She's On The Money - BONUS EP: Food and Mood

Episode Date: August 20, 2021

SURPRISE! To be honest my loves, what else would we be up to in lockdown?! We've teamed up with our friends from My Millennial Health to bring you this fun bonus episode, and a little downloadable! Our special guest on today's episode is Jessica Spendlove, who is the co-host of My Millennial Health, the co-founder of Health & Performance Collective and coffee and wine connoisseur! You can find her on instagram @jess_spendlove_dietitian,Make sure you head straight to our website and hit the freebies tab! Love ya xThe advice shared on She’s on The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She’s on The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN 34 132 463 257 - AFSL 339151.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Toni Lodge and joining me for this little bonus episode that you probably weren't expecting is Miss Victoria Devine. Hello. Toni, how are you? I'm good, thank you. And as you can hear, we are in lockdowns. We're recording over Zoom again. What a dream. Sixth time lucky or something. Remember when we went into our third lockdown and we were like, third time lucky,

this will never happen again. Oh, it feels like a lifetime ago, but we are here to talk about something really, really fun. And that is food. Yes. And that is fun and good for us. And we have invited our friend Jessica Spendlove from the My Millennial Health Podcast to join us. And she is honestly a wealth of knowledge because of course, we're not going to get someone who just likes food on. We're going to get a legitimate foodie on. And Jess is not just a foodie. She's an advanced sports dietitian and one of the co-owners of Health and Performance Collective. So guys, She's legit. And she actually specializes in working with motivated individuals in both professional sport and the corporate environment, which sounds really fancy. And I just really want

her opinion on oat milk, if we're being honest, but she's not just impressive with her credentials. She's actually worked with so many cool people. So we're not just talking people like you and I, Tony, who are obviously cool, but she's worked with the AFL. She's worked with big netball teams. She's worked with the A-League. She's worked and put together the diet plan for F45. Like this woman knows her food and I am so grateful that we get to share her with you. And Tony, we're going to ask her all about how food can make us happy and boost our mood and what we should be eating and how we can stop snacking from the fridge that consistently

calls us towards it, even though we know that there's no good snacks in it. This is the chat that we had with Jess earlier this week. All right, Jess, you are the expert and I am so grateful to get you on today because the team and I, let's be honest, sometimes use food as a little bit of a pep up and a little bit of a saving grace, especially during lockdown. But there's a really big link between food and mood. So we thought that we would get you on to teach us a little bit about how we can be better at food and by virtue a little bit better at our moods. Totally. Thank you so much for having me on guys. And first of all, like I hear you, I see you, we love food and we can use it for so many

different ways. And I think, you know, what I love talking to people about at the moment is the power of food when it comes to positively influencing our mood and how we feel on the day to day, because let's get real, like depending on where you are, when you're listening to this, you could be in lockdown you might not be you might be on the precipice and there's so many like things out of our control at the moment but what we eat is a controllable factor so let's sharpen that up and let's get the information and the knowledge and then some tasty recipes to put that into practice and start you know feeling good on the day-to-day genius now I know I feel so much better when I'm eating cleanly and by cleanly I mean like lots of whole foods and fruits and vegetables and less

grains but what does it actually mean to eat well so I know that you know everybody thinks that it means different things like some people are vegan some people are keto like where do we even start when it comes to eating properly especially for our mental health so taking how we eat aside so if we eat x or if we eat y like if you're vegan or you're plant-based or if you eat everything the the best place to start is as you said before unprocessed whole foods so for some of us for everyone that should mean fruits and veggies but it definitely means more than that it can be your lean proteins for those people who eat grains your unprocessed grains can be really nutritious and there's also some other really kind of hero foods which I want to touch on like your omega-3

fatty acids and your extra virgin olive oils and some of your like green veggies like there's really specific types of foods but high level it means unprocessed untouched as much as you can that's going to be the best thing for for everyone and when you say things like olive oils i'm someone who i'm coming from an educated space here jess because i listened to your olive oil episode on your podcast and was actually mind blown about how healthy and how good that is for your body but it's always been something that i've used really sparingly can you maybe give us a little bit of a download on why it's important to still include these things in our diets, despite historically being told that maybe it's not so good for us.

