Chapter 13
Be Picky and Prioritize Your Protein
If you ask my husband, he’ll tell you I’m somewhat obsessed with all things non-fiction; Idevournon-fiction books. I love memoirs, cookbooks, documentaries, and health and fitness books. I usually read a few each week, even during busy weeks ... which is all of them. My kitchen is overflowing with cookbooks, and even though most of my other books end up on my eReader, I justhaveto have my big, colorful and juicy cookbooks; they’re stacked all over my kitchen and in my cupboards.
SIDE NOTE: Doing a beautiful, sexy cookbook is on my bucket list, so if you’re a publisher reading this and want to partner with me to make an out-of-this-world, healthy, tasty cookbook, please contact my agent Kristin Nelson—she’ll be happy to talk to you.
And now I am getting WAY off track. My point is that I spent several months during the summer watching documentary after documentary on food production and farming, and their effects on our environment. If you care about what goes into your body and how it gets there, I would HIGHLY suggest checking out a few of those. I need to know that several different sources confirm the same things before I will incorporate changes that will affect my family.
One documentary I watched really impacted me about our consumption of beef and the impact the beef industry has on the environment. One of our children was also similarly impacted, and she asked me if we could simply switch out some of the beef we were eating to turkey or chicken. It didn’t seem like that big of a thing to do, so we bought almost all ground turkey to substitute for the beef.
Two important things I want to share that came from this simple experiment. First, our grocery bills went way down! I feed 10 people three times each day and that adds up REAL quick, so I’m as frugal as I can be with my grocery shopping. I was so happy to see that our costs went down considerably just switching from beef to turkey and chicken.
Initially, I thoughtmaybesome of the recipes would work with this change, and I didn’t know what my kids would have to say about the changes. Which leads me to the second point: My kids prefer the ground turkey to the beef. Theyraveabout my turkey meat sauce, meatballs, and meatloaf. Even my husband agreed this was a good change.
Now, I’m not suggesting you need to totally eliminate red meat, but cutting back improves health, saves money, and helps the environment, which is only going to make Mama happier, right? I was thrilled. Later, in the recipe section, I’ll share some of our favorite switch-ups using ground turkey and chicken.
Depending on your family members, you might want to try and hide the change, or talk to them about why you’ve decided to switch things up. I have the sort of kids who love to be involved in what I’m learning, and they like to discuss it with us. Our three older kids talk about these things with their friends and teachers, too. At this point they might even know more than I do! You know your kids best, so make the decision that seems right for your family. You might even mix some beef and some ground turkey at first just to be super sneaky! I am totally okay with sneaking things in on my little boys and my husband. I think I was putting kale, spinach, and okra into their smoothies for months before they finally caught me. Once they realized they liked it and were used to it, they couldn’t even complain ... much.
I also had another hugeaha!moment during this time. Each night we have a “family question” during dinner and each person at the table has to answer. Sometimes it’s a really thoughtful question like, “What was the hardest part of your day?” Other times, it is something silly like “if you could be any animal, which animal would you be?” Well, one night I asked the kids what their favorite meat was because, honestly, I just couldn’t think of another question. Do you know what every single one of my kids said except for one?FISH?! WTF! I had no clue my kids evenlikedfish that much. Even the two little boys! Who were these kids and where did they come from?
It just continually blows my mind how their eating habits have changed. So now I’m trying to do one meal with fish each week. I can often find great sales on frozen wild salmon, which isn’t cheap, but a bag for $5 or $6 really isn’t bad either when you consider how healthy it is for them. We really love adding the FLAVORGOD seasonings to fish too—the ranch and cheese flavors are a huge hit with the kids.
I often get comments about how expensive these flavorings are, but I buy them when they’re on sale, and they last quite a while. When you can sprinkle chicken, salad, or fish with a seasoning that the kids gobble up, it becomes worth it. Give it a try!
One thing I’ve seen over and over again is how little protein most people consume. I think this is often why stalls or slow-downs happen. If we keep reducing the amount of food we are consuming, and push harder with exercise, we create a starvation mode in the body. Then we get frustrated, and it becomes a crazy, vicious cycle.Please, don’t underestimate how important protein is to your health!
If you aren’t sure what your protein macronutrient goals are, there are several free websites that will give you a good range. Here’s a great one:healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator. I try to include protein in each and every meal and snack. You can easily add protein powder to almost anything if you need a quick fix. Below is a list of some of my favorite protein choices.
I recommend:
Greek Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Eggs
Whey Isolate Protein (Jay Robb brand is the best, in my opinion)
Chicken Breast (Boneless Skinless)
Turkey Breast
Tuna
Salmon
Tilapia
Beans
Lentils
Peanut or Almond butter
Nuts
Quinoa
Jay Robb whey isolate protein powder is our family go-to. It has the best, most ideal ingredients available, and you can even order it from Amazon at a really great discount and have it delivered right to your door! You can’t beat that! We add it to shakes, smoothies, pudding, yogurt, pancakes, and waffles. One of my favorite breakfasts is egg white French toast with cottage cheese and blueberries on top. I always add vanilla-flavored Jay Robb to my cottage cheese and then sprinkle some cinnamon on top to give it sweetness and flavor. This breakfast ispackedwith fiber, protein, and healthy carbs, and it provides a great boost of energy. Particularly if I’m working out, running, or doing errands with the family, this breakfast will give me all I need to fuel my body at the start of the day.
Don’t skimp on your breakfast. I know it’s a cliché, but it’ssoimportant, and protein should always be the focus. I probably sound like a broken record about this, but it really is true. You can’t drive a car without gas, but we often push ourselves to do the things we want our body to do without the proper fuel and nutrition. Then, we wonder why we are tired, sick, or physically fatigued. I firmly believe we often fuel our vehicles and homes better then we fuel our bodies. We would never throw junk into the engine of our car, but we routinely and mindlessly throw garbage into our bodies without a second thought.
Be mindful. Fill your body with care and consideration, because you areworthit, friend. Your body is the only one you’re going to get. We can roll up to the dealership and easily get an upgrade on our cars, but we don’t have that luxury with our bodies. We need to relearn self-care and it begins with fueling the beautiful machines we live in with the best possible food.
Pick your protein, healthy carbs, and fats wisely. They aren’t created equally, and the results will all depend on your choices. I want you to have a fierce, strong, healthy machine. You deserve it! Remember your body WANTS to heal, itwantsto be healthy and strong.
I know it’s especially hard for us mamas to make choices that prioritize ourselves—we’re usually at the very bottom of the list. I hear from so many women that it’s going to be so difficult to rearrange a budget and make time for health and nutritional choices. But let me be clear: ifyouaren’t in good health, everything in the life of your family will suffer. Your food choices are important. Your exercise and movement time are important. Not only for physical wellbeing, but for mental health too! So please, Mama, make good choices, make time so you can be the best you for your family for a very long time. Trust me when I say taking care of yourself will be contagious. Once you start, your body will crave more and more healthy changes. Just ask several of my beta readers, many of whom went on to quit smoking after they started eating clean.
Once you get on the road to health and wellness, you’ll want more and more of it for yourself and your family.
