Realfoodology - 40: Tips, Tricks and Hacks to a Healthier You with Amanda Meixner

Episode Date: June 9, 2021

On today’s episode I speak with Amanda Meixner (known as @meowmeix on Instagram) all about healthy eating! She shares her tips for meal prepping, healthy weight loss, favorite healthy snacks, favorite food hacks,  juicing vs blending, calorie counting and so much more! Find Amanda Meixner --> https://www.instagram.com/meowmeix

On today's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. workers calories and macros are really just a good way of judging portion but again don't be absolutely over focusing on it will end you in a really bad place like you said what's up everyone welcome back to another episode of the real foodology podcast i am your host courtney swan i am the creator behind real foodology which is a food blog and Instagram. And of course, this podcast, we talk all about health and wellness and nutrition, mental health. We cover it all. Basically, my prerogative with this podcast is to give you the best information so that you can feel good in your body so that you can live a long, healthy life. On today's episode, I am joined by Amanda Meixner or better

known as Meow Meix on Instagram. If you do not follow her, I'm going to leave a link in the show notes to her Instagram. Definitely go check out her page. She is one of my favorite follows on Instagram. I'm looking at it literally right now. She just has so many tips, tricks, hacks, just ways to make healthier eating more accessible and easy. And she really breaks it down. I'm a very visual person and she shows, I mean, right now I'm looking at something, a build your own snack and there's four different snack options.

There's photos and she really breaks it down and shows you how to build a healthy snack. It's really great. Just great information. And she was such just such a great guest to have on. We cover so many topics in this conversation. I just really, really enjoyed this conversation a lot. And I think it will be super helpful for anyone who is struggling to eat healthier. She gives great tips for meal prepping. She gives advice for someone who's trying to eat healthier. She gives great tips for meal prepping. She gives advice for someone

who's trying to lose weight. She shares with us her favorite healthy snacks, her favorite food hacks. We talk about calorie counting. We talk about fast food actually being more expensive than cooking at home, juicing versus blending, and so much more. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS. And yes, even our beloved crockpots and pressure cookers. I have actually been talking about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of all my nonstick pans because she was

concerned about me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for a very long time was And the only option for the, for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like our place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from our place, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to

look really just clean and minimal. But I'm so obsessed with all the Our Place products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are legit pieces of art. Our Place is a mission-driven and female-founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't use these chemicals, then if they are using nonstick coating on their appliances, they are absolutely using forever chemicals.

And there's been increasing global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health. And recognizing this impact, the EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings ensuring a healthy safe cooking experience and let me tell you you guys they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a blender, they have an air fryer, they have a crock pot, not to mention their amazing always pan. They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen. Cause I

really needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place, go to from our place.com and enter my code real foodology checkout to receive 10% off site-wide that's from our place.com code real foodology. Our place offers a 100 day trial with free shipping and returns. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is.

Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even stress management. I have so many podcast episodes about metabolic flexibility and why it is so incredibly important for your overall health and longevity. And now thanks to Lumen, you can actually see in real time your body's ability to efficiently switch between using different fuel sources like carbs and fats. There's preferred times to use each and how well you can switch places between

burning carbs versus burning fats will tell you a lot about what is going on in your metabolism and where you are in the metabolic flexibility spectrum. All you have to do is breathe into your lumen first thing in the morning, and you'll know what's going on with your metabolism, whether you're burning mostly fats or carbs, then lumen gives you a personalized nutrition plan for that day. Based on your measurements, you can also breathe into it before and after workouts and meals so you know exactly what's going on in your body in real time and lumen will give you tips to keep you on top of your health game why is this so important your metabolism is your body's engine it's how your body turns the food you eat into the fuel that keeps you going because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does

optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep, and more. Now this is a really cool feature too. It can actually track your cycle as well as the onset of menopause and adjust your recommendations to keep your metabolism healthy through hormonal shifts. So if you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to lumen.me and use real foodology to get $100 off your lumen. That is l-u-m-e-n dot m-e and use real foodology at checkout for $100 off. Thank you so much to lumen for sponsoring this episode.

Before I get to the question, I just have a little disclaimer. As always, these answers and this podcast are just for educational and informational purposes only. I am an integrative nutritionist, but I'm not a doctor. And I don't know you personally, I don't know what's going on in your body. So just know that this information on this podcast is not a sub for individual medical or mental health advice. And it doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship, as always, talk to your doctor first. So as you guys know, I've been talking about sugar a lot on my podcast as well as on my Instagram, and I've been getting a lot of questions about where you can find sugar

and how to spot sugar on ingredient lists. So this is today's question. How do you find hidden sugars on the ingredient label? Surprisingly enough, well, this shouldn't be surprising at all, actually, but companies are aware that people are trying to limit the amount of sugar that they eat and they're trying to eat less of it. So companies are getting sneakier and more deceptive with their ingredient labels because they don't want people to know that there are a lot of sugars in their product. When you look at an ingredient label, the first, so it goes in the order of how much something is in, uh, in that product. So for example, if the number one ingredient in the ingredient list is sugar, that means that this

product has more sugar than anything else in that food. So what companies do now to make it look like they have less sugar in the product is that they use a lot of different types of sugars and they hide them under other names that people may not even recognize is sugar. And so this is why oftentimes when you look at a label, you will see different forms of sugar. So it will say cane sugar. It will also say molasses. It'll say brown sugar. And you'll look at the label and you'll be like, okay, there's three different types of sugar in this food product. And so first of all, there's a lot of different places that they hide sugar, um, cereal, oatmeal, snack bars, like granola bars, packaged breads. And this is including whole grain kinds, lower calorie drinks like coffee, energy drinks, blended juices and teas, protein bars and meal replacement bars.

Yogurt is a huge offender. Frozen waffles and pancakes. Sauces are also a big offender. So like dressings, condiments, marinades, like tomato sauce, ketchup, et cetera. Dried fruit, oftentimes, like if you look at banana chips, they are usually sweetened with sugar after that, which is ridiculous because banana chips are sweet enough on their own. And a lot of restaurant foods where they put a lot of sugar and sauces, et cetera. But that one's going to be harder to control. You won't really be able to read the ingredient list. So I'm not going to be able to go over the entire list of sugars that are hidden just because I'm looking at a website right now and there are 56 different names that sugar

can be hiding under. So I'm going to leave that in the show notes so you guys can look and start getting accustomed to these. So I'm going to go through this list and name off some of the biggest offenders that you probably see a lot on ingredient lists. Dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose, beet sugar, cane juice crystals, glucose syrup solids, grape sugar, maltodextrin, which doesn't sound like a sugar at all. Barley malt evaporated cane juice is just what it is. It's a syrup, basically fruit juice concentrate. This is also boiled down into

as syrup, invert sugar and sorghum syrup. You know what? I'm just going to read all 56 names off. Fuck, where am I? sugar, agave nectar, syrup, barley malt, blackstrap molasses, brown rice sugar, buttered sugar, buttercream, caramel, carrot syrup, corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice. Fuck, where am I? Fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, golden syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, malt syrup, molasses, rice, rice syrup, refiner syrup, sorghum syrup, and tree gold. What the fuck? That's a lot of sugar. Well, Amanda, thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so happy to have you here.

Thank you. It's so nice to see your beautiful face. You too. Amanda and I met recently, not even in person, but on an Instagram live that we did together, which was so much fun. I want to do more of those. Absolutely.

