I always get really excited when I get
to share nutrition tips with you guys and I think you're especially gonna love
these ones because they're gonna help you improve your meal and snack choices
and just boost healthy eating and nutrition all-around. Now some of these tips you might have heard of before, some of them though, are going to be
completely new. At least I hope so. So, let's dive in. When I was studying nutrition this was one of the most common tips that we were taught to share with
our clients and it's that you eat what you see. Now this works equally well for
people who want to gain weight, who want to lose weight or for people who are just looking to make more wholesome food choices. For example, if you want to eat
more fruits, keep it on the counter in clear sight and instead of just throwing
an orange into your bag, which let's be honest, hardly ever finds its way out, we can instead peel it up or cut it, put it in a container and put it on our desk to enjoy when hungry. And if we cut them up
and put them in front of our partner or kids it'll also increase the chance that they'll eat it too. If you usually place a bowl of chips on your desk, maybe swapping it out for something like nuts might help. And when you open your pantry and chocolate is the first thing you see, chances are that's what you're gonna reach for. So, maybe try shifting it to the side or behind some of the dried fruit or trail mix. This isn't to say that that food is forbidden, it just means we're less likely to impulsively
reach for it if it's out of sight. And the same thing goes for drinking our
fluids, whether it's tea or water, placing it in front of you while you work or
study. It's gonna increase the chances that you'll take periodic sips and stay
hydrated throughout the day. Carrots and celery are awesome carrying devices for
our favorite dips and sauces, but if you've ever tried to cut them up ahead
of time to store in the fridge, you might have noticed that they lose their crunch
and sometimes they get this slimy film. So, there is a way to avoid that and it's
just to store them in a glass container or jar with some water. It helps the
veggies stay crisp and fresh and they store in the fridge for a longer time. Just change out the water every couple of days or so, and keep in mind that the
carrots will keep longer than the celery. Now I know some people might be worried
about cutting up their veggies ahead of time because you feel you might lose
some nutrients. Now there are three factors that can cause nutrient loss and that is heat, oxygen and light. In this case there's no
exposure to heat or light, just oxygen and the nutrient that's most easily
affected by this is vitamin C and sometimes vitamin E, but what you don't
lose are all the other incredible nutrients like fiber, some of the B
vitamins, minerals and many more. So long story short, the benefit of eating pre-cut
veggies, even with a little less vitamin C, it far outweighs not eating the
veggies at all or reaching for less wholesome convenient foods instead. This next one is a tip that my mum actually recently taught me. I go through a lot of nut butters. Peanut butter and almond butter especially, and as nutrient-dense as they already are there's something we can actually do to pump up the nutrition a little bit more. And how we can do that is with seeds. Seeds offer a unique combination of phytonutrients and antioxidants that have a whole bunch of
health benefits. So I take a full jar of peanut butter, I empty out about a third of it. I store that away to enjoy later. And to the large jar I add a couple spoonfuls of some seeds. You can use whatever you have on hand. I use sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, coarsely ground flax seeds, chia seeds, lightly toasted sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds. I then give it a mix and store it
in the fridge. You can add it to oatmeal or spread it on toast. It just makes for a colorful and nutrient-packed addition to any meal. And if you can't tolerate
nut butters you can still make the seed mix alone and use it in the same way,
like add it to smoothies or parfaits. I feel like it also makes the foods just
look so much more vibrant and wholesome. You might have heard of this little hack
to fill a few Tupperware containers with the ingredients you need for a smoothie. That way when you're looking for a morning or afternoon pick-me-up you just pop it into a blender, no chopping required, add a splash of plant milk or
maybe some greens or nut butter to accompany it. It's also an awesome way to
use up leftover fruits that are at their peak ripeness. But if you already make
smoothies you might find that you've kind of gotten into this routine of
making the same thing over and over again. At least I know that that happens
to me. So I have two ingredients that I want to recommend. These are nutrient-dense additions to your frosty drink and trust me, you can't even taste them in
there. First up is frozen zucchini. And this is especially great for people who can't tolerate bananas or just don't like the taste of it. Because it gives it a similar creaminess but without that banana flavor. And the second one is
white beans. These are packed in protein, fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and again trust me, you won't even know that they're in there! So if you're looking
for a new twist to your smoothies give these two a try. You know how they say an
apple a day keeps the doctor away? It's more like something that berries are
capable of doing. An apple, for example, has 60 units of antioxidants, whereas a cup of berries offers 650 units. And that's why Robin and I try to have at
least a handful of berries each day. Either on our oatmeal, on a parfait and
smoothies or just as a snack. So this little tip is just a reminder to up that berry intake if you can. And I know that berries can be expensive when they're not in season so in the colder months we opt for frozen berries. And did you know that frozen berries in many cases are more nutrient-dense than fresh berries? If you didn't know why I'll let you know why in the comments below. So feel free to go check that out. But another side kind of tip is: if you are lucky enough to have access to berry picking in the summer months wherever
