Brain Healthy Diet- made simple

Eating healthily for your brain - made simple.

PLAN AHEAD- If you have healthy food ready to go, it's much easier to stick to the plan. I work out all my meals for the week so I don't have to think about it when I am busy and tired. It is very empowering to be ahead of the food game and know you are all set for the week. On Sundays I make a soup for my lunches for the week. This planning/prepping process only takes a few hours on the weekend and is so worth it. By far, this is the most important thing you can do.

My top tips:

• Plan all your meals ahead of time. If nothing else, at least buy all the ingredients. The worst thing you can do is be at the grocery store at dinner time. Fast food is too easy to grab.
• Shop once per week and make sure you have a full stomach when you do so.
• Prepare whatever you can on the weekend so your week is easy.
• Start making your dinner early, way before you are hungry. I have it on my calendar to start cooking by 4 p.m. It really helps.
• Have snacks ready to go such as almonds, apples, carrot sticks, etc.
• Eat your meals early, before you are starving. Stay ahead of your hunger.
• Stop eating at the first sign that you are satisfied.  I just started practicing this and it is amazing how much we are used to eating, simply out of habit. It is amazing how much less you need than you think.

Typical day for me following a brain healthy diet:

Breakfast:
On the weekend I have eggs-  
2 scrambled eggs, 1/4 C quinoa, 1-2 C arugula, 1 C steamed broccoli
During the week I have a healthy protein shake.

Snack, if needed:
1 oz. raw almonds

Lunch:
4 oz. protein and lots of veggies, such as-

• 4 oz. protein- chicken, turkey or ham-(high quality, not processed )
• 3 C lettuce+ veggies, carrots, celery, red peppers-whatever you like
• dressing- balsamic vinegar + maybe 1 TBSP high quality olive oil

or

• 2 C homemade soup (that I made on the weekend!)  My favorite is chicken curry coconut.

Snack when I get home from work:
Apple
Once you cut sugar out of your diet, an apple is like eating candy- a nice treat!


Dinners:
4 oz. protein and lots of veggies, such as-

• stir fry with chicken
• meatballs with zoodles (I make zucchini zoodles- love them!)
• cauliflower roasted with turmeric and chicken breast
• chicken and green beans with sesame oil, tamari, toasted almonds

I love using cronometer.com to check my diet and make sure I am on track.  It's very informative to really count everything you eat. It helps me to understand exactly what I am putting in my body and make changes.  I only use it occasionally,  maybe once a quarter.  I will check it a few days in a row to see how I am doing. It is an amazing tool to get complete understanding of what you are eating, the nutritional content of that food and, of course, calories, if you are trying to lose weight.  It can help you understand where you need to be.