It's funny, but I think of you when I see Celeste Thomas. So I you guys are like besties, which is fun to hang out. I mean, there's so many great people in the wellness space, as you know. Yeah, I love Celeste. We actually I have I've had her on the podcast now three times. People love her. She's so good with skincare. She's great. Yeah. And just, you know, like you said, one of my best friends, I love her so much. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kids stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called Easy Greens and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies. And the other one is called Protect. It's a delicious wild berry punch

like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi and most specifically because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're going to be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids growing bodies without fillers, additives, or junk. It helps to fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports digestive health, has a rich micronutrient

profile, and includes digestive enzymes. This would be a great way to sneak in greens for your little one without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them. And the second one, which is the wild berry punch similar to Kool-Aid, is called Protect, and it is to support your child's daily immune health with food-derived nutrients that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. children that when your kids are going to school, going to daycare, they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids. So this would be a great way to help to support your little one's immune health. It's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients. It has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every single day. And I really love the ingredients in this one. It's orange and acerol cherry, which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

Astragalus, elderberry and propolis. These are all really great for overall immune health. If you want to try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash RealFoodology and use code RealFoodology for 20% off. Again, that's organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash real food ology. Do you want to hear the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging? Of course you do, because all of us are concerned about aging. There is a class of ingredients called senolytics that were discovered less than 10

years ago, and they are being called the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging and enhancing your physical prime. Now, when I'm talking about aging here, I'm not just talking about on a superficial level, wrinkles and saggy skin. I'm talking about energy, joint pain, your ability to show up for your life, cognitive function. I'm talking about the real effects of cellular aging on the body and what it does to our body as we age. Now, as we age, everyone accumulates something called senescent cells in their body. They cause symptoms of aging, such as aches and discomfort, slow workout recoveries, sluggish mental and physical energy associated with that middle age feeling. They're also known as zombie cells. They're old and worn out and not serving a useful function for our health anymore, but they're taking up space and nutrients from our

healthy cells. Much like pruning the yellowing and dead leaves off of a plant, Qualia Synolytic removes those worn out senescent cells to allow for the rest of them to thrive in the body. And you just take these supplements two days a month. That's right. Just two days a month. Qualia Synalytic is an amazing product that helps to remove these senescent cells. And if you want to hear more about the product and more about these senescent cells that affect aging, go back to the episode that I did with Dr. Greg Kelly of Neurohacker. So you can dive more into the details of all of it. But the formula that I'm talking about, Qualia Synalytic is non-GMO, it's vegan,

it's gluten-free, and the ingredients are meant to complement one another, factoring in the combined effect of all the ingredients together. If for some reason you don't like the product, you're not feeling the effects of it, it also has a 100-day money-back guarantee. If you want to resist aging at the cellular level, try Qualia Synalytic. Go to neurohacker.com slash realfoodology for up to a hundred dollars off and make sure to use code real foodology at checkout for an additional 15% off that's neurohacker N E U R O H A C K E R.com slash real foodology for an extra 15% off your purchase. Thanks to neurohacker for sponsoring today's episode.

Um, well, why don't you, for anyone listening, that's not aware of your Instagram, why don't you give everyone, everyone a little bit of a background on you and what you do and your Instagram. I love it so much by the way. Thank you. I mean, I love Instagram obviously. So it's really interesting. Obviously you see where it is now, but back in the day I started on Instagram more in the meal prep community. So meal prep was a new thing. You know, people were doing it for work. And it was kind of new to the more general health space.

Because when back in the day, when you thought of meal prepping, you thought of like a bodybuilder or, you know, like super health nut or something. Not something that someone who works nine to five maybe does all the time. So I started getting into that and showing like my rainbow vegetables and food and, you know, delicious, colorful food and how I ate healthy and how I meal prepped every Sunday for five days of work every week, nine to five. So that was kind of how I started on Instagram. And then it kind of snowballed into this thing of really showing why I choose certain foods, showing what more nutritious foods look like. So that's nutrition graphics or even healthy food swaps, which, you know, I think get a kind of a bad stigma. And today, you know, like people are always trying to steer away from like good and bad

food, which I'm all for, but just knowing there are nutritious swaps you can make, you can upgrade your food. And that's kind of how it started to develop into these more of these nutrition graphics that you see today. So now it's very like heavy on the graphics, food facts, simple, healthy recipes. Now that I've gotten older, though, I'm trying to be a little bit more like you and do, you know, have more fun with it, do some homemade mac and cheese and, you know, remake some of those classics. So yeah, it's just, it's been a great journey. And I think the food community on Instagram is amazing as you, as you know. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. And I really, I love your page for that because I feel like

people can go to your page and, um, it's really valuable. You can get a lot of, a lot of really amazing information about nutrients and why you would want to choose some food over the other, which I love you brought up this point of good versus bad, because it's not when you're, when we're striving for true health, it's not necessarily about good or bad, but it's like, what, what am I going to choose right now? That's going to make me feel really good in my body? And what's going to actually nourish my cells and put me on that track where I feel like hopefully most of us are trying to better our health and trying to feel better in our bodies. And it's about finding that balance of food that tastes good, but also what's actually really good for you. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think, and I don't know if you can kind of, you know, relate to this,

I bet you can is finding balance can also be hard because sometimes we live in such extremes and society lives in such extremes. So you're either super healthy or you're, you're just the free for all, you know, free spirit, I.e. whatever I want. And really, you know, where the work gets done is in the middle and finding that balance. And I actually used to have an eating disorder in high school. So I've definitely been there. I had anorexia and, you know, I made a full recovery. I'm so thankful for professionals like therapists and nutritionists. But, you know, after that, it was really learning what what food fuels my body, what food nourishes my body. And then also, yeah, like mac and cheese

and pizza and some of that food, you can absolutely find ways to incorporate that and and not, you know, break the bank in terms of depleting your nutrients. Yes, I love that. I do this a lot on my Instagram. It's all about the ingredients. It's not about vilifying any specific food. If you want pizza and look, if you want pizza and you want a little Caesars hot and ready, I'm not going to judge you. You do you. But like, if we're, if we're looking at it from a health standpoint and nourishing the cells, if you want pizza, go to the grocery store, buy an organic sauce, organic cheese, organic pepperonis, whatever your favorite toppings are and make it at home.

I think that's genius. It, you know, it was funny the other week and they have, you know, the, the healthier versions of box mac and cheese right now, you know, they have, you know, the name brand, the healthier versions. Yes. And then, but my friend messaged me and she was like, I've, I've never had box mac and cheese growing up like even the healthier that does not appeal to me like I because it's simple I know you do it it's kind of it's just pasta and just get some good cheese and you throw it in a sauce but yeah maybe butter and milk and and I was like wow she never even had it boxed so she doesn't even care about these these healthier boxed versions she just makes it herself. And I was

like that. I mean, that's even better. I obviously partially got the box one because I do have the nostalgia of being a kid and you got the box and it's so easy, but I also think it's funny. I'm like, it's not that much easier than throwing cheese and butter with pasta. I was like, it's just the packaging. It's like that, you know, even the healthier versions of like, okay, that dried cheese is that why don't I just get real cheese? So it is really interesting to think about those things. Yeah. And it tastes so much better. And I feel like boxed mac and cheese is a perfect example of, for example, like macaroni and cheese and, you know, cheese and pasta. When you break it down the ingredients, ingredients, those foods are not inherently bad for us. It's what has been done to them in the processing of, um, when we do,

