eating Italian style...

After two months in Europe (In Portugal and France) I've noticed Italians are really thin. More than the French, more than the Portuguese. 

How in the land of pizza and pasta and gelato and tiramisu are Italians able to do that???

Italians are incredibly thin like Asians. French people smoke. Portuguese people have hills for days. I looked up what Italians have going on for them and thus have a new meal plan (it's part Italian, part Asian).

Breakfast: decadent hot chocolate 

(In lieu of the decadent espresso or latte that is the usual entire Italian breakfast. If I must eat something, it will be one egg or one small toast or pastry)

The main meal - Lunch* or Dinner A (choose once from this list daily): 

- light Italian pasta (Italians don't usually use cream! They use tomato sauces or olive oil)

- Korean/Asian style tapas (rice and sides served separately)

The second meal - Dinner* or Lunch B: charcuterie board, can be themed but requires the following elements. 

- fermented item

- poultry, meat, or fish

- raw veg

- healthy fat

- one treat 

- minimum 3 colors

This meal is not mean to make you feel full, rather it's intentional snacking as a meal. 1-4 bites of each element based on it's nutritional grade. If eaten for lunch it's because you have a bigger dinner planned as the main meal. If eaten for dinner, it's because you ate your regular lunch as the main meal qand you don't need to eat a lot before bed.

Weeklies x max:

- (W) x 4: sorbet or dairy gelato

- (W) x 1: Italian style pizza

NOTE : consider this meal plan as version 1.0 as I'll likely modify it and add different elements, but this is the blueprint I'll try to base from. 

meal prep to LEVEL UP my simple meal plan

I'm trying a different type of meal prep. 

I've started to simplify what I eat. I think this will help me eat more intuitively and notice the food choices and how they affect my body. 

What I've noticed since starting to eat this way is that sometimes my meals are too simple in that they lack nutrients. For example:  for dinner I love my simple pasta meal: spaghetti, olive oil, and garlic. Yummy. But I eat it and get hungry and find myself snacking soon after. Is there a way to make this mean more hunger satisfying? It already hits the mark in terms of taste and craving satisfaction, but adding a protein and fiber would make a world of difference. Another example is eggs. I eat eggs every morning but what if I threw a couple onions and spinach in there? I'd be leveling up my eggs. And for my daily salads, rather than a simple greens + chicken combo, I could throw in beans and peppers too. 

I'm leveling up my food. 

This may sound like I'm un-simplifying my meal plan. It's not though because the additives I'm choosing are very simple, and require no additional cook time. Just something to toss in. This is because I meal prep these extra ahead of time and have them in my freezer. So when the spirit moves me, I can quickly and easily level up my food. 

Check out how I've meal prepped by chopping and pre-cooking the goodies that I can throw into my simple meal plan to level it up! 

Looking good ehh? 😊

ending the day/meal planning

So I've come to learn that after I break my fast at 11am/12pm, and then especially at night, the cravings are non-stop. 

While I think meal planning can help me during the day, I need to find something that that will help me get a satisfied feeling and to put an eating cap to my day, ideally at 6pm (for meals) and 8pm (when I return from my walk). 

I am hoping that satisfaction and cap are not good, but even if they are food that they would be sugar free. 

*Also, side note... I think grainy carbs for first meal only. Large first meal with a mega salad. Breakfast at night... And tea throughout. 

breakfast: eggs and sausage

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