Happy Friday Ladies! I hope that everyone is feeling healthy, safe and fit in the new year. Today I wanted to quickly discuss nutrient dense single ingredient foods vs the empty calories of processed foods.For obvious reasons January and February are my busiest months for nutritional services at Fit Girl Fitness. We’re helping beginners learn the best ways to fuel their body. We’re also revisiting current client nutrition plans to adjust and tweak anything necessary.After the new year, we’re all bombarded with food that is marketed as healthy.In the grocery store these are the most common things we see.-fat free- low carb-low fat- keto friendly- gluten free- organicIt’s no surprise that so many people are confused about what is nutritious food, and how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. But wait…I can simplify this for you. It’s so easy that you may think I’m crazy. You can easily and quickly unleash the power of the single ingredient food.The single ingredient food is just that. Foods that have only themselves listed in the ingredient lines. Think along these lines-Chicken-Beef-Pork-Fish-Eggs-Certain starches like brown rice, sweet potatoes and oats.-Vegetables-Nuts-Oils-Spices-WATERThese foods (especially in their organic form) rarely have added sugars, sodium or preservatives which can be sneaky diet killers. It’s amazing how many tasty wholesome meals can be made by mixing multiple single ingredient foods. Once you start reading food labels, you’ll notice that the foods marketed as the healthiest are sometimes anything but healthy. Organic options are almost always a better option if your pocketbook allows it. Another trick is to shop heavily on the perimeter of the grocery store. In general, the least nutrient dense foods will be found in the center of the store. These are the areas where no refrigeration is needed because the foods are highly processed and contain the most preservatives.So the next time you get confused on where to start, just read the label. If you need a PhD to interpret or pronounce the ingredients in your food, maybe you should look for other alternatives. Keep it simple. Keep in mind that many foods marketed as “healthy” are just the product of good marketing. Not nutrition. I promise you’ll be amazed how great you’ll feel switching out highly processed foods for wholesome single ingredient foods. I always encourage my clients to focus on "clean" eating. More chicken, turkey, fruits, veggies and other "clean" or "fresh" foods. Focus less on pre-packaged and/or processed foods.If you need help with simplifying your nutrition plan, I’m here to help! I also have a ton of personally tested recipes that I offer to my clients . Please feel free to contact me at www.fitgirlfit.com!