you know, when you think about the box macaroni and cheese and you get the powdered mac and cheese or Velveeta, where it's basically just like plastic that you pour out of that little, like aluminum pouch. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. They also, the, singles I know are one of them is like 41% cheese or something. They can't even call it cheese. They have to call it cheese product because there's not enough cheese in the cheese. So stuff like that's crazy. And I know you're all about that. And I mean, I honestly there's a difference. I feel difference when getting like a high quality pizza or making your own pizza and then getting something super greasy from Domino's, which like you said, like sure treat yourself, but literally I feel crappier. And in my opinion, these other

versions taste better to me once you retrain your palate, really. Yes. And that is a key point to all of this is that I have found the old or the, you know, the more that I eat these healthier versions of foods, I don't crave those other ones anymore. Like I did, like when I was in college, I would eat a Taco Bell all the time. I loved it. And now my palate has totally changed. And to be honest, that kind of food kind of grosses me out now. And I also remember I equate eating those foods with feeling really bad later. So in my mind, I'm kind of like, is it really worth it? Not for me, you know, and no shame for anyone listening. If, if it is, that's totally cool. You know, like you have free will to do whatever you

want with your body, but I just, um, I always like to move through the world. And when I'm making my food choices to be like, how am I going to feel after I eat this? That stops me from eating so many things though. I'm, you know, and, and I think that's a good thing about getting healthy and being in tune with your body. If you're really in tune, your body's going to stop you. I mean, I can't even like even Indian food. I love Indian food. And if I, I have to order the, the chicken with less sauce on it, the sauce upsets my stomach. But that's how fast food and those heavy restaurant foods can be. And it just doesn't keep me coming back. Yeah, that's for sure.

So I want to talk a little bit about the anti-diet culture because I'm assuming that you probably get maybe some flack from them because you post a lot about the calories and eat this and not that kind of thing. And I want to talk about it a little bit. So I feel like sometimes the anti-diet culture can sound like they're vilifying losing weight. And I believe that we can teach people to love their bodies no matter where they are in their health journey, while also encouraging healthy lifestyle changes. And I think we need to, I don't like diet culture and I'm fully for this movement. I think we need to take it down. But what I would love to see is we replace it with an emphasis on nourishing the body with real food exercises, a form of self-love and care, and then over an overall goal of just feeling good in the body. Like I said before,

um, do you have thoughts on this? Also, do you get a lot of hate on your Instagram regarding this? I think first of all, that's so well said. And I absolutely agree with everything you said. And I think again, it starts from living in the extremes, like, and that's why it's true. Like we can take some good from the anti-diet movement. There absolutely is some good there. There's so many crappy products out there. Fit tea that the Kardashians market. Um, yeah, all of those like get, you know, lose weight quick and people are being held more accountable to their messaging. I think that's great, but you're right. Then they take it so far and I get a little bit of pushback. It's not as crazy because I really choose my words and,

you know, try to really show again, like less nutritious, more nutritious. So I don't get as much hate as I probably could because I am, I know how to speak to that a little bit more. But yeah, I just think we need to live more in the nuance. Like you said, like just because, you know, you want to be anti-diet doesn't mean we can't talk about nourishing foods. You know, to me it's taking it too far when they're like, all foods are the same. You know, when they compare this part frustrates me, it's like you compare a Snickers to a banana and you're like, food is food. And I'm like, that's fine. It's food. But one is way more nourishing. One is way more natural. Another new one is, you know, manipulating the word chemical.

And I saw a post that was comparing Twizzlers to a strawberry. And then it broke down the strawberry chemically. And I'm like, that's not the point of the chemical argument, okay? And so, again, you shouldn't. It's so misleading when they do that. It's so misleading. It makes me so angry. Me too. But, you know, again, it's, I understand, like, encouraging, like, God, you shouldn't have, oh, my God, I'm so afraid I'm going to die if I eat this Twizzler.

Like, that's not a healthy place to be. You know, maybe you're on a road trip, and I've been, like, you're on a road trip, you stop at the gas station and there's like almost no healthy choices. And maybe it's candy or candied almonds are your best choice. Like please eat some food. So yeah, we should take away some of the fear, but then we shouldn't take it so far as to act like all foods are the same. I think the other thing I see, and I don't know if you see this too, is people like to call out like, okay, well, you're not catering to someone who has an eating disorder. And I'm like, well, I think it's great that we always use language that's inclusive. Like right when I was having my eating disorder, yeah, maybe if I saw calories on something or I saw a comparison, maybe at that stage, I wouldn't want to see that. But then my page is not for you or like, this is not the stage. And you should follow accounts that are specifically

directed towards binge eating disorder, right? So I also think that's where the waters get like muddied a little bit is like acting like we have to cater to every single person. And it's just not possible. If you're trying to provide helpful information. Even if you're reaching a large audience, you could cater to a very large audience, but it's not for everyone, you know? Yeah, that's so true. And that can be applied to pretty much almost anything in life. It's kind of like you take what helps you and then leave the rest.

And then if the page is, let's say, too triggering for you, then you leave the page, you know? Absolutely. because that's what's so funny about the internet, especially on Instagram is that, you know, I find that every single individual is expecting you to cater to every single individual need of theirs. And like you said, it is literally not possible. And then for someone like me, where I'm like, I care so much, I'm literally in this profession because I want to help as many people as I can. So then I get to this point where I'm like, oh, my God, it's too much to like, I have to think about this, that and that and then that. And it's because I care.

But then at a certain point, you just have to be like, look, take what apply to you, what works for you and your lifestyle, and then just leave the rest, you know? Absolutely. I know. I love there was a tick tock where, you know? Absolutely. I know. I love, there was a TikTok where it, you know, it kind of makes fun of this culture and it's like someone posting, well, I love apples. I'm like, what about oranges? Oh, that means you hate bananas. It's like, no, I just said, I love apples. Bananas are great. So I feel like that's the point we're at, which is

a little, it can be a little crazy. Yeah. Or like my favorite is when, yeah, it's similar to the like apples. And then what about oranges scenario where you'll write out like a whole caption and then someone, um, in like, they assume that you're saying something else that you didn't even say at all, just because you left out a certain portion of something. And at a certain point, it's just like, I only have so many letters that I can put in this caption and I can't think about every single scenario. And just because I said this one thing doesn't even mean that I'm even implying anything about like, just because I talked about apples doesn't mean I'm implying anything about oranges. Like we didn't even mention oranges. Social media is crazy. Like there's no question for sure. But yeah, I agree.

Like at the end of the day, I think we need to get back into the middle, back into the balance. And, and yes, not all food is the same nutrition wise. Yeah, absolutely. And then it's so, and we can hold space for both of that, right? Like I'm of the mind that we can say like, okay, there are foods that are really good and nourishing for the body. And then there are foods that are like, you know, I mean, call them like party foods where it's like, okay, you're really drunk with your friends one night and you just really want that Taco Bell or whatever it is. It's not going to nourish your body, but it's going to nourish your soul, you know, if you want it. And it's kind of like, like you said, we're, we're getting so like black and white with

everything and we need to kind of zoom out and be like, Hey, you know what? I love to take the application of 80, 20, where 80% of the time, um, I make my food from scratch. I make sure that I buy all organic when I can, when I can afford it, when I can find it. And then the other 20%, I'm, you know, having margaritas and chips and guac at a Mexican food restaurant with my friends. Cause I also want to live my life. I love that you call it party foods. Cause I call it fun foods, but party foods sounds way cooler. I want to go to your party.

