Firstly, can we talk about the fact that I was on live TV for the first time ever this past week?? For those who don't know, I work full time at Sharp Rees-Stealy here in San Diego, in addition to maintaining my small business on the side. Well, on Tuesday afternoon I got a call from the media team at my office asking if I could respond to a media request for someone to talk about protein intake, following the story of a young mom who died from a protein overdose (due to an underlying genetic condition). I figured I might as well get out there and try something new, because it's always good to get out of our comfort zones, right? I accepted the offer and spent the next couple of hours coming up with talking points, then swung by Whole Foods on my way home to pick up some real-food props.
The next morning was an early start, and before I knew it I was live on the Channel 8 Morning Extra at 7:15am! The segment was only a couple of minutes long, and in my head, I felt like it was completely jumbled. I was nervous and felt kind of tongue tied in the beginning. I found my voice though and I think it ended up sounding a lot better out loud than I was thinking that it did. The one thing I learned though is that if I want to communicate a point, I need to be bold and just jump right in and say it! The anchor was talkative (she loved nutrition too) and I didn't really have the opportunity to even say what I wanted to say. Even so, it was a (very brief) opportunity to talk about real food nutrition on the news, which I'll take any day! Plus, I got to eat all the real-food props that I used on the show, which meant that I was having kale salad, salmon with mango salsa, and fresh fruit for breakfast, and I loved every bite! Here's the clip if you're interested. I didn't write the blurb underneath it though, nor do I necessarily agree with it. (I think those numbers are far too low.)
Alright, enough about that.
The Meal Plan
Breakfast: Smoothie // I'm cleaning out the freezer of all the half-used bags of frozen fruit that seem to have accumulated! I'll also be adding in some frozen spinach or kale, along with the steamed and frozen zucchini that you see in the picture. For protein, I'll be mixing it up between Equip (pictured; 15% off with code "wholedailylife"), Vital Proteins Collagen (pictured), and a couple of others.
Lunch: No Cook Plate // This is my go-to three out of four weeks of the month. I almost always have cucumber, radishes, and an apple, along with some kind of protein. This week I'll be having Safe Catch Seasoned Elite Tuna with a mashed avocado and some arugula! These cans of tuna are PERFECT for a no-cook lifestyle because they're not only top of the line in quality, but also packed with flavor!
Dinner: Meatballs + Sweet Potato + Red Cabbage // I have a couple of leftover frozen meals in my freezer from previous weeks that I'll be rotating in here as well, so this week I made a batch of my basic meatballs and packed them up with some roasted sweet potato and balsamic red cabbage. I'm trying out meat from Free Raised Direct for the first time this week; more on that below!
Snack: Zupa + Protein // They didn't make it into the picture, but if I need a little something extra (I eat intuitively based on my hunger), I'll have a DNX bar or a couple of Paleo Valley jerky sticks with a Zupa soup. As always, you can get 20% off of your Zupa order + free shipping with the code "wholedailylife" at checkout!
More about Free Raised Direct
Free Raised Direct is a meat subscription service that provides 100% grass fed and finished meat from Strauss, a collection of family farmers. They reached out to me to see if I would be interested in sampling some of their products. The ground beef that I used this week is the first that I have tried, and it is clear by the flavor that the meat lives up to the standard that they proclaim. (Once I moved over to grass fed beef it is so apparent when the meat I'm eating is not!) I'm not affiliated with this company in any way, but if you'd like to learn more about them, you can do so here. I look forward to cooking with more of their meats in weeks to come, and will be sure to share my experience!
Have a great week!
-Tracey