Professional Tips to Improve your Meals
by Allyson Kleinbrodt, MA, NC, NBC-HWC
The Importance of Eating Healthy in a Busy World
Life is full of commitments—personal, professional, family obligations, kids, social events, and those little pocket computers we call “smartphones.” With endless demands, it’s easy to ask: who has time to eat healthy? The more critical question, though, is: can you afford not to prioritize eating healthy?
Epigenetics has shown us that your genes are not your destiny. Healthy lifestyle habits can actually “mute” certain genes, giving you the power to take control of your health. In this article, I’ll share tips from my busy kitchen to yours, showing you how to incorporate healthy eating into your everyday life.
The Impact of Stress on Eating
First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room—stress. We all experience it, but our mindset and what we say to ourselves about stress can either support or derail our health efforts.
While our hunter-gatherer ancestors dealt with acute, life-threatening stressors like wild animals or infections, today’s stressors—work, traffic, environmental toxins, emotional challenges, and even electromagnetic fields—are constant. And stress has a huge impact on our metabolism and hunger signals.
Cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” influences hunger and appetite. Elevated cortisol levels can trigger cravings for high-calorie foods (like sugar and fat), a survival mechanism from our evolutionary past. Cortisol also promotes fat and carbohydrate breakdown for energy but can increase insulin resistance, disrupting normal hunger signals. Chronic stress can create a cycle of emotional eating, unhealthy cravings, and fat storage, especially around the midsection.
Manage Stress to Improve Nutrition
Before you can focus on food, you need to address stress. To properly digest the healthy food you eat, your body must be in a relaxed, non-stressed state. The parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for “rest and digest” functions) needs to be activated for you to get the full benefit of the nutrients you consume.
Here are some simple ways to support your parasympathetic nervous system:
- Vagal nerve activation: Humming or singing.
- Circadian rhythm support: Get sunlight on your skin and in your eyes in the morning.
- Meditation and mindfulness practices.
- Breathwork: Diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, Wim Hoff method.
- Yoga or Tai Chi.
- Walking.
- Infrared sauna and cold therapy.
- Grounding: Walking barefoot on grass or sand.
- Being outdoors in nature.
- Restorative sleep.
By managing stress, you can curb cravings, balance hunger hormones, and prevent fat storage, making it easier to make healthy food choices.
Meal Prep: The Key to Healthy Eating
Healthy eating doesn’t just happen—it’s planned. Meal prep is an essential part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You don’t want to make food choices when you’re “hangry” or craving junk due to cortisol spikes.
Tools to make meal prep easier:
- Instant Pot: Acts as a slow cooker, pressure cooker, steamer, sauté pan, and more.
- Food processor with blender: Ideal for smoothies or quick meal prep.
- Great knife, Glassware with leakproof lids, Bowls with tops, Casserole dishes with lids, Mason jars
- Water bottle: Stay hydrated, as thirst can often be mistaken for hunger.
Tips for Successful Meal Prep
- Set aside time to plan your week. Identify when you’ll need quick, healthy meals.
- Prep ahead: Chop vegetables (e.g., carrots and celery can last in water for up to 2 weeks). Cook simple proteins like baked chicken breasts or hard-boiled eggs for easy incorporation into meals.
- Stock healthy options: Keep ingredients like frozen veggies, herbs, and spiralized zucchini on hand to build meals quickly.
- Cook in batches: Bake sweet potatoes or squash on the weekend and use them throughout the week.
Quick Grab-and-Go Food Ideas:
- Meat sticks (Paleo valley fermented, chomps).
- Nuts and seeds (macadamia nuts, walnuts, chia, flaxseeds, hemp).
- Canned fish, salmon, sardines, mackerel, oysters, tuna.
- Greek yogurt (if tolerated).
- Coconut milk, Coconut aminos, Fish sauce, Salsa (preferably fresh), Olives.
Easy, Healthy Meals in Under 10 Minutes
Use this formula: Protein + Fat + Non-Starchy Carb + Starchy Carb = Satiating Meal.
Here are some meal ideas:
- Breakfast: Hard-boiled eggs with a banana and almond butter, Greek yogurt with frozen berries, chia pudding with coconut milk and seeds.
- Lunch: Mason jar salad with hard-boiled egg or chicken, avocado, olives, and fresh veggies.
- Dinner: Chicken or fish with olive oil, sea salt, and lemon. Pair with roasted sweet potatoes or cauliflower rice.
Sourcing Matters: Choose Quality Foods
To get the full benefits of your meals, choose high-quality ingredients. Look for terms like organic, grass-fed, wild, free-range, and GMO-free. Healthy animals and plants lead to healthier humans.
Conclusion: Let Food Be Thy Medicine
With so many medications available for illness, why are we getting sicker? By letting food be our medicine, we can transform our health. Focus on real, whole foods, and you’ll make strides in your overall wellness and well-being. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be fancy—just intentional.
Akasha is a space where individuals receive science-based, state-of-the-art, personalized, integrative care that transcends mere symptom treatment. We believe the body uses a language called symptoms to communicate with us. Our Job as emissaries of health is to listen to that language and help our patients understand what is asking of us.
“We meet our Patients Before We meet the Dis-eases”
About the author:
Allyson Kleinbrodt combines deep nutritional knowledge with practical lifestyle strategies. She helps you overcome the challenges of modern life by crafting personalized, integrative health plans designed to address imbalances at their core. She is a Certified Health Coach and Functional Nutritionist passionate about helping individuals achieve lasting health and vitality through personalized, integrative approaches. With a deep belief in the body’s inherent ability to heal, Allyson guides her clients beyond conventional health systems, offering them the tools and support they need to thrive.
