{HMW} Neutral eating: what it means and why it's different from clean eating 🥣

Dear Reader,

It's been a long time since I've said goodbye to dieting and diet culture and said hello to mindful & intuitive eating. It's changed my life for the better in so many ways. One way I healed my fraught relationship with food was to learn how to become a "dietary detective" for my own body taking in consideration all aspects of health, psychology and previous eating experiences, not to mention my lifestyle.

Here are 5 practices I adopted that have helped me immensely and help my clients every day.

Notice which foods make you feel energetic and which ones weigh you down or make you feel bloated. You may find that there are surprises here. We all have unique microbiomes and physiology. Start making a list of the nutrient dense foods you love that also make your body feel great.

Eat in a slow, deliberate and mindful way so that your body has a chance to process and integrate information vital to knowing if you enjoy that food and if it works for your body both in the short term and long term.

Experiment with different methods of cooking a certain food. Meaning, don't give up on a food after just trying it one way. Some foods may be intolerable or unpalatable in its raw form but delicious and digestible cooked. Some just need a perfect sauce or need to have it prepared in a new way for you to enjoy it.

Follow the clues your body gives you - does this food give you pleasure? Is it fairly easy to make? Does it have fat, fiber and protein? Does it comfort you and keep you full for hours? Does it satisfy a sensory craving? Be the detective and follow the clues accordingly.

Divorce yourself of food morality and the “good food, bad food” mentality

Try "neutral eating" which is about exploring which foods are truly best for our bodies rather than relying on research that can often be confusing and conflicting or eating trends that may not work for your unique body.

As always, if you need support with any of these areas of eating and nutrition, let's chat!

Book your free "get to know you sesh" here

Have it:

Interesting Article Alert: This Sugar Sends A Much Weaker "I'm Full" Signal To Your Brain

Made it:

5-Senses Sunday:

Vintage candy stores, unconventional smells people secretly love, summer concert set lists, and coral reef that's been rooted in one spot for centuries.

This week's 5-Senses Sunday is live.

Want it:

I'm looking for an espresso machine - not a fancy or expensive one, just a basic, easy to use machine that can froth up some milk and can be made with espresso pods. Any suggestions? I saw this one and wondered why it was so inexpensive? 🤔

Ingredient Spotlight:

Mung Beans

The first time I became aware of mung beans was while visiting a vegetarian food festival. The name itself, mung beans, does not exactly roll off the tongue, like the fancy fava or even garbanzo. The name alone made me convinced I wouldn't like it. I thought it was "too healthy," if that is a thing.

But, I was convinced to buy a jar of them after I tasted it in a curry the vendor had made with it while boasting about it's health benefits.

Mung beans have a slightly sweet, nutty and earthy flavor to them and taste slightly different in raw form than when cooked.

Each cup has a whopping 15 grams of fiber and 27% is pure protein, making it a great choice for folks looking for plant-based proteins. In fact, plant-based eggs often use mung beans as its base.

While I don't eat them as often as say black beans or kidney beans, I do put them on rotation when I can and I am glad to have found yet another fibrous and gut-friendly plant-based protein.

>>> Recipes to try using mung beans

Announcements & Upcoming:

Reminder: The Sunshine Shift bundle is still available for 3 more days.

This is a collection of 64 digital gifts from creators who believe in real, meaningful shifts -- the kind that actually stick.