Okay, a few suggestions here -

Firstly, add nuts and seeds to your meals - on salads, in smoothies, with vegetables, in bowls, with breakfast, and to have as snacks on their own.

For salads and savory bowls pumpkin, sunflower or sesame seeds are great. For breakfast bowls or smoothies add ground flax, chia seeds or ground hemp seeds.

The added bonus of more nuts and seeds is that you will also be adding some good fats. This will help reduce any inflammation there may be in the system and boost brain function. Nuts and seeds are also great for the endocrine system and maintaining healthy levels of hormone production.

Second suggestion is to integrate more beans and legumes. I build out majority of my meals around beans - chickpeas, black beans, lentils, kidney beans, pinto beans. This might mean a dollop of hummus in your salad, adding some kidney beans to your wrap or a half cup of black beans with your eggs in the morning.

Some great bean-based recipes can be found HERE.

Third suggestion is a green smoothie each morning with some avocado, dark leafy greens, protein powder and nut milk or butter. I love the Anima Mundi powders for some added protein and other goodness :)

Finally, simply having more variety in your plant intake will also help. The fruits and vegetables with highest protein content are:

Fruits / avocado, kiwi, guava, apricot, blackberries
Vegetables / peas, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, kale, sprouts

If you’re looking for a good recipe library I love Rich Roll’s, The Plant Powered Meal Planner.

This is really going to be dependent upon what it is you are working towards for yourself and what your goals may be. As a general rule of thumb, I suggest to loosely plan your meals around:

50% plants / 20% protein / 20% complex carbs / 10% good fats

Within the plants, grains and good fats there will be some more protein hidden. I always encourage varying your sources of protein as much as possible to ensure not only that the body is receiving all essential amino acids (there are 9 essential) but also to ensure that you are receiving all the additional nutrients required for the body to function optimally, and therefore, to ensure that the protein you are consuming is being put to good use!

Again, this will be greatly dependent upon what results you a looking for.

My approach to nutrition is very much rooted in eating for two core goals - vitality and longevity. This means building our nutrition around the foods that will make us feel great today and will also support our health in the greatest way possible for the long term. In practice, this looks like:

• eating foods in their most whole form (whole grains and fresh produce)

• Including a wide variety of plants, healthy fats and anti-oxidant rich foods

• practicing a limited intake of saturated fats, sugar, gluten, dairy and highly processed foods (including vegetable oils)

In taking this approach, all other more specific goals generally get met. For example, if the result you are looking for is to lose weight in the short term, the above approach will likely provide the nutrients necessary to get the systems of the body functioning optimally, in turn, supporting the shed of excess weight. If the goal is to increase your energy, again, the above will provide the body with what it needs to get energy processes in the body back on track. Or if the goal is to support digestion, the above approach is very anti-inflammatory and limits the kinds of foods that will feed bad bacteria in the gut.

The answer is that all of the above could be contributing - hormones, diet, exercise - and then also stress and emotional well-being. Broadly speaking, excess lower abdominal weight for women can be connected to imbalanced levels of estrogen in the body.

If there is a hormonal imbalance, there are a few safe nutritional practices you can try for yourself:

• Increase your bean and legume intake. Being high in soluble fiber, beans and legumes can help to remove excess hormones and toxins from the body in our elimination process

• Cut caffeine. High caffeine intake can lead to prolonged, elevated cortisol levels, which, in turn, can effect estrogen production and our thyroid (which controls metabolism). As a starting point, try it for a few weeks and see what happens!

• Limit alcohol intake - particular those with high sugar content

• Something not greatly talked about, though I see often is blood sugar levels being negatively impacted from oat milk, in turn, effecting hormone levels. If you are someone who has sensitive hormones and happens to consume oat milk on a daily basis I would suggest cutting it out for a few weeks to test results.

If you are eating a plant-strong, balanced diet, and the above are all aspects you have taken into consideration, then this might be an area for you to explore potential emotional ties, or ongoing sources of stress. Use your intuition here - is there a difficult aspect of your emotional life that feels it may be connected?

We have to remember here that the body always has our back. It is always doing its best for us and reacting in the ways it sees as necessary to keep us safe. It is always responding to the messages it is receiving. Our emotions are messengers, communicating to the body what is required. Oftentimes, once we tackle certain situations that may be causing us emotional stress, our body begins to receive a new message, and as a result, changes its response.