No, but, but it totally makes sense. And I think honestly that 80, 20 mindset is, is what I recommend to mostly everyone. And it's funny. Cause someone asked me, I shared a post, like I have a post kind of like a visual for that. And they were like, well, is it like an exact math equation? Like, do I calculate like 80? And I was like, no, no, it's just a general mindset, like a general guideline. But yeah, it's one of the best things you can do in life. I know it's, it is, I love the place I'm at with food now because yeah, it's one of the best things you can do in life. I know it's, it is, I love the place I'm,

I'm at with food now because yeah, even having some pizza or mac and cheese, honestly, used to stress me out a little bit more. I'm not going to lie. And now I'm in a much better place with that. And for anyone that's struggling, who struggles to eat some of the party foods, fun foods, I would say just start trying some and like, like you have, you have some and you notice nothing happens to you. You're fine. You know, if you get the better versions too, you also notice that you actually don't even feel bad because you're getting the better quality versions and the wins all around. Yes. Yes. I couldn't agree more. And I will say what we were saying

earlier. Um, I personally, um, and this is not to shame anyone that does this, but just so people get a real, um, look into exactly how I eat now with my 80, 20, you won't find me at like McDonald's or talk about late at night. If I want that kind of stuff, I always have on hand, like organic cheese, tortillas, um, beans, and I'll make my own little concoction when I come home late at night or whatever kind of thing. Because like I said earlier for me, um, I am more focused on the health and nourishing side of things, but I want it to also be fun. So I want to have those like fun party foods, but also not wake up the next day and just feel like hell. But that's the way I do it personally. And I also feel like too, um, when you consistently find yourself eating those foods more and more, you'll crave them more. And overall with health,

it's more about consistency. So if you do have that like pizza or whatever, and you're feeling kind of bad about it, just remind yourself that it's about the every single day choices, not the one that you quote unquote messed up on. But I don't even like to say you messed up because in my mind, it's like, you're just living your life. Absolutely. And, and no, it's a great reminder that the 80, 20% is going to be different for everyone. So yeah, you know what their 80% percent looks like in their 20% is in and out, you know, or maybe, you know, maybe that's for them, but we're doing more homemade versions. I know I forget that. Cause I sent, I was like really excited about these.

Like I, I don't buy too much. Yeah. Like highly processed stuff. So I'll get like healthier process things. And I may, I made these like protein waffles and whatever. And I'm like sending my friend pictures and he's like, he's like, that's your like 20%. He's like, that's, he's like, what about the real deal? I'm like, this is delicious to me. Okay. Like I eat whole foods most of the time. So like some processed protein waffles is delicious to me. Um, so yeah, it's just really different for everyone. And yeah, like, cause you know, you, I have some friends who love, like, Halo Top and rather eat that whole low-calorie pint where I hear other people, like, they rather get the very satisfying filling ice cream.

So, like, just find what works for you as long as you're feeling good and, you know, you're hitting your goals, which doesn't have to be physical, just, you know, maybe mental and all that, then, um, then you're in a good place. So while we're kind of on the topic, um, do you have advice for someone listening? Who's trying to lose weight in a healthy way? So maybe like simple, healthy habits that they can start doing now that will help them on their journey. Absolutely. So number one, start upping your vegetable intake that That is filling. It's high in fiber, high in nutrients, and most of the time they're low calorie. And I would say on that, I mean, obviously don't be afraid to include some starchy vegetables, but when it comes to losing weight, you really want to do non-starchy vegetables in terms of like free volume, like go

for it. So that's one. one number two, this actually a really easy hack is to stop drinking your calories for the most part. So, um, like cut out sodas or swaps to like Zevia or Olipop low calorie stuff. Um, yeah, cut out sugary drinks. I still do protein shakes, but really people who are on soda, that swap alone can have you lose a lot of weight and then start upping your water because you're going to feel good. You may even notice you're not as hungry. So that would be my tip number two. And then number three, I would say the first macronutrient to pay more attention to would be protein because that's really filling. You know, obviously you can, if you're plant-based,

you can look up plant proteins to pay attention to, but really fill your plate with a very filling and, you know, protein, plant protein, animal protein, either way. And then I guess one last one, number four is just start eating more whole foods and like limit those, those processed foods, because those are way easier to over consume. But this is not, like you said, this is not all or nothing. Don't do zero processed foods, but just start to up your whole foods. I love that. And I would even add one more and say, um, add in more good, healthy fats, like avocado, grass fed butter. If you eat butter,

um, and cook with, you know, like avocado oil and use olive oil, olive oil is a great one. Absolutely. No, I mean, healthy fats are key. Um, they make the meal so much more delicious too. And yeah, that's a big mistake people make. So thank you for adding that one. Yeah, of course. And I found too, um, cause you know, sugar is a really big one in this conversation and the more healthy fats that I consume, the less that I find myself craving Of course. And I've found too, because, you know, sugar is a really big one in this conversation. And the more healthy fats that I consume, the less that I find myself craving sugar. Right. So it helps a lot.

And I think another thing for people with sweet cravings is, yeah, switch to fruit, like eat more fruit. There are also lower sugar fruits that won't spike your insulin as much, so that can help like berries. Berries are a great one. But then again, if you find yourself eating lots of candy, eating fruit any day is much better. And if you've got the water in the fruit, that'll get you hydrated. You have the fiber, vitamins, minerals. So fruit's a winner. I feel like people get scared of fruit too with a little bit of fear around carbs, which there is some in

terms of, I don't think there should be a fear. Obviously being high carb isn't for everyone, but keto really isn't for everyone. Oh yeah. I would honestly, I would argue any specific diet isn't for everyone. We're also bio-individual. It's really about finding what works for you and your lifestyle. Also, if you have any sort of food allergies, that's going to play a huge role. And it's all about kind of, um, having a little like science experiment with your own body and figuring out exactly what works best for you. Absolutely. No, it's great advice right there. Thank you. Um, so do I'm curious and let me know if, I don't know if this is like a personal question, but do you calorie count? I don't anymore. And by the way, you don't, you can ask me any questions. I do not personally calorie count now, but I used to calorie and macro count. And I found

if you do it temporarily and it can help you, but the whole goal is you're not supposed to be doing it all the time. You're not supposed to be doing it long-term because yes, that's how you can get into an eating disorder. And if you feel like you're at risk or becoming obsessive, I would say, please stop. But it's, it's a nice way to gauge your portion. If you can have a healthy relationship with that. But also making sure you're focusing on whole foods. Cause that's the other thing. Cause people over-focus on calories. I remember talking to a girlfriend and I feel like women tend to do this more. Um, we, we become, we become obsessed, especially when I was younger, like everything low calorie, like you got to pick the lowest calorie option if you're a female. And she told

me when she went on her first diet, she was only buying packaged foods because that was the only thing with calories on it. Right. I mean, now we have my fitness pal and stuff, but like, that's crazy. Like you're probably doing the opposite of what you should be doing for your health just because the packaging has the calories already on there. I know that's wild. That, that makes me so sad because I think about it. Like if you have two options in front of you and let's say, I don't even know if they make these anymore, but I've always used this as an example. There's little bags of the many Oreos. And I think it's like a hundred calories worth of Oreos, or you have a, you know, a handful of almonds in front of you