Totally. I mean, there's so much conflicting information out there. And I guess, you know, the cornerstone to health when it comes to diet and nutrition, the Mediterranean diet stacks up time and time again. And I guess a variation of that, again, as we were saying, depending on if you eat meat or not, but extra virgin olive oil is a cornerstone to the Mediterranean diet. And traditionally, yeah, in westernized diets, we've kind of gone, is this something good for us? Like we've heard things like it's not stable or you need to use it sparingly. But what we know is that there's so many technical words here, bioactive compounds, which are

so good from an anti-inflammatory point of view, they are good fats, which are stable and they have so many important functions. First of all, they make our food taste good, win. Second of all, they help absorb certain nutrients. so we actually struggle to absorb our fat soluble vitamins without the presence of fat so this is something which makes the food taste better helps us absorb more nutrients and thirdly it actually helps fill us up so we don't need to fear fat like we might not want to be going just a bottle of extra virgin olive oil on a meal but using it quite generously is going to help the

nutritious the delicious and it's also going to help us stay fuller for longer so you know lockdown the snacks are talking to us the cupboards talking to us the fridge is talking to us is it because we're actually not putting enough of the right elements in a meal to get us through that and then we're being impacted by the stress so you know when people talk to me about that stuff I'm like is it physical is it psychological let's dial it back to what we know and are we having all those elements in a meal one of them being healthy fats and extra virgin olive oil is certainly a hero food for me to have in our cooking, in our dressings, all of that kind of thing. So what you're saying is if I want to eat fried chicken, I should deep fry it in extra

virgin olive oil. It is. That would be a positive step forward. You're a genius, Tony. I don't understand why I didn't think about it. You're a woman of the people, Tony. I super appreciate it. but what are some things that we can do to boost our mood without changing our entire diet? So I'm not that committed to changing my entire diet. I'm not going to go and go straight onto this Mediterranean diet that you speak of, but what are some ways that I could potentially boost my mood without having to, I guess, change everything around? Like how do we just add instead of change completely? Simple swaps are where they are at. And this is what I am constantly talking to people about. No matter who they are, it's start where you are and make a small change to

get a long lasting impact. So a few things, diversity really is the name of the game. So if you're someone eating the same thing every day, can you make a little simple swap? So for example lunch might be I don't know eggs on toast with avocado that's pretty good but can we maybe add some baby spinach and mushrooms or tomato there so we're adding some color and we're adding a few more plants so there's this kind of hero study called the American gut project it should actually be the worldwide gut project because it has 46 countries worldwide but they found that the number one predictor of a healthy gut and a happy which influences a happy mind is the diversity of plants and not just fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, grains, lentils, legumes,

fruits and veggies, the closer we can get to 30 and above, the better we are. So to your point, I'm always like, okay, well, what are we doing and what can we add or do a little simple swap? A big one for me, if you do eat something like rice and you're having brown rice, well, could you get one of those multi-grain rice cups so you've gone from one to three or four plants if they've got you know red rice brown rice quinoa and that mixed through it so like you said it's not necessarily this whole overhaul it's a few little simple swaps and diversity and stepping up the number of plants in your diet is a few ways you can do that so my biggest downfall is not necessarily just meals I feel like I'm really good at that like I really love planning my meals out

I'm good at breakfast, I'm okay at lunch, and I'm pretty good at dinners, but my downfall is snacks. How can I be better at snacking, especially while I'm home? And as you said before, the fridge is calling me and I seem to check it all the time. I just open it, hoping that there's something new in there or something that I missed last time. I'm like, oh, come on, there has to be something good in here. And then there never is. So what nourishing snacks can I put in the fridge that are going to be good for my body but also maybe aren't potato chips snacks are the lowest hanging fruit for the majority of people and as you've said you plan your meals you look forward to them you've got that all sorted and my question to you would be are you doing the same for your

