Wild Weighs

Although we are specifically eating to help Sammy with his weight cut for wrestling, this is the type of food we eat all of the time. The main difference is that Sammy is eating less calories than he usually does. Of course when he's not cutting weight we indulge in the local food trucks more often (shoutout to Smelted Pizza and The Burger Bus), but to keep Sammy full and strong on a low calorie diet the next few months we will have to cut out breads, baked goods, and limit fats and processed sugars, as those things add up calorically too fast leaving a sad hungry Sammy. Portions and veggies are a make or break right now.

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Most of us however don't need to be ultra aware of calories as long as we eat mostly fruits and veggies. Portions still matter and if you're like me and want to eat the whole jar of peanut butter, knowing the actual portion size will help you be aware that some foods make you feel better in smaller amounts. 

When making food I usually just eye portions because I am not about following recipes or measuring things, not enough time in my life to be mega concerned. But for this page I have counted everything and will add it all up to be super accurate. Once you become accustomed to the way a potion should look you will no longer have to measure things so often, it's a good way to start though. 

 

OKAY, so what do we attempt to eat? No we are not vegan but we do feel that a vegan diet is the ultimate way to energy and health. Mostly Plant based would be more accurate. Living where we do, being vegan is not always easy to maintain and can feel restrictive especially on a budget. (Great for the environment and you though, so if you are vegan that's awesome keep doin' you. When we live in the tropics we will for sure be on that vegan bandwagon). Number one, if we eat at someones house we will eat WHATEVER they make us, maybe not in excess, but if you're feeding us we love it all. At home however we do not buy meat, if we are feeling fancy we buy goat cheese, and we use eggs to top our salads sometimes because they are a cheep and yummy source of protein, Other than that we don't buy dairy milk and we use an oat or coconut alternative yogurt. While cooking we use very little oil and if we buy bread its either gluten free or it's sourdough.

 

If I could make a food pyramid our base would be everyday veggies (Ex: kale, spinach, celery, cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and things like that). Next would be fruits and starchy veggies ( Ex: berries, melons, apples, bananas, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini). Proteins and fats (Ex: lentils, beans, bean or lentil noodles, eggs, flax seeds, chia seeds, plant based protein powder, Peanut butter, Avocado, Hummus, unsweetened oat milk yogurt, almond milk). Lastly our extras that we don't buy all the time (Lower sugar Granola, Tortilla chips and salsa, Boom Chica popcorn, sourdough bread). We get most of our carbs from starchy veggies, fruit and lentils but we do use oats as well.

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Some ways we cheat the system to make cooking so many veggies faster... We don't meal prep as much as some people advise, but here is what we do try to do. We buy many organic frozen veggies that we can place in our air fryer or oven really quickly (Meijer and the Coop sometimes have great sales so you can stock up on broccoli, cauliflower rice, brussel sprouts, peas, butternut squash) and if you don't use them one week they will be good the next! If you like potatoes, cook them once a week and then just add them to your salad later on. When you make lentils, cook a bunch to save for later. We also buy a big bag of frozen fruit for smoothies and use lots of bananas because they are easy and cheep!

 

I would like to encourage slowing down for meals and taking the time to prepare local ingredients and fresh veggies. It always feels good to take the time to be thorough and thankful for the meal in front of you. I like making my own almond milk, coconut yogurt and buy local fresh veggies when we can, as it's more sustainable without all the extra packaging, but that is not something we have chosen to invest ourselves in all of the time.

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One of our favorite methods of becoming aware of what you are eating is the "plant before processed" method. So before grabbing chips, popcorn or a granola bar go for a carrot or an apple. It will eventually become natural to grab the more nutritious option and you will feel more fueled for the rest of the day!

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Hopefully this was helpful, contact Sammy or I with any further questions, we love talking food so we would be happy to chat!

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                                                   ~Natalie