that happens to be 200 calories. You're going to want to pick the real food because ultimately at this point, it's about the quality of the food, not the calories. And when you're trying to lose weight, there is a calorie component in there, but I think there's way, way, way too much focus on calories because if you're just focusing on eating whole real foods and you're cutting out all those processed foods and the sodas, you're going to naturally lose weight regardless. And you're going to be nourishing yourselves. And also on top of that, if you were to choose these 100 calorie Oreos over, you know, like 200 calories worth of almonds, you're going to find yourself way hungrier in like 30 minutes, an hour. And then you're just going to continue munching where if you have those almonds, they're going to keep you full

and satisfied for way longer. Absolutely not. Not all calories are created equal and we should not be overly focused, focused on calories. And there's, yeah, there's so many things that food does it in your body. Like there's the thermic effect of food. Um, they even showed in a study when, when participants ate what they considered like a whole food sandwich. So versus versus a more processed sandwich, so whole wheat, better cheese, better meat versus the very processed stuff, the participants that ate the whole food sandwich actually ended up burning. It wasn't as many calories as the more processed sandwich because of the way our body processes it, which is crazy. It's really crazy. Um, I mean, it makes sense because it's your body's recognizing those ingredients as real food versus, you know, something that's created by a food scientist to be really highly addictive

so that you eat more of it. Your body's not going to recognize all those weird ingredients in there. Absolutely. And I think we've gotten, we've gotten this weird place where people like to show what, what you can do. Like, oh, like, can you track your calories perfectly and like eat Twinkies and crap and lose weight? You can, but it's not good for you. It's not good. And yeah, you're not going to feel good.

And I'd like to see your other biomarkers. So I think people get obsessed with that. But calories and macros are really just a good way of judging portion. But again, don't be absolutely over focusing on it will end you in a really bad place, like you said. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And I love that you said to for people that, you know, have any sort of history of disordered

eating or they see it going into that place, please don't do it. You know, it's not worth your mental health. And, um, if you can, if you can shift your focus on just trying to eat more whole real foods, everything's going to kind of fall into line. You know, like I've found at least for me personally, what happened in my own life is when I stopped focusing so much about, um, the food and the calories and all that. And I was just more focused on the nutrient density of my foods. Everything else kind of just fell into place. You know, I had more energy. Um, I shed some weight naturally that I wasn't even trying to. And cause you know, your body, if you're nourishing your body in a way that it's asking for, um,

you're going to hit a homeostasis where your body likes to be. And I want to remind everyone too, this is going to look different for everyone, you know, cause it's dependent on height, age, bone density. And this is where this component comes in, where we should embrace individuality in that. And, and this is what I love about the body positivity movement is that not healthy bodies don't all look the same. You know, they're going to look different for me and for you and for everyone else. No, totally. And, and, and I agree with you, like eating whole foods to me is the number one important goal, um, calories and stuff. It's just, you know,

it's helpful for some people, but it's harmful for others. So don't get too caught up in that. Yeah. And you're so good, like I said, at showing really good examples on your Instagram. So for everyone listening who's maybe new to this and they're trying to navigate all this, definitely go check out her Instagram because you have a lot of really good tips and hacks. Oh, thank you. Yeah. I mean, that's part of the reason sometimes I do show calories on some of those posts is just to show you like, wow, look at this highly processed food or this very calorie dense food. And you can eat so much of these whole foods for, you know, what would equal the amount of a Chipotle burrito and a Coke, which, you know, every now and then

no big deal. But if you're having that every other day, that's going to put you in the hole. Exactly. Yeah. I think you one time did a comparison of, it was like a, maybe like a fast food meal and it had a burger fries and a Coke. And then you compared that to, you know, eating, I think it was maybe even a whole day's worth. It was entire days worth of food. I mean, and that's what soda will just, you know, we'll just absolutely kill you. Cause yeah, there's even now if you go treat yourself to a burger and maybe a more reasonable size fries, but yeah, if you're getting, you're getting a bigger size fries, you're getting the burger and the Coke, the calories in that is, is wild. And that's like you said, what's going to put you over the edge.

And, you know, I find this irony in that, you know, we think that fast food is going to be faster and cheaper. And actually, I saw this on your page, too, where you lined it up and you said, like, you know, we don't even factor in that you're going to wait in line. You have to drive there. And, you know, that's going to be like 15, 20 minutes, depending on how far away it is from you. And then versus you making a meal at home that you're like, I made this in like 10 minutes. Yeah. I think that's why one stocking your fridge is so important. And two having like quick, healthy meals. Like we don't need to always make it complicated or, you know, sometimes it's nice to really go out all out on the spices or try something fancier, but get back to the basics or have a meal you can make in 10 minutes.

I love eggs for that reason. Eggs and throw some veggies and, you know, you get some sprouted or whole wheat toast. You're good to go. That's so quick. So good. Yeah. And, you know, I was really shocked. So me and my podcast producer,

we started a little series on my podcast called organic for everyone. And what we've been doing is, um, we haven't been buying, we've been like going online basically to see exactly how much it would be to order, let's say like a, uh, a family of four meal at like Taco Bell, for example. And we see the entire cost of it, you know, with the drinks and whatever. And then he and I go to the grocery store, we buy all the organics or all the ingredients to make it organically at home. And you know what, so far, every single one we have done has been cheaper to make at home than it has been to buy from fast food places. Absolutely. There's so many budget friendly grocery stores or budget friendly options. I think there's just the education and time piece there that I think people lose.

But it really is cheaper to make it yourself at home. And you can look up, there's like, I know bananas, potatoes, eggs, canned tuna. Those are some of the foods that are super budget-friendly. And I mean, I've done that before. I did like a budget meal prep. And first of all, I will say the grocery store you shop at makes a huge difference. Like Whole Foods, I love Whole Foods so much,

but there's no way around it costing more. But if you go, you know, Trader Joe's is way more affordable. I think Ralph's, I'm not sure, Ralph's is in Los Angeles and where I'm at, they have Kroger. So stuff like that, a lot more affordable and, you know, buy organic or even shop the clean 15 dirty dozen or, or get whole foods. And so you can afford organic either way. I think if most

of America was eating fruits and vegetables and, you know, whole foods, we would have way less of a problem with organic or not, you know, so very, very true. Yeah. And you brought up a really great component of it. And that's actually part of our segment is that we go to, um, we try to make it as accessible as possible. We go to grocery stores that pretty much everyone has not just, you know, whole foods and whatever that way to make it more accessible. You know, another great one too, if you have, um, a bigger family is Costco has a ton of really healthy options. Oh yes. Yes. It's just tricky if you're single and alone like me. My dad loves Costco. He's like, can I, can you come with me to Costco? I'm like, I doesn't, yeah, I don't have kids yet. And maybe once I have kids, I'll

truly understand the love of Costco. But yeah, there's so many things you can grab at the store. And I mean, I don't love that the rotisserie chicken is obviously sitting in that plastic, but I'm like a rotisserie chicken and you get some vegetables like that's still just so much healthier than going to many of these fast food places. Yeah, that's a great point, too. So what are some tips and tricks that you have for people for meal prepping? And maybe for anyone that is new to meal prepping? And maybe for anyone that is new to meal prepping has never done it before a little conversation in defense of why

you would want to do it. Yes. So first of all, we're all busy. Even if you work from home, you know, it's so quick. And so if you could just prep a little bit in advance, it doesn't have to be every single meal. In fact, especially if you're at home, it's probably super unnecessary, but you know, prepping some of the ingredients in advance, prepping just lunches in advance will save you so much time. I'm, I'm sure people listening can relate to when it's lunchtime and they have a bunch of meetings and, you know, then they just want to grab the snacks they have because they have nothing prepped and it's just, you know, it's going to take them a little bit longer to make lunch. That's why I'm all about meal prepping. And there's so many different ways to do it. You can do more like

what I call buffet style, where you like meal prep, a bunch of ingredients like potatoes or meat, you know, kind of do it that way or like really prep meals. So maybe you do your lunches for your for the week. You know, I love my salad jars. I post salad jars all the time because, because it's, well, first of all, it is so pretty, but it's, it's really practical. The way you stack the ingredients from wettest on bottom to dryest on top keeps it fresh for like up to five days. And you don't have that soggy salad problem when you try to make it in advance, not using that method. So that's one of my go-tos and that's kind of like a good place to start.

