Thriving through Menopause Podcast
Welcome to the Thriving through Menopause Podcast. We are dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause with grace, confidence, and empowerment.
Together, we'll explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting your physical and emotional well-being during this significant life stage.
Each episode, we'll provide practical tips and strategies that you can adopt and implement.
Listen in and join me on this empowering journey.
Thriving through Menopause Podcast
40. Easy steps to start HEALTHY EATING
Can you really achieve menopausal weight loss without it costing a fortune?
On this episode of the Thriving Through Menopause Podcast, we unpack the critical role of nutrition in shedding those stubborn menopausal pounds and belly fat.
Learn the secrets behind consuming lightly processed, natural foods, and discover why prioritizing proteins like turkey, chicken, shrimp, and fish can be a game-changer.
We also demystify the misconception that healthy eating must break the bank and talk about how batch prepping meals can save you both time and money.
Tune in to hear practical tips on how to prepare your vegetables and meals oil-consciously, using their natural water content to steam them.
You can also find out how unprocessed foods can curb overeating and diminish cravings for non-nutritious, highly processed options.
Learn the importance of measuring your oil intake and incorporating healthy fats through dressings or vinaigrettes.
With a focus on protein-rich snacks and the value of meal prepping, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you nourish your body effectively and support your long-term health.
Join us on this empowering journey towards sustainable eating habits and successful menopausal weight loss!
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Hello, my friends. Healthy eating made easy that's what we're talking about today. If you've been struggling to lose weight, if you've been struggling with the belly fat, if you've been losing weight and gaining it back, you cannot sustain your healthy eating. Let's break things down, because the information is everywhere and, if you're like me, I get confused so easily. So today I'm going to go over just a few things that you can do to really make it easier for you. Most of the things that I'll tell you, you already know, but we need to take action, because action changes things. Only action will change things.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Thriving Through Menopause Podcast. Dr Inaka Yembe, your host, is dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause, particularly focused on achieving menopausal weight loss and reducing belly fat. As a post-menopausal physician herself who has helped thousands of women experiencing the significant life stage, she understands the unique challenges you face. Listen in as we explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting you in your health and wellness journey. Hopefully, the practical tips and strategies offered potentially help you adopt an empowering approach towards menopausal weight loss and belly fat reduction. And now here's your host, dr Inaka Yembe.
Speaker 1:So today I'll be talking about one thing, which would be your nutrition only. Of course, there's so many other factors that help you to lose the weight, to lose the belly fat and stay healthy, but let's boil it down to nutrition only. So when we think about eating healthy or eating in a way to lose weight, I made a mistake of thinking about a plan and then sticking to that plan that somebody gave me, and it made it so hard. I was restricted, it was just hard for me to follow everything. So I want you to think about there is no one size that fits all. The one place for you to start to take action today is to make a decision to eat lightly processed foods, so it comes from the source directly to your plate. Of course there will be some light processing there. So when we talk about beef, for example, of course it's processed slightly to get to your plate, but we want to avoid the ultra processed foods. If you want to lose belly fat, you want to lose weight. That's your number one. It's to learn to eat unprocessed foods. Why do I say learn? Because our taste buds have been changed over time to where our taste buds have been trained to give our brains a pleasurable sensation, so that we seek a certain kind of food over and over and over, and those foods are going to impact our health and impact our weight as well.
