Eating More Whole Foods: A Simple Guide to Nutritious Meals

We need to get REAL when it comes to planning our overall diets and that means planning meals around nutrient-dense wholefoods! Basing your meals around whole foods is not only simple but it will help nourish your body and brain, satisfy that appetite and help you feel your best!

Below is an outline of how to construct a meal that's real! 

Step One: Base your meals around a source of quality protein!

• Choose a variety of minimally processed beef, lamb, chicken, pork, duck, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and grains if tolerated.
• For meat, poultry, or fish the thickest part of your protein source should be roughly the same size as the palm of your hand.
• For eggs, eat the number you can hold in one hand (usually 3-5).
• For oddly shaped protein, such as tuna, shrimp, scallops, simply do your best to estimate a palm-sized portion.
• One cup of cooked beans, peas, lentils, or grains such as quinoa is roughly one serving.

Step 2: Fill the rest of your plate with vegetables.

• Choose a wide variety of seasonal vegetables when planning your weekly meals.
• Include a minimum of two vegetable varieties with each meal and include one starchy vegetable such as; potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin, peas, beans, (green, kidney, pinto, black, cannellini) lentils, yams, taro, and parsnips. 
• Eat vegetables raw, steamed, boiled, baked, roasted, grilled, or sauteed, fresh or frozen doesn’t really matter.
• A vegetable serving is a fist-sized portion of the thickness of your palm.

Step 3: Cook with and serve with some healthy fats.

• All oils (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, etc.) - 1-2 thumb-sized portions
• All butter (coconut butter, nut butter, etc.)- 1-2 thumb-sized portions
• Avocado - half to one whole avocado
• Coconut milk - 1/3 of a can
• Olives - one open handful (heaped)
• Coconut flakes - one open handful (heaped)
• Raw or dry-roasted nuts and seeds - one closed handful