And then some other things that I find make it easier is maybe investing in the right tools for meal prepping. So whether that's having the containers ready to go, because I mean, I would suck. You make all this food and you don't have the right containers for them getting things that make cooking more fun easier and enjoyable so for me I have an egg cooker it's that I love that egg cooker because the eggs come out easy to peel every single time like even when I boil it myself I don't I can't and I do the ice bath trick it doesn't work the same with my egg cooker. They're super cheap on Amazon. Oh, I might have to get one. Oh, you should check it out there.

Yeah, you'll like it. Because also, like, you really don't have to think about it. You fill up this little, like, water thing. You put it in there. You plug it in. You poke some holes and it automatically goes off and don't go to time anything. Super worth it. And then things like, you know, a spiralizer or an instant pot or a

crock pot. And you don't need all these things. It's more like, you know, look up what's kind of exciting to you. And then that kind of gets you cooking itself. You know, I see so many people, they get the air fryer, they're so excited about it. And they just start using the crap out of it. So yeah, you know, find a couple things that you want to add to your kitchen that you're excited about. And then lastly, on that tip is not being afraid. And this goes with meal prepping and this goes with just food in general to use seasoning, salt, oil and butter. You know, I think we've kind of demonized that in a sense. I know salt was a little over demonized. And when you actually look at the research,

they showed that 6% of the sodium intake came from the salt shaker at home, but it was mostly restaurants and these highly processed food. So don't be afraid to use the salt shaker at home and cut back on over consuming the highly processed foods or overeating out. And then, because your vegetables

and your food should taste absolutely delicious. I know you're so excited to eat the food you make. That's why you get creative and you remake a lot of these classics because you're not going to stay on this health journey of everything's super boring. Like it's just, it's not going to happen. So those are some of my biggest tips for meal prepping. I'm trying to think if there's like anything I left out, but I love, I mean, that was, that was really great. Yeah. I think about, um, for me personally, something that has helped me a lot is realizing and reminding myself that it doesn't have to be boring and bland. I refuse. I will never be one of those people that just has like boiled chicken and

broccoli, which, you know, no shade. If you love that, great. That's amazing. Cause it's healthy, but I will never be one of those people. Like, I feel like you see those photos of like, I feel like it's kind of more in the bodybuilder world where it's just like chicken, broccoli, and it's the same meal every day. If you love that more power to you, but it doesn't have to be that way. So for me, like I will kind of switch off and I'll do, I'll just kind of guide, you know, go by my cravings. Like, Hmm, what sounds good this week? I don't know, like a Thai noodle dish. And then maybe I'll do it with zucchini noodles instead, you know, and make the sauce from home and you can prep a lot of stuff and you can put the sauce aside and then have the

zoodles prepped. And then all you have to do is pour it over. And there's so many different ways to do it and still enjoy the food that you love and also eat healthy. Totally. And you know what's funny? I used to eat more like that at one point. Somewhat close to that. One of my hot yoga instructors, he would call me chicken and broccoli because I posted so much chicken and broccoli on my page. They're like, what's up,

chicken and broccoli? I'm glad that that's my nickname. No, but even when I did that, I honestly had like more variety of color, just even vegetable wise and fruit wise. But yeah, you're not going to make it if you do too much of this extremely healthy long term. And for people who are into more of these like simple foods, I still, and I do this to myself, like challenge myself to try a recipe with more ingredients or more spices. And it is more enjoyable. Like it can be intimidating because you see like maybe a longer list of things, but sometimes it's just combining different spices and that little bit goes a long way. So I definitely agree with you on that. And, but you're great about that. That's actually been

what I've been trying to do more recently is like make it even more fun, make it even more flavorful, which is why I did a, I did a 14 week culinary course for that reason, because I tend to like, I tend to stick to like more boring, healthy food. But that's okay too. Like I said, I'm, it's really not like shade or judgment to anyone that does. Cause I have some friends that are just like, I actually like eating this way. And I'm like, great. Awesome. Absolutely. You know, I'm just one of those people that I really thrive in non-consistency. I'm like, I want to mix things up all the time and kind of follow my cravings in a little, you know, kind of in a way. But also you brought up a really good point. Do not be afraid to use butter

and salt because actually I would argue that grass fed organic butter or like butter that comes from pasture raised cows is one of the healthiest things that you can consume. And so I'm like, put the butter in there. Also, um, salt, just if you can get pink salt or sea salt, just table salt, like regular iodized, um, table salt, I wouldn't recommend, but otherwise, yeah, salt is not the enemy. We need salt for sodium for the electrolyte balance in our body. Totally. I mean, that was probably the past year or two that I also realized that

with, with butter, you know, I was, I was using olive oil and avocado oil, but I was like, some, maybe somewhat afraid of butter. And I'm like, no, there's all these beneficial nutrients and it's higher in omega threes. If you get the grass-fed and there's different other benefits to getting the grass-fed and I know it has CLA in it. So all this great stuff. And for people who are more sensitive to lactose, there's ghee where the lactose is taken out. So those are some great options. And yeah, and we were totally tricked in that realm when we were looking at margin, obviously, where it was canola oil and these fake things that are way worse for you than good old-fashioned

grass-fed butter. Yes. If you are listening and still using margarine, for the love of God, please throw it away. Because butter, not only does it taste better than margarine, but it is infinitely better for you. I cannot even stress how bad margarine is for you. So just toss the margarine, go back to the butter and thank me later. Thank us later. I know that that was funny because I was talking with a friend about that the other day and he was like, wait, why would anyone have margarine? Because it's less healthy for you

and then it tastes worse. So just even if you're just doing for a taste, get the butter, you know, and I know, I know for a plant-based people that there's some other, there's like Mykonos for anyone listening. That's a brand name that does make better, um, vegan butter. If people need that. I love Mykonos. That one's a great option. If you're dairy free or vegan. Yeah. Good call. Let's see. What else do I want to? Oh, another thing I would love to go over with you because I get questions like this all the time in my Instagram juicing versus blending. Oh, yes.

That's a great question. And so so for people listening, juicing really takes the fiber. You know, obviously, when you juice, you have all that pulp that you can use. You can compost that. So the fiber is extracted from the vegetables and the fruit, which is fine if you're doing more vegetables. But if you're drinking lots of fruit juice, you're not going to slow the absorption of the fruit juice down.