Speaker 1:So some of these things are not even foods. If you look at things like Cheetos, it has no nutrition value. Some of it is not even food. If you look at things like rice pudding, some of it has so many things that are added to it that are not good for you. So it's important to just eat rice, just take rice, instead of eating rice pudding. Just eat beef or pork or chicken or fish, as opposed to eating, say, a beef enchilada. See what I'm saying? The foods that you want to eat. Number one without counting calories, without even thinking about too many portions and things like that is to just make a decision to eat the food in its natural state as much as possible. So let's become a little bit more practical with that. When I go to the grocery store, I'm thinking about turkey or chicken or shrimp or fish, proteins first. That's the number one. And to be more practical, to make my life easier so I can keep up with what I'm eating and I can prep it in a way that I can do this over and over is to take one thing and prep it in a way that you can eat the same thing several times. So if I'm going to buy some ground turkey which is my most favorite thing to eat when it comes to protein, lean ground turkey I take a pound of turkey and I'll prep the whole thing. There's no need for me to prep just one fourth of it, because one fourth of it is a portion. I'll prep the whole thing and I know that I'm going to eat that four times. Make it a habit of prepping the things that you like in batches so you can have some now and some for later on.
Speaker 1:The next thing I think about is prepping food for three days in a row. I had to move away from telling myself I want a lot of variety because I'm 56. Now I am postmenopausal, so my hormones react in different ways to different foods. So if you have too much variability in what you're eating from morning to night and from day to day to day, your body may be responding here, there and everywhere. To decrease that variability, especially if you are a female in menopause, prep the foods that you like in a healthy way and eat exactly the same thing for three days and see if that feels good, if it tastes okay, if you can stick with it for longer. For me I have that three day, but for some people they can eat the same things for seven days, whatever works for you.
Speaker 1:I say that because being prepared and having your meals ready is critical. So if I'm going to prep food every day, so now that automatically takes me out. I don't have the time. So I have to be able to meal prep everything all my meals and snacks. If I want. I need to be able to meal prep everything all my meals and snacks. If I want, I need to be able to prep them myself enough for several days, so I just batch prep and I have those on hand. The next thing that I'll tell you is, when you prep and eat the same things, your body is not fluctuating too much and it's easier for you to keep up with and you save money that way.
Speaker 1:I hear so many people telling me eating healthy is expensive. Yes, it depends on how you look at it. It's more expensive for you to buy food that's already prepped by someone and then you don't even know what's in it. However, if I go to buy a good quality beef. Yes, one pound could be $15, $20, but I'm eating that four times you who went to eat out there. You went to restaurant and had one meal for $20. So you want to really really invest in your health and get used to prepping your own foods, and if you prep them for several days, it takes away the burden of prepping too many things and too frequently.
Speaker 1:The next thing that I do routinely, especially when it comes to my vegetables, is I let the grocery store do some of the prep for me. I'm not very good at bringing all the vegetables chop, chop, chop. Now, if you can chop your vegetables, yes, you do. You do what is really convenient for you, but I like to go to the fresh and frozen section for my veggies. I like to go to the fresh section where the veggies are already chopped, so when I come home, I can easily just prep, cook those and they are all done. So that's what I do for my vegetables I buy the ones that are already chopped and I cook them. All right, let's look at those two macronutrients, or those two foods, in a little bit more detail.
Speaker 1:Start by thinking about the proteins that you like. I hope that, as you're watching, you're going to start the belly-day belly fat loss challenge. You're going to start tomorrow. So start by thinking about two or three proteins that you like. Check in your pantry, check in your refrigerator. Do you have this If you don't go to the grocery store and get what you need, just enough to eat for three days? And then the next thing that you want to do is think about three or four vegetables that you like. I, personally, I just pick one, because it's so easy for me to take the big packet of vegetables, prep it and that's what I'm going to have for three days.
Speaker 1:Then you want to think about your breakfast things. Of course, we need to have the breakfast ready, because when I'm ready to eat, I want my food here. Otherwise, it leaves me open to think about other things which may not be as healthy. So I prep everything breakfast, all my meals and snacks, if I want. I always prep those and have those ready, and not for three days. The reason why I also say three days is tracking and keeping up with them is so much easier for me. All right, the next thing that I want you to think about also is some healthy fats. So healthy fats, fats are healthy, yes.