snacks so the first thing there is knowing a snack should look like a mini meal in terms of the elements like we want it to have some color we want it to have some protein to fill us up we want some fiber and maybe some healthy fats so to your point there if we're just doing like a cracker and a dip well could we add some veggie sticks and maybe some cheese if we eat that or you know can we add some other form of like animal or plant protein to that so we have a little mezzy plate rather than just a couple of crackers and dip because if we're looking lunch to dinner you know most people go five six seven hours between those meals so yes you are probably hungry when your brain is creeping away from your work and it's thinking about the cupboard are you just dipping

in energy because you are actually needing to eat something so look some of my favorites and again this isn't kind of considering how people eat but your types of yogurts with your mueslis and your fruits maybe a smoothie like lots of fruits maybe even sneak some little sneaky veggies in there that you don't know about, avocado and baby spinach for the win in a smoothie, maybe a little bit of like protein powder or plant-based milk, depending on what you have. And if you're more team savoury, like I said, maybe it's not chips or crackers and dip. Maybe it's turning that into a more complete mezzie plate, which A, is going to look so much better for the gram, but B, is going to, it's going to fill you up so much more and you will actually feel satisfied and

energized and your mood will be elevated and productivity will be through the roof. And you'll be thinking about the potato chips a lot less because you've actually given yourself what you need. Yeah. But also potato chips are really good. So I doubt I'll ever stop thinking about them, but it's aspirational. When it comes to things like these Mezzi plates, right? I think that I do these pretty well, but they get a bit boring after time. So I've got some carrot sticks, I've got some celery I've got those baby tomatoes and also the baby capsicums what are some good dips and proteins that we could add to that that are healthy and not me just absolutely guzzling hummus totally well you can go like your nuts and seeds if you do eat like your dairy or your

animal products like salmon some cheeses you could do some hard boiled eggs we could look at a plant based um dip so you could even make um your own dips use the the yogurt as the base and some herbs and different things in them um to your point exactly food doesn't like it's not meant to be boring it needs to be nutritious but equally as important it needs to be delicious and easy so if you're like oh this old thing again well yeah how can we spice that up um nuts seeds different crackers different dips definitely looking for a source of protein to go in there because that's the thing that really fills us up and are those kinds of things um things that we can easily add to our diet that will actually give us that bit of pep in our step because I feel that most people

have like talked themselves out of planning snacks because it's easier to say no I will only eat breakfast lunch and dinner and whereas we actually should be snacking to avoid doing you know at 9 p.m going oh actually yeah i probably could order a mcflurry on uber eats totally the brain is like you know the brain takes up 20 to 25 percent of our total energy and what we're essentially trying to do with this way of eating aside from what we're eating and how is to sustain how we feel across the day what i often talk to people about is like we're not here to fall off a cliff like we actually want to sustain it and and often if you look at the back end of the day what's happening there is a reflection of what we do or don't do at the start so

another really good thing might be like a chia pudding which is one of the recipes that I know we're going to talk about soon but really cheap really easy your chia seeds you can use whatever milk that you like to consume some fruits super easy whack it in the fridge and it's like a little tasty sweet treat so yeah honestly afternoon snack I think it's where most people could could make some serious improvements to their day. Like you said, to prevent the McFlurry happening every day. Hey, if it's happening once or twice a week, you know, do your thing. We all have our little things that we like, but if it's like a constant, oh my God, it's McFlurry time, then it's probably like you're missing something earlier on. So I know that there are a number of

different foods that we can consume that help boost our spirits. We know that you said before that olive oil is really good and we know that like i'm pretty sure omega-3 fatty acids are one of them so things like fish and salmon and tuna are really good but what else can we add are there any fun things as their chocolate is their lollies like what other things can we increase our consumption of to actually be happier and have a better mood to your point all of those foods you've just listed there the fun foods they have a place like they we enjoy them they do bring us joy my only thing to that is if you are eating and when you are eating them they should bring you joy and if they're bringing you anything else after if you're then feeling the guilt or whatever

my thing to that is again look at the structure of your day so that's set up right so then a treat is a treat and you feel good about it so that psychological component of eating is really important. With your omega-3 fatty acids, if there are people out there that don't eat your animal products like nuts and seeds, like flax seeds and chia seeds and walnuts, they're really high in your ALA, which converts to your omega-3s, your B group vitamins or your greeny veg. So, you know, heaps of greeny veg at dinner, feel good and then have your little treat after and you're loving life and you're feeling great and you're feeling nourished. So, yeah I think my thing is a treat is a treat it shouldn't replace a snack so if you actually need