And so that's going to be a huge sugar spike. Your insulin is going to spike and you're going to have a crash later and it's just not healthy. So orange juice, yes, the ingredients are better than soda, but for your blood sugar wise, it's not any better. Your blood sugar is going to go on a roller coaster. So that's why I'm saying if you're juicing, either keep the portion small if sorry. Either keep the portion small. Um, if you're doing fruit juice or do mostly vegetables with a little bit of fruit. And so I know the naked juice is a big one that has 52 grams of sugar. Cause it's mostly fruit. And then they, they trick you. Cause it's like this green juice. I think it's called green machine. You're like, oh my God, this is amazing. And it's like, it has as much sugar in a Coke. And again, the ingredients

are better, but blood sugar wise, not so much. Oh my God. I'm so glad that you brought up naked. So I did a post about this, like, man, it was a long time ago now. I feel like it was like eight years ago, but I think you can still find it on my website anyways. So the thing with the naked juice, when I found this out, I was so angry. There is no nutritional value left in those juices because when they make their, their fruit juice, I forgot what they call it. It says it on the ingredient label. I think it's like pasteurization. Yes. But I think it's also called con maybe it's like concentrate. So it'll say like strawberry, just concentrate even worse. It's even worse. And I, when I looked it up, you know what they do, they boil it down until it's even worse. And I, when I looked it up, you know what they do,

they boil it down until it's a syrup. And at that point you have lost all the vitamins, minerals, all the nutrients that make strawberries good for you and your body are completely lost. And at this point it's literally just a sugar syrup. And then you have a combination of all the different sugar syrups. So the mango and the pineapple and the banana or whatever. And then sometimes like in green machine, they'll throw in some greens. But at that point, I don't even think the greens in there have retained any of their nutrients either. That is so ridiculous. And, and that brings me to another point on the juices, if you're buying it in a store. So the problem, the other problem with a lot of juices is they're

pasteurized. So that means they're under high heat, which, which loses a lot of the nutrients when it comes to a juice. So if you're gonna buy a juice at the store, then look for cold press. They do have those a lot like Trader Joe's and stuff, but yeah, that's a good tip. And then, so obviously your other question was about blending, which, so in blending, obviously you have the whole fruit, you have the whole vegetable. So the fiber is still intact. So I would say with blending, you can actually add more fruit if you want to, because you do have the fiber in there. And then obviously the other thing I do like about blending is that you can make it a much more filling. You can add protein, you can

add collagen, you can add, you know, unsweetened almond milk, oat milk, and really make it this filling, healthy, super shake. I think you're a fan of shakes. I'm not, you are. Okay. I was like, I think I remember on our live, but I'm not sure. Yeah. But you can just fit so much into there. You know, you can add chia seeds, berries, spinach, kale, and that's what I do love about blending. Yeah. And well, and with blending, you can sneak in, you can get real sneaky and throw in like cauliflower and stuff if you want. And you want to taste it. Absolutely. Yeah. That's what I love about it. I know. I love throwing spinach in there because it doesn't have much of a taste. I will say one time I threw in arugula because we had it in the fridge. It's so bitter. And I

threw in like a lot. I was like, why did I even, I was like, why did I think that? Because with spinach, you can add a pretty decent amount and can't taste it. And I like, so I was like, oh, this is going to go bad. And I was like, this, this shake tastes terrible. So, you know, maybe not arugula. But don't do arugula, stick with spinach. That's so funny. Yeah. And I, I love that about blending, you know, and I will say, I hate that this conversation is always like, which one's better juicing or blending, which one we should you do? Or I hear people fighting saying like, juicing is better for you or blending is better. I'm like, neither they serve different functions, you know, and it's depending on the day,

depending on what you like better, um, depending on what your goals are. Cause like you said, with the blending, you keep the fiber intact. But with juicing, I always say don't juice your fruit, only eat it. And eating it also goes under, you know, the smoothies because you just want to make sure you keep the fiber intact. Totally, totally. And yeah, I like juicing for vegetables. I mean, I know celery juice is way too overhyped, but it tastes good. I will say celery because it doesn't have much of a taste and you add a little bit of lemon. So I do like juicing vegetables. It is like lighter on your digestive system. Yeah. You're not digesting as much. You're not digesting the fiber and you get nutrients

really quick. So as long as you're either making it yourself or buying the cold press version and it's mostly vegetables, you're good to go. Yeah. Well, and what I love so much about juicing, which is a great argument for juicing, is that think about how many vegetables go in there. You would never consume that much vegetables in one day. So it's just flooding your cells with nutrients. Absolutely. Yeah. When I'm hungover, I'm like, please give me a vegetable. I'm like, just give me an IV of it. I get an IV of celery juice. Maybe we should sign a business. I don't know what would happen. Sounds like something a medical medium would already do.

Totally. He probably already has clinics in LA for it. Oh my goodness. That's so funny. Um, so for people listening, what are some of your favorite healthy snacks? Oh man, I have so many, but obviously nuts, nuts, nuts are the greatest snacks. So easy and portable. And yeah, sometimes I buy the lightly, I get raw. Sometimes I get lightly salted, all good. Eat all all the nuts that's one of my favorites and then I love like fruit with the fat so like apples with peanut butter is such a good classic um and actually I usually have a protein shake as a snack I mean sometimes I have it for breakfast but I also just like it as a quick snack, super nutrient dense. And that's why I love chocolate protein.

Cause I'm like, when do you get to like have this chocolate protein shake? And like, this is like, if you buy the right brand, it's super healthy in my opinion. Yes. I agree. So those, those are some of my go-tos dark chocolate. Of course. I feel like most women can feel me on that. I mean, men too, but I guess my husband, I have to like hide the chocolate from him because he eats so much. I love dark chocolate. I'm trying to think. I feel like there's so many

out there. I used to be on a rice cake kick. Now I'm like, I ate too many of them, but I did like it because it was like just a vehicle for delicious ingredients like peanut butter, almond butter, throw some fruit on there. And then I think one of my favorites, and maybe you probably do this naturally, I call it like PB&J remix. Instead of getting jelly or jam, you mash up your own fruit. You mash up raspberries. You can cut up strawberries, and you put that in a peanut butter sandwich. And it was like, I feel like that's how it's supposed to be.

When did we make this thing called jelly that That's mostly high fructose corn syrup. And, you know, the main brands boggles my mind. I know. Same. You know, and if you want that kind of a little bit more jelly consistency, you can add chia seeds to it and let it sit for like 20 minutes till it gels up a little bit. And then you get fiber on top of that. And it's really good.

I agree. And it's probably more cost efficient too. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I know. Normally I would just mash up the raspberries, but lately I've been heating them up in a pan with like a teaspoon of maple syrup and then you can add the teaspoon. Oh my God. It's so good. It's ridiculous. That sounds amazing. Now I want a PB&J remix. Yes. I'll bring that. You make the mac and cheese. We'll be set. All the childhood favorites upgraded. We're winning. We are winning. I love that. Let's see what else. Oh, I want to know some of your favorite food hacks. I'll share examples of

some of my favorite ones to give you an idea. So I love this may be kind of an unpopular opinion, but I like doing cauliflower rice sometimes in place of rice. And this is not to vilify rice. I still eat rice and I love it. Um, but sometimes I do cauli rice instead as well, or I love like sneaking veggies into, like I said earlier, smoothies, like throwing in cauliflower in, um, into smoothies or sneaking vegetables into tomato sauce. I used to do this a lot when I nannied for, um, these little girls, cause they would refuse to eat any vegetables.

