Your approach to diet should be stress-free, says Kylie Sakaida, a registered nutritionist and cookbook author.
To practice stress-free diets, your goal should be to “make meal planning and cooking easier,” says Sakata. It also includes reducing stress whether we are ‘right food choices’ or perceived as the right food choice.
Stress-free feeding can be easier to increase fiber and water in your diet or avoid using canned or frozen foods to prepare in the kitchen, she says. And to really practice it, you need to remember that perfection is not the goal.
“Understand that one meal will not make or break your progress and that we don’t need to emphasize that we will always eat the perfect food,” says Sakaida. (And talk to a healthcare professional about any questions you have about your specific diet.)
Sakaida’s recently released cookie book “So Easy So Good” offers balanced meal recipes. Here’s how she structures her diet:
What Nutritionists Eat to Practice Stress-Free Diet
“My diet is definitely different. I’m trying to include a mixture of both animal and plant-based proteins. Of course, try to aim for as much balanced plates as possible,” says Sakaida.
Her idea for a balanced plate is half the produce, a fourth plate of protein, and a fourth plate of starch.
“Of course, just because I know this is unrealistic to me doesn’t always apply to everything in my diet,” she says. “We’re trying to make sure breakfast and lunch are as convenient as possible.”
This is a typical breakfast, lunch and dinner for Sakaida.
Breakfast: Flavorous oatmeal or smoothies, usually ready-made lunch: Masonyal noodles, salad or wrap snacks: Fiber and healthy fats such as popcorn and roasted chickpeas, carrot and cottage cheese dip or apple, Peanut butter dinner: Tofu, chicken, beef, brown rice, brown rice, vegetables
Sakata plans his meals in advance to make decisions about eating more seamlessly. She finds herself overwhelmed when many people have to think about what to make on the spot.
“I tell people to collect recipes and then write down all the ingredients so they go shopping,” she says.
“We also exchange similar ingredients to each other. If you’re doing a recipe that has both spinach and kale and another recipe uses kale, you can definitely buy kale if you want to save money or use all the ingredients.”
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