the snack have that so you're satisfied your energy levels are good and then have the treat for the enjoyment factor so you then don't crash and burn off the back of it because you know you've had a block instead of a couple of rows or whatever it might be oh so the treat should never actually replace a snack so if we're hungry we're better off having some celery and some peanut butter or something and then later on being like oh yeah we'll have a square of chocolate or that McFlurry or whatever yeah that's exactly right I see people replacing instead of adding I definitely do that like I as soon as I get hungry I'm like oh I'll have something naughty instead of eating two things I'll eat one thing that's naughty whereas

I should probably actually eat something that's good and then have like a smaller little naughty treat yeah that's exactly right I had never actually thought of that is that silly like I hadn't even considered that. Genius. Exactly. Exactly. I'm here to, simple hacks, here to have it all. And honestly, give it a go. Let me know. I promise you, you'll be able to just, you know, have a couple and you'll be like, yeah, I'm actually done. I've enjoyed that. And you know, you might not every now and then have it. You might just go, I'm eating the whole thing, but I promise you on the regular, it'll be less because you aren't actually physically hungry. Like hunger presents in so many different ways. It's not always, I am physically hungry.

sometimes it's what we crave how we feel how our energy dips so life hack have the snack and then have the treat tony we get two snacks instead of one it's genius i've never been happier um i know this is a little bit off topic but is there a way to identify when we are actually hungry and whether there is a way to kind of tell whether the dip in our mood is because we are needing a bit of sustenance or because we need to kind of get up and walk around or need some fresh air or just need some water like I know it's not really what we're talking about today but I know that you know around 11 o'clock before lunch I have a bit of a dip and I know that okay it's because I'm coming up to lunchtime or you know at 3 p.m I get a bit grumpy because and then Victoria and I will go and

grab another coffee or something when I'm so good at coffee which is probably not what we should be doing but is there a way to actually identify within ourselves when we are hungry and when we're just bored there's a few factors and a few things um one i'll just touch on like hydration is a massive one if you've been sitting down at your desk like all of those things so the structure of your day is important like get up every hour or so stretch your legs get some sunshine not every hour but across the day hydration massive like 50 to 60 percent of our body is made up of fluid so if we're dehydrated of course every function we're going to like see it and feel it we're going to be low on energy low on concentration but in answer to your question there's a thing

called the apple test which is essentially physical versus psychological hunger and if the snack cupboard's talking to you again and you're like how am I hungry and thinking about food again sit there and just have a few check-ins one is would a piece of fruit satisfy me right now and if the answer's like hell to the no I want the oreo cookie or the chips or whatever if it's a specific then it's more than likely psychological the other thing is if the hunger is more in the pit of your stomach as opposed to thinking about it so just thinking what's talking to me is it my brain or is it my stomach but if the answer to the apple or the piece of fruit question is oh yeah like a piece of fruit would probably satisfy me right now then it is probably hunger so our mums

were right when they said have a piece of fruit they actually were onto something I don't like that at all I hated that I hated whenever I'd say mom I'm hungry and she'd turn around and have the audacity to be like grab something from the fruit bowl are you kidding that's a joke you know i just want a mcflurry doesn't mean you have to have the apple if the answer to the question is then oh yeah that would probably be okay then you're probably actually hungry yeah and if you're always hungry at three o'clock now that you've got snacks on the radar and you've got your like your good balanced little mezzie plate or smoothie or yogurt bowl or when it gets warmer smoothie bowls we can whip them up? So Jess, you've probably seen it all over Instagram and it's become quite popular

to, you know, Instagram story your smoothie and what you're putting into it. And a couple of years ago, a smoothie for me would be some plant-based milk, a banana, maybe some ice. I'd chuck some oats in there and I'd call it a day. Like that would be my smoothie. I then started branching out because green smoothies were really popular. So I was adding in cubes of frozen spinach and kale and that was really good. And then over time on Instagram, it's become more and more popular to put your collagen supplements, your protein powders, all of your additional things into your smoothie to a point where I now am confused about what is meant to be in a smoothie and what is not. So from your perspective, what are we meant to put in a smoothie? Because I