Speaker 1:And for me, to make it really simple, I tell myself I use two tablespoons of olive oil when I'm prepping all my meals for the whole day. Why? Because I eat eggs. Eggs have healthy fats, yes, they do. And I eat salmon and beef yes, those have healthy fats as well.
Speaker 1:The vegetables that I prepped have moved away from spraying olive oil on the bottom of the pan or pouring oil on the bottom of the pan to saute my veggies. Most veggies come with natural water, so if you just put your veggies in the pot, cover it, they would steam themselves. Or you can just season it and throw it in the oven. It would also cook that way and limit the amount of oil that you use to prep your food, because sometimes you know that can get away from us and then we just end up using too much. It's important for you to measure. So I would prep my veggies without any oil and I add when I'm about to eat, you know, make a little dressing, make a little vinaigrette, whatever it is, and put that on the food. So I know how much oil you need, the healthy fats, but you need to know how much you're eating.
Speaker 1:But going back to simplicity, if you focus on eating healthy, unprocessed foods, chances are you're not going to be overeating the foods that are highly processed. Some of those are not foods and actually those are created for high palatability and high marketability if that's even a word because they're made to trigger our taste buds, alter our taste buds and send happy sensations to our brain. So we spend quite a lot of time seeking those same foods that are unhealthy for us and are not nutritious for us at all. Some of them don't have any nutrition value to them, however. We are quote unquote addicted to them, so we seek them all the time. Once you start eating unprocessed foods, like chicken breast that is prepared in a healthy way, you will notice that now, all of a sudden, you start thinking that the chicken breast is too much. Sometimes I put a meal plan on there and some people say it's too much. However, when you calculate the whole thing, it's about 1700 calories. Meanwhile, you easily can go to McDonald's and get one meal and a drink, and that's already also 1,700 calories. So be very, very careful about what you eat. Quality over quantity.
Speaker 1:Think about nourishing your body with healthy foods, because your body is precious. You only have one place to live in, just this one place. If you keep putting junk in it, then all of a sudden your body is going to get to a point where it can't keep up. Liver has problems, kidney has problems, the heart has problems, the brain has problems. Everything becomes a problem and you're wondering what's going on. I'm a good citizen. Why is my body not healthy? It's because of all the things that you put in it, even when you're not thinking so.
Speaker 1:Tomorrow, when we start, I want you to be ready. Please be ready. It's only seven days. Make a decision today. Yes, you can stay seven days without eating unprocessed foods. Yes, you can. I know you can. I've done this myself. It's not easy. If you think that you're going to lose belly fat and you're going to lose some body fat, because you cannot lose weight from a specific part of your body. See, you've got to lose total body fat for the weight to come off your belly as well. So if you think that it's just going to be easy and you're not going to struggle a little bit, you're wrong. You're wrong. There is a little bit of struggle, there is a little bit of difficulty, but the good news is, you get used to it, do the same few things over and over and over and over, and then you build this up as a habit. So that's really what I wanted to tell you for nutrition Pick your protein.
Speaker 1:That's the first thing that goes on your plate. Protein you may ask me how much. Very, very easy formula for you to use is 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal, assuming you're eating three times a day. Very, very easy. Anytime you go to eat anything, even a snack, if it doesn't have enough protein in it, skip it and go look for something that has protein. Examples of snacks I can have a boiled egg. That's a good snack. I can have some cottage cheese that's a good snack. I can have yogurt and fruit that's a good snack. I mean, I can even eat a little bit of cheese, hummus, edamame All these things are snacks that have protein. Once you start thinking I got to have a muffin, I got to have some baked lays. No, no, no, don't do it, don't do it. So make sure your snacks also your snacks have some protein in them. So I hope this information helped you and, just to summarize, make your eating simple. Go for proteins first. Don't go for a huge variety, go for small variety. Just pick two or three ones that you're going to eat for two, three days at a time and then, after that, change and make more food for the next three days. All right, simple things.
