Why eat more?
I’m very passionate about eating more, enjoying food and making minimal concessions. However it’s not without skill – mindful, intentional, playful skill, which is why I find it crucial that you come here not just for recipes but for visual inspiration. I’d be lying by omission if I didn’t tell you the bulk of what I learned about food came from the food network as a kid – despite the heavy, often indulgent meals prepared on TV, I took note of spice combinations, time management and various tricks chefs would use to orchestrate their food.
You can’t get it wrong. Just a friendly reminder. Not when your heart is in the right place. Take your right hand to your heart and cup it with your left, take a deep soothing breath and feel into your body. Your WHOLE body is breathing, pumping, flowing, creating, regenerating for the great purpose of keeping you here. And here you are.
How to weigh less eating more:
As I’ll be covering in this months Dinner & Discussion, eating more and weighing less has everything to do with increasing the volume of food that you eat while decreasing the total number of calories you consume without cutting them. High volume eating is about selecting whole unadulterated foods, real and full of carbohydrates – the molecules your brain and body thrive off of, and orchestrating them in such a way that you feel inspired to eat and eat again. Why? Because your body rejoices at the prospect of eating without bounds. Your body digests, integrates and assimilates wholesome foods, especially those eaten with intention. Don’t believe me? Maybe your body will.
Foods to choose in abundance (as seen in my reset guide and cookbook):
Fruit – unlimited, never count these calories
Vegetables – unlimited, never count these calories.
Rice, Potatoes, Oats, legumes, pulses and beans – make these the foundation of all your meals
Spices & Herbs – unlimited, use plentifully
Foods to eat in moderation/limited quantities:
Nuts, seeds and butters made from them – reduce or eliminate if you tend to overuse them or binge on them.
Oil, dressings made with oil as the first ingredient – dilute with vinegar and add in small quantities or don’t use for a while so you can acclimate to using them minimally
Avocado & coconut – delicious, but very high in fat. Add them sparingly, use lighter versions and eat 1/2 an avocado or a Tbsp of coconut at a time until you’re used to limiting. Piles of guac is delicious and healthier than a cream based sauce or lots of nacho cheese but it’s still fattening because it’s high in calories (not BAD just not a food to eat in abundance if you want to lose weight)
As you feed your body abundantly, consistently and throughout each day your nervous system begins to relax and your digestion calms. Your body starts trusting and your life gets easier. I know it sounds like a lot of credit to give food, but once the gesture is made it all starts making sense.
Basic Principles:
You don’t have to eat 3 meals a day but it’s a good start – see my 5 day reset for more on honing healthy eating behavior
You don’t have to eat at any particular time but its a good practice if your life is particularly unstructured
Intermittent fasting – don’t force this. While it might have some reputable health benefits, don’t fast if you’re hungry but don’t eat if you’re not. See what happens when you just let your life flow – some days you might eat breakfast at 8 am some days your breakfast might become lunch because you weren’t hungry until 11:30…careful with labels
You don’t have to abide by any laws, rules or mandates around food – you just need to feed yourself. And you do love yourself, right? Applying high volume eating is a great place to start if you’re working on self love because feeding your body is part and parcel of that journey
- A whole honeydew melon – 459 calories
- Roasted sweet potato, cucumber slices & vegan kimchee mixed with a little Veganaise
- An orange and a banana with macnut butter
- “Smoothie” pancakes – leftover smoothie with oats and flax meal blended into pancake batter + fresh peaches
- 1 shredded zucchini + 2 small beets & mixed seeds with dried cranberries
- Veggie sushi – brown rice mixed with shredded onion, zucchini & spinach. Sauce: thai sweet chili + tamari
- Brown rice veggie mix + roasted potatoes both small and sweet
- Sweet potato + avocado + apple slices
- …with hot sauce and sea salt
- Bean & vegan cheese burrito with steamed broccoli
- Leftover vegan chili, purple cauliflower puree & sweet potato fries
- Oatmeal & chia with peaches, plums + honey
- Leftover veggie stew – broccoli, carrots, tomato, peas + sweet potato with umami seasoning
- Zucchini & kale soup + fried chickpeas
- Sourdough + heirloom tomato, air fried tempeh & peaches
- Banana, spinach, ginger & maca smoothie, Dates & Apple
- Preparing…tempeh and brussel sprouts
- STAY ACTIVE – don’t negate the power of a great walk
- Huge salads – spinach cucumber salsa cashew queso + nutritional yeast *see note
- Air fried tofu with Japanese yuzu bbq sauce on sourdough
- platters of fruit – melon & banana
- Leftovers – stuffed peppers with rice and air fried with a drizzle of primal kitchen buffalo sauce. Tofu & broccoli. My carob cardamom cake + sugar free peanut powder and raspberries
- Tofu and broccoli scramble in a wrap with 1/4 avocado
- Marinara + baby potatoes + balsamic glaze
- I made oatmeal “sushi” using leftover oatmeal, flax and a berry smoothie my kids didn’t finish. Cooked it all together and then wrapped it in nori the next day
- I added a banana matcha smoothie bowl and used it for dipping. Play with your food…
- Green drink: banana pineapple & cucumber
- I usually use water for my green drinks – sometimes I’ll add ginger and lemon if I have them on hand
- 1/2 melon, 4 dates filled with macnut butter and sprinkled with flax meal
- A big bowl of red lentil pasta, leftover broccoli and zucchini mixed with marinara & reduced balsamic
*a hack that I use frequently so as not to eat a completely “fat free” diet is I combine things like nut butters, seed butters and cashew cheese with other less calorically dense foods like salsa, vinegar based dressings or fruit. It’s important to keep in mind that anything that can be made into a cheese, butter or oil product contains and inherent amount of fat and calories. It’s not necessary to avoid them completely, but to be mindful that several tablespoons of almond butter will completely change the caloric load of a meal even though almonds (example) are “healthy.” If you’re interested in high volume eating – whether healing your relationship to food or trying to lose weight, this information will be invaluable.
I hope this gives you a good idea of what high volume eating entails. These may not be the best photos with the best lighting but they’re real – and that’s what we’re going for. Feel free to reach out to me with questions.
In pursuit of health, contentment, self awareness, peace & balance XO
Katie