What you eat is your diet.
Your diet is your bank account.
Your food choices are an investment in your wellness.

Bethany Frankel

Inspiring you to coach yourself…

If you didn’t know better, you might think protein had just been invented, specifically for your nutritional benefit!

Now, you can enjoy cookies, pancake mixes, milk and so many more food options because it has protein🙃

In many cases, this macronutrient was there all along, in other cases, something has been added to increase the protein values.

For those of you not so easily “influenced”, protein is one of three macronutrients considered essential for a balanced diet. There are overriding guidelines for how much protein should be consumed, depending on age and activity.

Because every body is unique, it’s valuable to refresh every now and again.

There are three essential macronutrients:

• Carbohydrates

  • 45% - 65% of daily calories

  • Primary and preferred fuel source for brain and muscles

• Protein

  • 10% - 35% of daily calories

  • Builds and repairs muscle, tissues, skin and hair

• Fats

  • 20% - 35% of daily calories

  • Regulates hormones, protects organs, helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins

Almost every thing we eat will have some measure of these macros, that said, it’s essential we clarify a few misconceptions:

Protein isn’t only found in meat or animal products…lentils, beans, tofu

Carbohydrates are not exclusive to bread and pasta…fruit, vegetables

Fats can be more healthy than not…olive oil, seeds, nuts

With a solid understanding of macronutrients, I wonder what your daily macro-groove is?

The guideline for “how much” is really just a launch point and this location can shift, depending on your age, your activities and moments in time.

To better understand your typical diet, simply measure or weigh what you eat, then log the grams of macros for a day or two.

This process isn’t about tracking
or restricting
or controlling
calories.

It’s about better understanding your optimal diet, from a nutritional perspective, and how it influences your energy, sleep and ease of movement every day.

Despite what the latest trend or expert recommends, it’s important to remember there is no one you-er than you!

One diet does not fit all.
Yours should fit you!

Inspiring myself…

I have been a vegetarian for much of my adult life; it’s not a way of eating for everyone, but it seems to work for me.

Every three months or so, I track my macros as I recommended in the section above.

And then I came across a concept called #800grams.

Turns out, many humans do not consume enough fibre, which may result in some deficiencies in micronutrients: essential vitamins and minerals required to function, heal and produce energy.

Google AI summarizes the distinction between macro and micro beautifully:

Macronutrients are the fuel.

Micronutrients are the spark plugs!

At first, I was pretty confident I ate enough fibre but when I decided to add this component to my nutrient tracker, I quickly realized #800grams IS NOT the same as dietary fibre information found on food labels! It’s how much the portion of fibre-rich food weighs.

Diving a bit deeper, there are some significant differences between the food that counts as fibre-rich and food that doesn’t.

Here is a snapshot:

• Some food that counts:

  • Fruit, vegetables, beans, pickles, olives, smoothies, fruit compotes

• Some food that doesn’t count:

  • Grains 🤔

  • Any kind of flour 😮

  • French fries, dried fruit

The woman behind this fresh micronutrients analysis is EC Synkowski; if you’re curious to learn more, check out her The Ready State podcast, YouTube or website.

Her concept is simple: eat 800 grams of fibre a day with how you prefer to eat: vegan, Paleo, Keto, Mediterranean, whatever diet you follow.

Most of you are probably already “fibre-there”.

Such discoveries keep me curious, curiosity keeps my focus fresh!

On Writing…

I’m at an in-between space with my projects, making this a perfect time to take a course!

There is so much to choose from, but I wanted to align my studies with my goal: to cultivate the courage to shift my writing focus from hobby to business.

The course I selected is How to create book covers that don’t suck.

It’s a harsh title.

Sometimes I need more than a gentle nudge.

My first cover for Fitness is a Feeling isn’t great; it’s almost like I was trying to make the cover blend in, to not attract a lot of attention to my work–revealing how deep into the hobby mindset I was back then.

Being an indie writer means I can make changes to my books anytime I need to; it took time, energy and patience to learn how to publish.

Now I need to apply my skills to redesigning my covers, and a few other behind the scenes details, to see if my books can attract more interest for readers outside of my tribe.

Gratitude…

My expression of gratitude is part of my daily practice; the word sounds the same but feels different every time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message.