Speaker 1:For those of you who don't like to cook, I respect that. Not everybody wants to be in the kitchen, not everybody has the time. But listen, if it's important for you, you're going to make the time. If it's important for you, you're going to make the time. Otherwise, your body will stop you and say listen, you got to pay me some attention. Now you are sick and is feeding you, even with things that you don't like, but they're feeding you anyway and needed to prevent that. Take some time for yourself to prepare your food, because your body is important. It is this important your body first and everything after that. Be careful with what you eat. All right, for those of you who don't like to meal prep, listen, they have some. I'm not affiliated with anybody so I don't even know the names. I'm not going to throw any out there, but they do have some companies that have fresh foods packaged in a way that you can just hit up. But I'm telling you, the real beauty is in learning how to prep your own food, even just one thing always start small.
Speaker 1:Don't try to come with a huge overhaul and say, hey, I'm going to start today, I'm going to take my previous life and throw it out the window and I'm going to start a new life. Put it here and this is where I start. Don't do that. I mean, your body is going to come against you. It's going to say, hey, what are you doing? I'm not going to be able to do this. After two, three days, you give up. Don't do that. Start somewhere.
Speaker 1:If you were somebody who was waking up every single morning and going through the drive-thru and getting the 500 calorie coffee and another 500 calorie breakfast, here's the time where you say, listen, let me start by changing my breakfast, just my breakfast. Everything else stays the same. You're going to be just fine. That's a good change. If you were somebody who was eating dinner out every single night, tell yourself, hey, listen, I'm going to eat during the week, I'm going to eat my own home cooked dinner and for weekends, yes, I'm going to go out and eat dinner with my family, with the husband, and, lastly, everything when it comes to eating healthy, losing weight, losing belly fat?
Speaker 1:There is no 100%. There is no 100%. Listen, if you're shooting for 100% perfection because she says I'm going to eat proteins and I'm going to be 100% perfect, then that's how you start to set yourself up for failure, because we're not little Jesus Christ. So that was the only person that was perfect. I'm not. So I say 80% accuracy is okay. That gives you room for other things.
Speaker 1:And if you say, hmm, I did not intend to eat this, but I did anyway, don't beat yourself down. Don't throw your whole journey away, because this is a journey for a lifetime. You are permitted to make a few what you call mistakes. I don't call those mistakes. I say those are part of life. I just don't want them to be more than 20%. That allows me right now, as you can tell, I'm sitting in a hotel room that allows me to go and visit family and eat some of the African foods.
Speaker 1:That one was super delicious and I'm not going to regret it because it was just one meal and I am a-okay with that. I'll come back and get back to my healthy meals. No, no, I'm not going to starve myself because I ate too much of whatever I ate yesterday. Yes, I did eat a little bit more than I wanted to and it was delicious going down and it was so happy in my belly. But I'm going to come back and get back on my healthy meals. I am not going to do a detox, I am not going to do a cleanse it's unnecessary. And I am not going to starve myself either by drinking just water for the next day. I am not going to starve myself either by drinking just water for the next day. All I'm going to do is get back on my healthy meals and continue from where I left off for that one meal.
Speaker 1:So you are allowed to eat one meal. That is off plan. Whatever you want, eat that so you're comfortably full, and that serious man Mexican food, whatever it is for you, is okay, all right. So I hope these tips helped you Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, we start on the seven day belly fat loss. When I say belly fat loss, it simply means you're going to be losing body fat, total body fat, and some from the belly as well. All right, my friends, that's it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you have a fantastic day. Go and get ready with your meals for tomorrow, all right, bye.
Speaker 2:Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Thriving Through Menopause. We hope you found valuable insights and practical advice to support your journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast your journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, share it and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Remember, menopause doesn't have to be a challenge. It can be an opportunity for growth, renewal and self-care. Connect with us on social media, where we share additional resources, tips and advice to help you along your path. Once again, thanks for listening in and we hope you'll join us again on the next episode of Thriving Through Menopause. Until then,