I get this question often: what diet do you follow?!
So, I wanted to provide some clarification on my food philosophy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and how that affects my cooking style.
First, I don’t like to use the word “diet.” Instead, I I like to think of myself as a “clean” eater.
Clean Eating
Clean eating is a simple, healthful approach to eating. Instead of revolving around the idea of counting calories or restricting your diet, it centers around eating wholesome, minimally processed, nourishing foods.
My Food Journey
I have tried just about every diet out there. Many of which were neither healthy nor sustainable.
In high school, it was crazy calorie counting and over exercising. At one point, I could rattle off the calories of just about any food. If there was a calorie counting game show, I would have won a lot of money! This was an exhausting and mentally taxing way to approach food. And it couldn’t and didn’t last.
In college, my eating habits suffered and I gained much more than the freshman 15. Unhappy with my weight gain, I enrolled in a weight loss program, Weight Watchers. This program assigns point values to foods and provides a weekly allotment of points. Admittedly, the program helped me lose the weight and was easy to follow without feeling overly restrictive. However, I found that I was eating a lot of processed foods because they had a low point value (I literally ate a lean cuisine frozen pizza every night for dinner), so I didn’t feel as fit and energized as I desired. Also, the counting of points was a lot like counting calories, and, for me, became overwhelming and unsustainable.
It was not until law school that I revamped how I approached food. I discovered a new school of thought on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle: clean eating. For once, it was not about calorie intake or a tracking system, but about eating wholesome, nutritious foods. This new revolutionary approach to food also encouraged me to start cooking from scratch and reignited my passion for creating in the kitchen – something I had lost during the busy, hectic college years. Yes, law school was crazy busy too, but cooking became an exciting and therapeutic process that helped relieve my stress. Plus, my well-balanced meals kept me motivated and mentally alert.
Today, 5 years after law school, I still seek to eat clean. I adopted a clean eating lifestyle because it allows me to eat foods I love and still feel satisfied, vibrant, and energized. And most importantly, free. It’s not about the number of calories in the food. Instead, it’s about whether the foods I consume are natural, nutrient enriched, and REAL. I have easily maintained a healthy weight and I truly feel good and beautiful in my own skin – something I had been seeking since high school.
So what recipes will you find on the blog?
The recipes you will find here are all my own creations, often healthy spins on classic/favorite dishes, inspired by the seasons (and the grocery store sales), typically filled with tons of veggies, and always made with fresh, wholesome, and nourishing foods.
Most of my recipes are made from scratch so I can control the ingredients. But I try to be mindful of the difficulty level and amount of ingredients in the recipes as to not make them overcomplicated and time consuming.
I also often use healthy swaps to help lighten up my food without sacrificing flavor.
You will not find calorie info for my recipes. Since I don’t count calories, I don’t include this information. But I promise they are all created with healthy, nutritious ingredients designed to make you feel good and fuel your body!
Also, I don’t eat perfectly “clean” all the time and you will find some recipes that don’t completely fit the clean eating model. I allow my self to occasionally indulge on processed foods (let’s be real, I love peanut butter M&Ms and ice cream, I have a MEAN sweet tooth). I also enjoy going out to dinner with my husband for a delicious meal (heeeelllloooo burger and cocktail).
Life is about balance and doing what we can to make ourselves feel great, and my cooking style is a reflection of this philosophy.
Also, I strongly believe that incorporating exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. I personally enjoy HIIT classes, running, yoga, and dancing in the kitchen! But I think you should do whatever motivates you to get up and move!
I hope this blog, my stories and my recipes, inspire you to get in the kitchen and create and live your happiest and healthiest life.
Thanks for joining me on this delicious journey!