don't have the time nor the money to buy every single different protein and collagen powder and greens powder to add to my smoothies like where can we start is basic best or do we actually need all that stuff basic is always best I mean look a smoothie can be a vehicle to put things in if you are wanting that or if you're someone training at a really high level and you're needing to supplement but look the basics and the principles similar to the meals so it's source of protein, some color, some carbs, and maybe some healthy fats. We can maybe skip out on that. But so for example, what you've just said, some fruit, color, tick, some protein, whatever milk you're using, be it plant-based. If you do find you're getting hungry, I would

maybe recommend soy milk. I know we're fans of other types of milks, but your soy is a little bit higher. Which is the only way I will fight you to the death. 50-50 maybe. But I like soy from a plant-based because it's significantly higher in protein. So from that filling up point of view, we want some fiber, which we get from the fruits, maybe some oats. And then if we want to go some healthy fats, maybe a bit of peanut butter. I mean, banana and peanut butter is life. Avocado or a nut butter or something like that. So look, if you're ticking those boxes, that's all you need, which can be like a four ingredient, pretty simple smoothie. um if you if you find you're getting hungry and you're having oat milk or macadamia milk or

something like that maybe a plant-based protein just to top that up but it's not essential it's definitely not me saying you need to go and get that I think again it's like having this kind of overview of your day and how you feel and if that's something that you might need but yeah basics are best always and how do you feel about and this is I guess my my secret creamy smoothie hack that everybody thinks I'm crazy about. And that is frozen zucchini. How do we feel about that as an addition? Or is that just a waste of smoothie space? We love frozen zucchini. You are sneaking a vegetable into a dish that is always going to be FTW for the win. And you can't taste it guys. You literally cannot taste frozen zucchini. And there's some kind of wizard magic

that happens when you put it into your Nutribullet that it goes super creamy it's genius I promise delicious yeah frozen zucchini with maybe a little bit of frozen banana like the two of them together with maybe a bit of avocado some baby spinach your oat milk whatever milks you want to do whiz that up afternoon snack incoming all right well after this and after you're done dissing oat milk we are going to talk about some budget recipes for people that are under $25, because after all, we are a money podcast and we want to get those budget hacks in. All right, Jess, we've just spoken about foods that can help boost our moods and satisfy us and maybe stop stacking as much as I do, but budget comes into it. And sometimes these things

are really expensive. So can you give us some budget-friendly ways to increase good food into our diet without necessarily blowing our grocery budget each and every single week? Totally. I think that's really important because it's not just like, oh, this dietitian sitting here with all these really healthy but expensive, unrealistic foods. So for me, I've said it before, my philosophy on nutrition or food, nutritious, delicious, and easy, which means easy to access, easy to prepare and cost 150% comes into that. So look, you know, shopping seasonally will always help and planning. So when people are like, I really want to dial into my food, like it's similar to your money. If you are intentional, if you have a list, if you know what you're buying,

well, then it will be as cost effective as possible. And then obviously looking at where you're shopping and what you're doing. But, you know, I've got quite a few really well-priced recipes which I know we're going to be sharing and having an extra um downloadable recipe ebook with nine which I'm so excited about I wasn't going to tell them about that yet that was going to be like a big bonus surprise at the end you fun spoiler oh my bad I got I've got a little bit carried away only because the recipes are so tasty and they're so cost effective like everyone every meal is under five dollars and the snacks are sitting around two dollars each and there are $2 a snack. Protein balls start at $2.50. You're a wizard, my friend.