you live, load up on that stuff, cut it up and put it in the freezer to enjoy in
the fall and winter months. Second to berries, herbs and spices are
the foods highest in antioxidants and that's something I only recently learned
in a new book that I was listening to. I'm totally a bookworm. I love and need
to learn new things. Especially in the realm of nutrition. But when it comes to books I don't always make the time to sit and read. Which is why I've been using audible for years. It just makes it so easy because you can listen to a book
no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing. So this book I recently
listened to is called How not to die by dr. Greger. It's one of the most
comprehensive books on health and nutrition that I've ever listened to. In one section dr. Greger, who's a physician, he talks about how we can make healthy
foods even more wholesome by just spicing it up. He shares how a bowl of
whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce and broccoli, for example, has a 150 units of antioxidants but if we had just one teaspoon of dried oregano that number doubles up to 300. That goes to show how powerful spices can be. Now I want to thank the amazing folks over at audible for partnering with us on this video. And if you're interested in unlocking some other nutrition gems by giving this book a listen, you can get it or any other book of your choosing, for free. Plus a 30-day free membership if you visit audible.com/pickuplimes or visit the link in the description box below. Now we've talked about the nutrient density of spices. And many spices come from fresh herbs. You've likely noticed we use a lot of fresh herbs in our recipes. And as much as I've gotten better at keeping my potted herbs alive, sometimes they just die for
certain dried out ones like rosemary and thyme you can just pick off the branches
and use as a spice but you can also salvage some of the living leaves by
picking them off the plant chopping them up and then placing them in an ice cube
tray with some water alternatively you can also add them to a food processor
with equal parts oil and water blend it and then add that to the ice cube tray
once it's frozen I then transfer the cubes into a Tupperware container now
the herbs they're not going to freeze in a way that's going to retain its former
glories but it's going to retain its flavor and nutrient profile if you enjoy
it with a 1 to 2 month period you can then add
these cubes to soups or stews or pasta sauces it's a great way to reduce food
waste and add some flavor to dishes plus some extra vitamins minerals and
antioxidants something I've noticed I've been doing lately which I never used to
do before is adding spinach to my cooked meals and I do it in super huge
quantities because within just a few minutes the big pile of greens cooks
down to a super small amount and it hides perfectly well in dishes like
curries stir fries its soups and more as with other veggies there are pros and
cons to both the raw and cooked form with spinach for example the raw form
offers higher amounts of certain nutrients whereas the cooked form offers
higher amounts of other nutrients so longer the short enjoy both the cooked
and raw versions but don't shy away from cooked it's just such an easy way to get
a whole bunch of greens onto your plate and into your body with loads of
nutrients to accompany it we've all been there feeling like you're hungry for no
reason but you just want something to snack on or maybe you're legitimately
hungry but you don't have the energy or patience to figure out what you want to
make so if there's one tip I can give it is to have 3 snack ideas in your arsenal
that take 2 minutes or less to put together that way they serve as
alternatives to something that might have been a little less wholesome so for
example my three quick and dirty snacks or medjool dates filled with nut butter
an apple that i dip into plant yogurt and sometimes I put into the cinnamon or
maple syrup and some hummus on crackers or rice cakes topped with cucumbers
tomatoes and arugula having an arsenal of crazy easy wholesome snacks
it's not only going to limit decision fatigue around snack choices it's also
going to give you a nutrient-dense energy boost there is no doubt about it planning our
meals helps us make more wholesome food choices and it helps to decrease the
food waste and it's 100% natural to not be able to stick to it 100% of the time
but if we plan our meals like a week in advance
chances are more often than not that we do stick to its some of the time so if
you're interested we created a new PDF for you where you can record the meals
you would like to enjoy in a week and if you couple this with our free grocery
shopping list you can make sure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to
stick to the meal plan post it on the fridge and invite your partner our
family members to contribute to it as well I'll leave those links for you in
the description box below and I hope that you find them helpful we're
approaching the holidays a time when we all indulge a little bit more often than
we usually do and I think that's absolutely wonderful
but if you're feeling like you've just had enough of the treat foods one event
after the next I recommend whipping together your own
wholesome contribution that others can also enjoy whether it's a huge batch of
filling and comforting soup or a platter with dips crackers fruits or veggies or
hummus pinwheels it's one of my favorites to take which is just loaded
with fresh and roasted veggies and it's always a crowd-pleaser
everyone always appreciates contributions and I think you might
appreciate having something that you can fill up on that helps you feel a bit
more balanced I can already tell this video is longer than usual I get super
excited when I can share nutrition tips and information with you guys so I hope
that you learned something new today I hope you enjoyed it if you did I welcome
you to give the video a thumbs up and I think that's it sending you guys a lot
of cozy holiday vibes and feelings hope you have an amazing time with friends
and family in the coming weeks thanks a lot for watching pickuplines signing off
we'll see you in the next video you
