The Lift Quantified Diet Project Week #3 is going well as expected since I was randomly assigned to my basic diet. Twice this week I strayed from whole foods when I ate a Kashi TLC granola bar as a hangry snack in my car and when I had a Starbucks Via packet because I slept like crap the night before and didn’t have time to make coffee or tea. I’ve been eating about 1-2 ounces of wild salmon or junk-free chicken every few days as an addition since that is part of the meal plan. Still taking some getting used to but I’m fine with it.
Since this is my typical diet, I’m often asked what I eat or what hacks I use in order to eat an almost whole foods diet. First, I highly suggest belonging to a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture program. I use Papa Spuds because they have the most diverse collection (veggies, fruits, shrooms, meats, breads, pastas, cheeses, eggs, milk, salsa, nut butters), I can choose my own foods and they deliver to my door. This was really big for me because it taught me what was in season. I still buy some frozen fruits and veggies but for the most part I just use the CSA.
I also hack my meals for the week on Sundays. I start a countdown timer from 60 minutes and I wash, chop, prep and cook as much as I can in one hour to at least get me through the first part of the week.
A typical one hour would include:
- Brewing a new batch of kombucha tea to sit on the counter
- Boiling 6-7 eggs
- Making my muesli mix baggies for our breakfast: 1 servings of Whole Foods muesli, .5 T chia seeds, 1T flaxmeal, .5 scoop Vega protein powder, sometimes I’ll add nuts. Every night I put it in a bowl and add some kind of fruit and pour .5 cup of almond milk over it. By the morning it is perfect.
- Washing, chopping and possibly roasting veggies (kale, cabbage, sweet potatoes, carrots, eggplant….whatever I have)
- Draining and baking tofu
- Sometimes I’ll make muffins (now I am in to Lemon Chickpea Muffins)
- Throwing beans and veggies in the crockpot (I soak dried beans overnight instead of buying canned)
I don’t get to all of these all the time but when you are on a mission, you can get a lot more done. That little timer ticking away until I have my freedom is also inspiring to move fast!
Do you have any meal hacks to share?