#26 Top 5 Tips for Wellness
life is hard, food doesn't have to be [vol1, 10.3]
If you’re a beginner on a food journey to wellness, this list is for you! Here are my top 5 tips for wellness.
Meal plan on ___________ day of week. Eating at home is infinitesimally healthier than going out. Meal planning also saves money. There are a million systems and strategies out there. Find one that works for you and just do it. (Preaching to myself here. I don’t enjoy meal planning but I love it so much once I do it.)
Have a sharp knife. The right tools make a job so much more enjoyable. Three knives are all you need. In order of importance: chefs, paring, and bread knives. Twenty years ago, I was gifted this 8” Global Chef’s knife. It is a popular knife, even in chef circles, but you can also go to a kitchen store like Williams Sonoma and ask to hold any of theirs. You may prefer a heavier knife with a different shaped blade. I have my knives sharpened once a year and use a honing steel almost every day on the chef’s knife to keep it sharp.
Use healthy fats: butter, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, tallow, ghee. Oils like vegetable, canola, corn and margarine are inflammatory as well as most are genetically modified (GMOs are notoriously bad for gut health). Additionally this is another reason to eat at home - you are in charge of the fats. When eating out, restaurants use cheap industrial oils that are bad for our health.
Learn to cook a whole chicken - with bones. The joints and bones bring flavor, moisture and nutrition. Then save the bones for broth.
Learn to make broth. Bonus: make soup with your homemade broth.
Does this list seem overwhelming? I bet you’re already doing at least one! Which one is next?
This week in my Instagram stories, I made chicken broth. <insert squeals because soup season is here.> I will be ramping up broth making efforts in coming days so let me know your related questions.
I’ve also been playing with this new limited edition makeup palette from Beautycounter. I love the universally flattering colors, and that they’ve paired eyeshadows with blush and highlighters all in one place, easy peasy.
But I also love the peace of mind I have using clean products.
It is talc free. This is important to know because talc is often contaminated with asbestos. Did you know Johnson and Johnson knew for decades their baby powder contained asbestos?!
Beautycounter tests every batch for purity. They triple test for heavy metals and only use ethically sourced mica. Did you see the short documentary Beautycounter made on mica mining?
Before watching it, I didn’t realize most mica was mined by children!
Living intentionally for wellness is putting good food in your body. But it also means guarding yourself from chemicals ON your body. I trust Beautycounter because they have a Never List of 1,800 questionable or harmful ingredients they will never use in the products. They are setting the standards for safety in the beauty industry. I was a customer of Beautycounter for years before becoming a consultant.
It’s a 4 day weekend for my 2 youngest because of parent-teacher conferences. We’re off to play with friends. October is our reward for enduring August’s heat.
Enjoy your weekend. Set aside a few minutes to make a meal plan for next week. Last week I mentioned the cookbook Cook Once, Eat All Week. There are 26 weeks of meal plans in that book alone…
Julie