And I would basically just blend in. I would, um, saute some other veggies and blend it into the tomato sauce. So they didn't even know it was there. No, I think those are great. Yeah. I think people freak out like, like oh my god you're demonizing rice by eating cauliflower rice like first of all some of us are volume eaters yeah so we need hacks so we can eat more volume and you know maintain a weight that we want to maintain and get more

vegetables in so yeah you know black and white we're done with that but um i love cauliflower there's like memes that like cauliflower can now replace your best friend or something but it's so versatile literally but um i because cauliflower mash is also one of my favorites i mean it's so good it's so good it's so good so that's one of my go to's obviously i did bring up the salad jars are an easy hack. I would say, I mean, honestly, salad jars, egg cooker and the fruit and stuff for jam are like my top three hacks. Love that. But yeah, I mean, I think I'm kind of on the similar page as you and oh, spaghetti squash and doodles. I will say I go between which one I like more, but sometimes I'm really feeling spaghetti squash because I want that flavor. I don't know.

Spaghetti squash with turkey or grass-fed ground beef marinara is like heaven to me, especially when it's in the winter months. It's so good. It's so good. Yeah, I fully agree. And again, it's not to vilify pasta because I still eat pasta too, but sometimes I actually want the spaghetti squash. It's so good.

Spaghetti squash is delicious. I know. It really is. Okay. But there's one that I used to think, so these things called miracle noodles, shirataki. And I think I ate them when I had my eating disorder. So they freaked me out for a while because they are like zero calorie noodles and it's just so, so weird. But my husband got into them recently. And if you soak them in water, you have to rinse them. Have you had them before? I have. Yeah. You definitely need to rinse them. You have to rinse them and prepare them the right way, but it's kind of nice. Like you said, I mean, you eat pasta, you eat pasta, but if you're a volume eater and like want to just have your way with some food. It's such a, that one is also a

really interesting hack. And I, and I hear the fiber is actually beneficial for you. Yeah. So yeah, no, it's, it's really good. As long as you don't get yourself into like an eating disorder place where you're, you know, just trying to do low calorie and eating as little as possible, that's where it's dangerous. But if you allow yourself, that absolutely happened to me. I, I mean, I remember a time when I was obsessed with zero calorie everything. Like you look in the store and you look at the zero calorie sauces and it's not a good place to be. No, no. Cause then at that point you're, you're mentally not doing super well, you know? And again, this is not a judgment, but it's like, you're constantly fighting yourself and your hunger in your own mind. Totally. And and marinara sauce is so great.

Like, yes, I'm going to be afraid of the calories and marinara sauce. So, you know, I'm glad I'm way past that. But, you know, that's why it's such a fine balance, because obviously when you're losing weight, you know, it is it is easier easier to go for like more of the, uh, lower calorie, like high volume foods, but there's a difference between also like lower calorie than being obsessed with like zero calorie, like everything, obviously. Yeah, I agree. And most of the time, those zero, zero calorie or low calorie foods that are advertised that way are not good for you either. You know, absolutely not. No, you know, like it'd be better just watching your portion on some like paleo mayonnaise or, you know, but there's also

some more natural sauces, obviously marinara, mustard, um, unsweetened ketchup. I love sauces too. I do too. Oh, and this is actually a really good point and a huge component, um, for health in general. But also if you're trying to lose weight, make sure that your sauces don't have sugar in them. Because a lot of salad dressings have sugar in them. A lot of marinara sauces have sugar in them. Across the board, a lot of those dressings and sauces have sugar. So I usually either make it at home or I get a lot of stuff from Primal Kitchen.

Primal Kitchen is they make a lot of amazing. I know I'm like they've really done a good job, which is why I usually call it like paleo dressings, which is Primal Kitchen, basically. But if you look up like paleo, but you know, you can Google search like any paleo dressing, paleo ketchup. Usually it'll have no added sugar, all that stuff. I know it is crazy. The amount of sugar I hear like certain canned soup that, you know, that are savory soups that you would not think have sugar have added sugar to them. And I'm just like, what are we doing? Save your sugar for where it counts. Do you know why they do it? Make it addictive, make it addictive, but also because, and again,

because of the way it's processed. So it loses its flavor oftentimes because they're just the way they're processing it. So sugar is like a nice enhancer of flavor instead of actually just making it better, making it with better seasoning. Just do better. Stop throwing sugar at everything. It's just so bad. You know, I thought of two more hacks that I'm really loving lately. Hear me out. I love making Brussels sprouts rice.

So you blend, you just throw your Brussels sprouts. I chop them a little bit and then I throw them in the Vitamix for like five seconds because you don't want to go too crazy. And then I saute them over the stove, either in butter or avocado oil, put different seasonings on it. And it is so good. Actually, I love doing that and doing like half Brussels sprouts rice and half rice and then mix it together and do some

sort of like grass fed beef. It's so good on your Instagram because I want to make that. Yeah. You know what? I haven't posted about it in a long time. I'll post about it sometimes. I'll do another one, but I'll see if I can find it because it's pretty far down on my Instagram. I haven't done it in a while, but that or there's also this brand called Palmini that makes hearts of palm pasta. Have you seen this yet? I've seen it. I haven't tried it though. It's good. I actually really like it a lot. And I had a girlfriend over for dinner a couple of months ago who is, um, she doesn't really care as much about eating healthy. Like she's just more like, you know, kind of eating whatever. And she tried the Palmini pasta and just more like, you know, kind of eating whatever.

And she tried the palmini pasta and she was like, oh my God, this is amazing. And then she asked me for like, I had to send her a photo later of what it was so she could buy it. It's really good. Oh, wow. I know. I love those foods where like, you know, the typical wellness health person really likes it. And you're like, ha ha, I got you. Yes, got you. Yes, got to. Yeah, it's great. So those are good, fun little hacks. Well, before we go, I want to ask you,

because I ask all of my guests this, what are some of your health non-negotiables? So these are things that no matter how busy your day is, that you do no matter what to, um, just better your health. And that can be foods that you make sure you eat every day. I don't know if you do like a meditation or whatever it is, things that you do to take care of yourself and your health. Um, I, I always like, I have three things I have to nourish my mind. I have to nourish my body and then I have to nourish my nutrition. So those are my three non-negotiables. And for me, you know, the mind usually like I've either listened to a podcast in a day. I do something that, you know, educates me, lifts me up, listen to a positive person, talk to a positive friend.

Number two is some form of movement. I love working out. It's like the best stress reliever. But even just walking, hiking, any form of movement, I'm not going to be sedentary all day. And then number three is that at least one of my meals, but usually more than that, is extremely nutrient dense. So it's got to have vegetables. It's got to have protein. And it's got to make me feel good. I just I can't go a whole day just eating junk food. Yeah, I love that.

Well, for everyone listening, where can they find you? They can find me on Instagram. It's at Meow Mikes, Meow M-E-I-X. And then I'm also on TikTok. I'm trying, you know, we're trying videos out. And yeah, that's where you'll catch me, usually serving up some food or maybe showing you my latest workout,

but that's about it. Yeah, go follow her, guys. She's a great follow on Instagram. A lot of value, valuable information. Thank you so much, though. This was such a fun podcast. I love your questions. And you're just such a beauty inside and out, really.

Thank you. That's so sweet. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was a really fun conversation for me. I loved it. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Real Foodology podcast. If you liked this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know.

This is a resident media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Chris McCone. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie, spelled with a J. Love you guys so much. See you next week. It makes me down, down But I try So what if it doesn't like me? At least I know I am Like, like, like