Did you know that 3 billion people in the world cannot afford even the lowest-cost healthy food?
If you can afford ingredients for healthy meals available in the place where you live, you are in 60% world’s population. And you should be grateful for that.
Even though being able to buy and cook healthy meals does that mean you are doing it?
Actually many people who can afford the most healthy food are choosing a surprisingly unhealthy diet.
This post is all about healthy and easy meal suggestions that can help you become and stay fit and healthy.
To keep on track with your best and most optimal body weight start taking care of what you are putting into your body.
I know, it’s not easy to stay motivated and consistent, but try keeping things as simple as possible.
If you are struggling to find the motivation to make healthy food choices, this post can really help you…
However, I’m not a nutritionist and this is not an ultimate healthy eating diet plan which you should follow blindly. You should always first consult your dietician or nutritionist before starting any diet plan.
Anyway, I’m very honestly sharing with you what has worked for me and what helped me to lose weight after my pregnancy and to maintain my best physical form.
You’ll find here my nutrition tips, how I stay fit, what I eat during the day, and how I maintain my healthy weight.
Obviously, this blog is dedicated to food – but not only what I suggest as a diet plan but also how and when I suggest you eat each one of my meal suggestions.
Keeping my healthy weight and feeling my best is so important for me, and I’m feeling it especially when I exercise. When I have my best weight my workouts are much more efficient and I feel that I just move my body better.
So, I actually don’t talk about unhealthy weight and don’t mind about numbers on a scale, it’s not something important in your overall well-being.
Instead try to listen to your body, how it moves and what do you feel when you move.
This body-mind communication is something I really love in pilates and can help you understand what’s really important and what will improve the quality of your life.
Well, let’s get back to food and what, how and when to eat to feel your best!
Pre-workout meal for better fitness results
I like to start my day with a nice Spirulina Smoothie.
I very often talk about Spirulina Smoothie. It’s so healthy, rich in nutrition and very easy to make.
This is my favourite Spirulina Smoothie recipe:
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Spinach
- Celery
- Chia seeds
- Spirulina powder
- Fresh filtered water
Instruction: Mix well with a high-speed blender.
After having my Spirulina Smoothie I do my workout, usually pilates or yoga, sometimes I add some cardio, and I run only once a week. Sunday is usually my running day.
I exercise only 30 minutes a day. Sometimes even less.
After 30 min I still have energy, I’m not exhausted and I feel so good in my body
I don’t need to do longer workouts because I really take care of what I eat, and that helps me to maintain a healthy weight.
So, I think that daily exercising (even only 30 min) and proper nutrition with lots of fibre, is main the biggest reason for my good physical form and good health as well.
I have other tips for being fit and healthy, which I’m going to share with you in some other blog posts. Today I want to focus on food only.
Why do I love to start my day with Spirulina Smoothie?
It’s very important to eat something before your workout.
The best thing is if you can eat at least 1 hour before. But your pre-workout meal should be a light meal or smoothie.
So if you want to improve your workout performance fuel your body with proper food before your exercising.
Breakfast is my favourite meal
After my workout, I immediately have to have my breakfast or my first bigger meal.
It’s usually oatmeal.
I actually eat oatmeal almost every day. What’s most important, it’s not only made of oats.
I like to combine different types of cereals. Also, I add seeds and fruits to make this meal really rich in nutrients.
My Oatmeal Breakfast recipe:
Ingredients:
- Oats, Spelt or a mix of 7 different types of cereals
- Flex seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Chia seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Banana
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Avocado
- Peanut butter
- Water
Instructions:
- Mix oats (or any other cereals) with all seeds from the list. Take a food processor and grind it all together to make almost a powder.
- Add boiled water over mixed ingredients and whisk it well, until you get one compact porridge.
- Add banana slices, berries, peanut butter and avocado on top (I always add a little bit of sea salt on avocado).
This meal is very nutritious and since it contains lots of saturated fats and fibres, it’s easy to digest and will make you feel longer full. It will also keep your sugar level stable, so you will not crave added sugars during the day.
Easy and quick lunch packed with nutrition
Lunch is of course every day different and mostly very simple.
