No one feels well after a meal that’s been seasoned with self-criticism. Integrative nutritionist, Jennie Miremadi, is showing us how to eat on a self love diet – clean, mindful and deeply self-nurturing. Explore our deliciously balanced approach here, then enjoy this full day of self-love recipes, breakfast to dinner.
Last week, I shared a self love diet with seven emotionally healthy ideas for approaching your food with more self-love. If you’re feeling inspired to try it, but want a little more guidance on what a typical day might look like, I created this “Day on a Self-Love Diet” plan just for you…
A Self Love Diet
Before you eat today, remind yourself that when you nourish your body with nutrient-rich, whole foods-based meals, you show your body that it’s worth caring for. You’re also setting a kind and loving tone for the day, which is exactly how you want to kick things off.
Plan to include protein, healthy fat and fiber-rich carbs at each meal today. This combination of macronutrients will not only stabilize your blood sugar so that you have sustained energy, it will help keep you satiated. Consider leaving out gluten, dairy, and refined sugar today. Most of my clients feel much better when they remove these items from their diet, and I think you probably will too.
Protein | Some good protein sources include organic turkey, chicken and eggs, wild Alaskan salmon (and other wild fatty fish), grass-fed beef and wild game, collagen peptides, vegan protein powder (I like pure hemp seed- or pumpkin seed-based powders), nuts and seeds.
Fiber | Examples of healthy fiber rich carbs include non-starchy vegetables (e.g. Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, leafy greens), starchy vegetables (e.g. sweet potatoes, acorn squash), gluten-free grains (e.g. amaranth, quinoa) and legumes (e.g. chickpeas, black beans). Choose your favorites, but aim to fill at least half of your plate with non-starchy veggies!
Fat | Good sources of healthy fat include nuts, seeds, avocados, ghee, coconut oil, coconut milk, and coconut butter, extra-virgin olive oil, olives, avocado oil, wild Alaskan salmon, homemade nut milks, walnut, hazelnut and pecan oils. The Meal Plan
Wondering how to put it all together into meals? I’ve created a sample self love diet meal plan for you to try today…
For Breakfast:
Over Easy Eggs with Sautéed Spinach, Tomatoes + Avocado
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh organic spinach
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 avocado
microgreens
extra-virgin olive oil
lemon juice
Himalayan pink salt and ground, black pepper to taste
Directions:
Sauté spinach and tomatoes in extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat until spinach is just wilted and tomatoes are slightly softened. Squeeze lemon juice over veggies and add Himalayan pink salt and ground, black pepper to taste. Turn off heat.
In a separate pan, fry two eggs with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-low heat until eggs are cooked over easy, over medium, or over hard, depending on desired level of doneness.
Place spinach and tomato mixture on a plate, top with eggs and one half of an avocado. Squeeze lemon juice over avocado and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top dish with microgreens. Serve and enjoy!
For Lunch:
Chipotle Harissa Chicken Salad Collard Wrap
Ingredients:
1 large collard green leaf
1/2 cup organic rotisserie chicken, shredded
1/4 avocado, sliced
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Avocado Oil Mayonnaise
1 tomato on the vine, chopped
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/8 tsp harissa powder
Himalayan pink salt to taste
Directions:
Add chicken, harissa powder, 1 tsp. mayo and salt to a bowl and mix to combine. Adjust salt to taste.
Place collard green leaf on a cutting board and shave stalk to approximately the same thickness of the leaf. Fill the center of the collard leaf lengthwise with chicken mixture.Top chicken mixture with remaining mayo, tomato and avocado, and sprinkle with cilantro.
Fold collard green leaf inward over the chicken salad and roll into a wrap. Cut wrap in half. Serve with your favorite side salad and enjoy!
For Dinner:
Thai-Inspired Chicken Meatball + Veggie Bowl with Sesame Tahini Dressing
Ingredients:
For the tahini dressing:
1/4 cup tahini paste
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (sugar-free)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp coconut aminos
2 Tbsp Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos Teriyaki Sauce
1 clove garlic
Himalayan pink salt and ground, black pepper to taste
For the chicken meatballs:
1 pound ground, organic chicken
1 cup parsley, chopped and tightly packed
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1/8 tsp ground, black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup organic baby broccoli
1 carrot, thinly sliced at a diagonal angle
1/2 cup organic green beans, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cooked forbidden rice
5-6 chicken meatballs
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 red chili, thinly sliced
Himalayan pink salt
Directions:
To make the dressing: Add ingredients to Vitamix or other high-speed blender and blend until emulsified. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
To make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using your hands, mix ground chicken, parsley, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper in a bowl until combined. Form meatballs from chicken mixture and place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet that has been prepared with olive oil. Bake meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove meatballs from the oven and set aside 5-6 for use with the bowl and freeze the rest.
To make the bowl: Heat coconut oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add broccoli, carrots, green beans, red bell pepper and salt, and sauté until tender. Adjust salt to taste and turn off heat. Place vegetables in a bowl with forbidden rice and chicken meatballs. Drizzle with sesame tahini dressing. Sprinkle with cilantro, sesame seeds, and red chili. Serve and enjoy!
Start Each Meal Mindfully
Once your meals are cooked and ready to eat, find a comfortable place to sit. Before you take a bite, put away anything that might distract you from your food — books, phone, computer, TV, etc. Then, tune into the physical hunger levels in your body. Eat slowly, tasting (and enjoying) each bite you take. When you’re full, stop eating. Remind yourself that you’re respecting your body by listening to it’s needs. And, by being fully present with your food, you’re allowing yourself to experience more pleasure from it, which is an act of self-love.
Learn more about mindful eating with these tips.
When Cravings Strike, Seek Balance If you want a treat today, give yourself total permission to have it. Eat the amount that satisfies your physical hunger and make sure you enjoy every bite without the shame or guilt that often accompanies an indulgence. Now, check in with yourself. How do you feel after eating it? If you feel unwell, please don’t judge yourself for having eaten it. Simply make a note of the way the food made you feel so you can decide whether you want to eat it next time.
Be Kind To Yourself
Connect | Today, start noticing how the food that you eat makes you feel. I suggest writing your observations down in a food journal (or food journal app) after each meal. As you begin to identify how your body reacts to different foods, you’ll be more inclined to start choosing the foods that give you energy and make you feel great, and pass on the ones that leave you feeling unwell. As this becomes the gauge for your food choices, you’ll find it easier to make sustainable healthy changes.
If you’d like to take things to the next level, I recommend trying a full elimination diet down the line — it’s the best way to pinpoint which foods are triggering symptoms and inflammation.
Trust | Your body is the best tool you have to figure out which foods are working for it. Honor your body today by trusting what it’s telling you. Here’s how: mindfully eat whole-foods based meals, connect to how the food that you eat makes you feel and then trust the messages that your body gives you without second guessing yourself. We all have a unique biochemistry — so even if a particular food works well for 99% of the population, if it doesn’t make you feel well, then it’s not for you.
Release Perfection | If you decide to follow this self-love food plan today and it doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, that’s okay. No one is perfect — can you practice letting go of having this expectation for yourself? Can you try to let your best be good enough? And, even if you weren’t able to do your best, can you try to have compassion for yourself? If this is hard for you, try envisioning an older and wiser version of yourself coming in and comforting you. What would she say to you that you might not be able to say to yourself right now? Allow the words to fill you up with love. Now check in with yourself. Are you still having self-punishing thoughts? You have the power to stop your inner critic and replace it with love. Why not give it a try?
Trying the day’s worth of tips and recipes? Let us know how
it goes in the comments below!