That's what we're here for. So can you talk us through some of those things and maybe some hot tips when we're at the supermarket? Because I hear so many conflicting pieces of information. Firstly, that you need to be buying organic fruits and vegetables, but then also that you need to be buying super fresh produce. Whereas on the flip side for me, love a smoothie, but my partner doesn't. So buying a really big bag of baby spinach goes off really quickly. Like I literally cannot eat that even though that's the most cost-effective way to buy that. So can I just buy frozen and it be just as good or I don't know, where do we start when it comes to budget and properly buying produce? Frozen 150% with what you're talking about, like for smoothies,

always. A, they're nice and cold and B, they're more cost-effective and they keep, or as you said before, you were talking about little spinach cubes. You could even make your own. You could put spinach in little snap lock frozen bags and put them in the freezer so that they're portioned out. So you can definitely buy frozen or freeze to be a little a bit hashtag savvy. We love that. The second thing, no, we do not need to be eating organic. If that fits your budget and you are nailing the quantity piece, the quantity and diversity piece, and you want to go that third step up, you do, you're killing it. But for the majority of people, we do not need to be buying organic. One organic superfood, inverted commas, will never outweigh

the majority of you know average everyday fruits and veg so quantity and quality will always win and even if you know you're looking at a recipe and it's recommending broccoli and that's not in season but beans are like sub it out you know a recipe for me is a bit of a roadmap it's like okay this is the framework put your own spin on it put your own little um flavoring in it and it's just a guide. So yeah, hopefully that kind of clarifies all of those misconceptions a little bit. I'm glad you said that because I actually use recipes as roadmaps as well. I never actually stick to them, but is that okay to do? Can I have official permission from someone who knows what they're talking about, please? Official permission. I mean, you might have to venture into a recipe

creator as well. Add that onto the bio because that's exactly, honestly, that's exactly what you should be doing and I mean I think the most powerful thing there is that you just got to get in and you got to give it a go and some of it's going to be great and some of it might be a little bit but you're never going to know if you don't try and you know on my millennial health we did an awesome episode with Simon Hill who is his book the proof is in the plants highly recommend everyone gets their hands on that but he talks about his journey to being plant-based and often it was a lot of like, swap that with that. What's the closest thing and how does it go? And look, sometimes the ratios might have to get adjusted a little bit, but it pretty much is often a one

for one swap. And so many more good products out there these days that if you are wanting to go that way, whether it's for health or environmental reasons, or you're just curious, I would highly recommend that you do that. Just swap one thing for the other and then you'll soon work it out. you can adjust it and titrate it accordingly. So thank you so much for joining us. I know that you have put together a very beautiful ebook for us full of budget-friendly meals and I'm going to cook some and share them on our Instagram over the next couple of weeks. But are there any final parting words that you want to leave our community with when it comes to mood and food and budgeting and health? Like what is the number one thing we need to keep in mind? Small sustainable changes.

we're not trying to change the world we're not trying to overhaul look at where you are and look at one or two small things you can do which will then help you feel better you will then gain momentum and it will then carry you on so maybe from today's conversation plan to snack and then have the treat and i promise you it will be a game changer with your mood and how you feel and your productivity so the entire she's on the money community is going to be double snacking from now on we're going to have our healthy snack to top us up and then we're going to have our treat because we had our healthy snack because jess said that's what we should do and we deserve a snack now for that right tony yeah i'm about to go and do it right now double snack till we die i love this

i hope you guys loved that chat as much as tony and i did you can find jess online and you can find our ebook on our she's on the money website downloadable for free of course where all of jess's budget friendly recipes are right there for you to use but if you want to know more about jess and the my millennial health podcast head on over to their podcast they are on obviously all good podcasting platforms and you can also find jess on instagram she's at jess underscore spend love underscore dietitian but we'll put all that info in the show notes for you so you don't have to remember it and tony i think that's all from us today we've had enough of food and now we need to go and make a snack true snacks she says that we get two snacks every time which is obviously

an absolute stretch of what she said but i'm going with it because it just feels right you know all right but as always just before we head off we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to australia's aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples they're the traditional custodians of the lands the waterways and the skies all across australia we thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which we are able to learn. We pay our respects to elders past and present and we share our friendship and our kindness. The advice shared on She's on the Money is generally nature

and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or any financial decision. And we promise that Victoria Devine is an authorised representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management, Proprietary Limited, ABN 34132463257, AFSL 339151. See you next week, guys.

Bye.