Sunday Meal Prep | Week of March 16th

Nutrition fundamentals, chicken tostada, and protein on demand.

How do you know if your wellness routines are working?

This is a question that has been coming up a lot lately. And the truth is: sometimes it’s hard to tell if a supplement, dietary change, or new exercise routine is truly making an impact.

Occasionally, you might see a big difference from a change in your diet or lifestyle practices—an increase in fiber might immediately improve your digestion, more protein can give your more energy and reduce cravings, and magnesium might be the ticket to a better night sleep—but more often than not it’s harder to tell. Is that collagen making your hair grow thicker? Does it really make a difference if I eat 30 plants a week? Is that micro-current device actually softening my fine lines?

A lot of the time, changes to your health happen on a micro level and slowly build over time. These differences can be hard to track, and, you know, we tend to like immediate gratification (😜). Depending on what you’re adding or changing to your routine, here are a few ways I recommend tracking progress:

✔️ Focus on the fundamentals. You have to manage your expectations, especially when it comes to supplements. A supplement can be great to help optimize your health and correct deficiencies, but it’s not a replacement for eating whole foods, prioritizing sleep, stress management, you know, all those things.

✔️ Keep a log. I am a big fan of qualitative data. Logging your sleep, meals, exercise and more can you help you track these micro changes. I actually wrote a book on this!

✔️ Be in it for the long haul. I’m talking to myself here, too—like when it comes to my 3x a week microcurrent commitment, or creatine supplementation. Some things take time.

✔️ Use some tech. If you want more quantitative data, try an oura ring, continuous glucose monitor, or getting regular DEXA scans to track sleep, stress, blood sugar, and body composition.

Now, back to those fundamentals. Turns out that eating protein, a diversity of vegetables, sleeping well, exercising, and taking your supplements really does work! If you want to figure out how to fit these principles into your life and feel your best summer, join my group nutrition program—Beyond the Plate. We still have a few spots left. It’s going to be actionable, informative, and fun. You should see the WhatsApp chain in our current group!

Fundamentals is also what this meal prep series is all about—I want to make it easier for you to eat more healthy (and delicious and exciting), home-cooked meals. On the menu this week is a new tostada. I was making chicken tacos, but also kind of wanted a salad and something a little crispy, so here’s where we landed.

Here are a few meal prep-adjacent things I’m loving these days:

Protein on Demand
Sourcing quality proteins is really important to me. I also like having a freezer supply of seafood, poultry, and meat that I can pull out in the morning to make for dinner that evening. This not only saves me trips to grocery store, but buying it in advance also means that I can find the best quality and tasting options. Here are a few:

• Chicken: Pasture Project (MIARIGDEN15),

• Meat: Buy Ranch Direct

• Seafood: Seatopia (Discount code: MIA_RIGDEN)

My Nightly Mocktail
Something about cooking a nice dinner makes me want a drink that not water to have it with it! I’ve been on a real Ghia kick lately—I split a can with my husband and serve it with some sparkling water and ice. I like it diluted a little. I also got these new glasses from East Fork Pottery (how gorg are these?) and it makes the whole thing feel really fancy and fun.

Alright friends, let’s cook.

This week’s menu starts with a favorite: pumpkin chicken curry. One of my favorites. Don’t forget to use your leftover pumpkin for a smoothie (recipe below!). We also have two of my favorite 15-minute meals—beef teriyaki bowl and egg roll in a bowl, along with crunchy tostada and shrimp bisque (invite a neighbor over for this one).