It has been a few months since I signed up to work with Melissa, the Delicious Nutritionist #gifted. My initial goal was to stop eating crap while on-the-go and get back control of my eating. I had a few bad habits I needed to break, many of which involve craving sweets and being unable to control my response. Melissa was very supportive during our coaching calls and had lots of good ideas to help me overcome some of the challenges I faced. She suggested quick meals full of vegetables for my meal plan after hearing that my husband prefers not to eat meat at home. She also had new ideas for simple snacks that I could find anywhere if I failed to pack something appropriate ahead of time (such as homemade popcorn, dark chocolate, a banana, and cheese slices).
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| Avocado and cucumber salad |
Avocado and cucumber salad
The same day as our coaching call Melissa would send me two weeks of meal plans with some new recipe ideas that my husband and I both enjoyed. The plans included a weekly meal plan for all meals and snacks as well as a shopping list. The amount of food required for both the shopping list and recipes were in American units which means you should have a scale and/or measuring cups available if you don’t live in the USA. I am used to this system though (obviously). When my husband and I did the first shop, we were amazed at how much fruit and vegetables were overflowing form our fridge. We tend to buy for a week at a time as our groceries are delivered. However, this wasn’t the best strategy for us with the fresh items as some of them went off before we could use them.
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| Shopping for tinned goods |
My biggest challenge in working with Melissa was sticking to the plan. She provided everything I needed but something blocked me from sticking to her plan. Some of it was scheduling as I was busy the week we started. I asked for meals that can made enough for leftovers (yes, that is a choice if you hate leftovers) and when I actually made them, that worked out great. But I don’t know why I found it so hard to stick to her plan. On our last call, I explained this to her and she said in retrospect she could have provided me with recipes rather than a plan. Her coaching is great like that as it is very flexible. We do refer to her recipes often. Two salad recipes she gave us are now firm favorites- spinach with roasted cherries, blueberries and goats cheese and a nectarine quinoa salad. I am not sure we will be able to make these in the winter months but we have even brought them to picnics and BBQs as a healthy alternative to coleslaw and potato salad.
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| Acai bowl with homemade granola |
The biggest takeaway I have from working with Melissa is that I had got lazy with my food. This in turn made my standby recipes a little boring. I wasn’t being creative in the kitchen anymore. The recipes Melissa provided allowed me to experiment with a few new food combinations and remember how good vegetables can taste if prepared the right way (ie not overcooked). She never scolded me for not sticking to her meal plans but rather helped talk me through why I was having trouble and brainstorm ways that we could modify the plan to make me be more successful at it, such as putting reminders in my phone to come off social media and meal prep instead. She also checked in via email as I wasn’t ready for weeks 3-4 when I should have been. I felt like I had a lot of support from her even though I wasn’t strictly following her advice.
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| Tinned options work for me |
If you are in a food rut or just want some new ideas on how to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your diet, I would suggest getting in touch with Melissa to see what she can help you with. Feel free to mention my name for a 10% discount too and let me know how you get on.
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| Fresh salad, broccoli soup, and cheese slices fill me up! |
The Delicious Nutritionist provided me with complimentary services in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.
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