • 3 Separately prepared vegetables (I top out at 2 usually) and the packaged pre-cooked beets were an easy third addition.
  • No bun or substitute of any kind on the property! While I often skip the bun or half of it, I admire that she views these foods as something she just doesn’t eat or buy.

 

Southwest Chicken and White Bean Soup.  Cabbage and Apple Salad Snap Peas and Guacamole
Southwest Chicken and White Bean Soup.
Cabbage and Apple Salad
Snap Peas and Guacamole

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For lunch I brought along a portion of the chicken and white bean soup I’d prepared for my dinner this week. Julie had lots of fresh salad items on hand including a homemade dressing. She also had individual cups of hummus and guacamole to go with fresh vegetables. I put the last dollop of guac on my soup and it was delicious.
Takeaways from our lunch to consider:

  • Her homemade salad dressing whipped together in no more than 2 minutes using very simple and clean ingredients. I should have paid more attention here, but I think it was balsamic, apple cider vinegar, lemon infused EVOO and sea salt.
  • There were no dairy add-ins to the soup like cheddar cheese or sour cream (how I was eating it at home). The soup is so good and clean on its own that skipping the toppings some of the week is doable.

 

Addie Kelzer is a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant. She believes that by making fitness and good food practical, her clients will hold the power to positively change their health and the health of those closest to them.