I try to choose for my family always organic, bio and whole foods. Food for the whole family is actually mostly plant-based, but I’m the only one in my family 100% vegan.
Which means they eat meat 3 times per week (2 times beef and once fish).
I usually prepare the same version of this meal for myself, only vegan-based.
Regarding my vegan choice.
I consider this as my way of showing love to this planet.
I’m vegan because I love animals and I strongly don’t support the animal industry – I find it very cruel and profit-oriented at all costs.
Also, animal exploitation ruins this planet and this is my way to protect this planet and contribute to a better life for everybody on the Earth.
Half plate vegetables method helps you stay fit
I’ve recently heard about this great method, that helped me lose weight after my second pregnancy, which is called half plate vegetables.
Obviously, your only rule in this diet is to occupy half of your plate with raw and fresh fruits, and the other half is for rest – protein, carbohydrates, fats.
For me, it’s usually salat, baby spinach, tomato… I add it to fill half of the plate each lunch I’m eating.
Just to mention, that my favourite lunch is risotto with avocado – Check out the recipe here. I love risotto because you can be so creative with this dish and create every time something new, different and tasty.
This method Half plate vegetables is something I really find very useful to make sure I will eat enough vegetables and that I will provide myself with good fibre intake.
Increasing your fibres intake can provide you really amazing benefits, and I even consider fibres as one of the most important parts of proper nutrition.
Eating enough raw vegetables can help you boost metabolism, and it will increase your natural body fat burn.
Fibres fill you up and make you feel less hungry, since they digest slowly, and it helps to prevent overeating, as well.
Vegetables are the best source of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and they should be your number 1 priority if you want to live a healthy lifestyle.
Half plate vegetables is the only diet I used after my second pregnancy and it helped me lose my pregnancy weight while breastfeeding my baby. Off course, the quality of my milk and what I’m providing to my baby was the most important. I’m glad I’ve managed to lose weight without harming my breastfeeding process.
For dinner, I usually eat salat
My third meal is usually salat with leftovers. We never eat everything I prepared for lunch, so I usually use creativity to create a light dinner from the same ingredients we had for lunch + leafy green vegetables.
I try to eat my dinner at least 4 hours before I go to sleep.
If you eat too late the calories you intake don’t digest properly and you probably won’t feel well.
If you chose to eat just before going to bed, your body will digest food during the night. So, instead of relaxing and resting, your body will work the whole night. This will probably make you feel tired when you wake up the next day.
Except adding green leafy vegetables to leftovers, for the last meal I like to add some tofu, flax seeds and pumpkin oil as well.
Sometimes I eat avocado toast instead, or anything else I find in the fridge.
I also always make sure to check the expiration date, and eat the food that will expire soon. Personally, I find it very important not to throw food away – this is a very important rule in my house.
I really care about sustainable and eco-conscious living and consider food waste a serious problem.
So, the first rule that I follow is “when I eat my dinner” and the second is “what I eat”. I think that letting your food digest before you lay down is so important.
My favourite drinks
I would as well share with you only briefly what beverages I like the most.
Green tea has my heart forever. It’s so refreshing, it helps me wake up and provides me with the best energy boost. So, it’s obviously an important part of my morning routine.
As soon as I open my eyes I drink a glass of water and prepare my green tea. A big, big cup of tea is my favourite way to start the day.
I have my coffee latte, with plant milk, approximately 1 hour after my breakfast. I drink it with my husband and it’s more for the sake of routine and spending intimate time with him than a coffee addiction.
I drink matcha latte in the afternoon and really enjoy its taste. I often add protein powder to my matcha and make it packed with nutrients.
Check out my Protein Matcha recipe below.
To conclude…
That’s all regarding my main meals during the day
Not every day is the same, and my diet depends on the season, as well as on my lifestyle at that moment.
For example, when I travel it’s not easy keeping pace with any regime, but I anyway try to follow the rule of eating as many fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water.
Find a regime that works for you, and always listen to your body.
No diet works perfectly for everyone.
What is good for me might be not so useful for you, but you have to try to know.
Your body will signalise each time you eat something. Just listen and observe.
And most important, enjoy your meals and learn to eat mindfully. Sit down, eat slowly and really focus on enjoying the taste.
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