To give an example here - let’s say I am someone who has a (conscious or subconscious) limiting belief that my body is ‘not good enough’ or ‘not desirable enough’ in order to be loved and to create the kind of connections that I want to see in my life. Our brains are wired with a negative bias, to first and foremost, look for the proof of our negative beliefs, before seeking positive reinforcement. This is because we have been wired for survival, to look out for threats.

To the subconscious brain, if I am not loved, and do not have close connection, then my survival is at risk (when our species evolved, a lack of connection likely equaled death). Therefore, whenever my brain sees something that reinforces the belief that my body is ‘not good enough’ or ‘not desirable enough’, it triggers a fear response. When we feel fear, the body responds by releasing cortisol and/or adrenaline.

So here I am going about my day-to-day, perhaps knowing that I have some underlying limiting beliefs about my body and self-worth that could be better, but likely not having full awareness of how often this fear is being triggered in my system - it could be very time I open Instagram, every time I compare my body to someone else on the street, every time I get dressed and look at my body in the mirror. And each time cortisol is potentially being released into my bloodstream. As mentioned above, elevated cortisol levels can lead to a number of other imbalances across the endocrine system - including irregular estrogen production, possibly resulting in excess weight being carried in my lower abdominal area.

If this resonates with anyone, know that there are a long list of tools available to us to tackle some of our limiting beliefs, and that the process doesn’t necessarily have to be a long, difficult journey. This is an aspect I focus on heavily with my clients in my one-to-one work, though if this kind of approach doesn’t feel right for you, then practices like hypnotherapy, EMDR, breath work, kundalini, or somatic body work can all be greatly effective.

This is a space I have been in myself. Having experienced the challenges of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome for a great number of years, I went through a process of using nutrition to bring my body back into balance and shed the excess weight I had been carrying as a result.

This is how I landed on my current approach to nutrition - copying below what was shared about approach in a previous question…

My approach to nutrition is very much rooted in eating for two core goals - vitality and longevity. This means building our nutrition around the foods that will make us feel great today and will also support our health in the greatest way possible for the long term. In practice, this looks like:

• eating foods in their most whole form (whole grains and fresh produce)

• including a wide variety of plants, healthy fats and anti-oxidant rich foods

• practicing a limited intake of saturated fats, sugar, gluten, dairy and highly processed foods (including vegetable oils)

In addition, I utilize a number of supplements to support optimum hormone production and frequently suggest the same for my clients. The supplements required are going to be unique to each individual and what it is they are experiencing, though there are a couple of common needs I see for women of reproductive age:

• B Vitamins. A good B-Complex vitamin can greatly support metabolism, energy production, mental focus, reduction of anxiety, skin concerns and digestion

• Rhodiola or Ashwaghanda. Either of these herbal supplements will support with stress reduction, helping to reduce cortisol levels in the system. There are many other nootropics that can provide similar support, these two are what I’ve found to be most successful for myself and my clients.

I always suggest brown rice over white - brown rice is a whole grain (white rice is processed) and has higher fiber content.

When it comes to the potatoes, nutritionally speaking there’s not a great difference. It more so depends on how they’re prepared - fried vs. boiled vs. roasted, etc. - and how your body responds to each. I personally include more white potato in my diet (in curries and salads) as I’ve found it works well for my digestion, whereas, sweet potato has never felt great for me. So it’s about figuring out what feels best in your body.

Potatoes can get a bad wrap for their carbohydrate content, but they do have nutritional value!

The first suggestion I would have here is to try to ensure a very varied intake of plants throughout the challenge - the more nutrients your body is getting, the more optimally it can function and therefore, make the most of all the hard work you’re putting in.

As for a split of food groups, I loosely suggest planning each meal around the following:

50% plants / 20% protein / 20% complex carbs / 10% good fats

For the grains, opt for whole grains over anything processed - quinoa, brown rice, barley, oats, bulgar wheat, farro.

On the protein intake, if you consume animal proteins and its available to you, opt for organic, unprocessed meats and fish - grass-fed beef, pasture raised chicken, wild-caught seafood - and try to keep meat with high saturated fat content to a minimum.

If your plant-based, when it comes to protein I always suggest avoiding overly processed ‘meat alternative’ options unless you feel clear on all the ingredients included.

As for a rough idea of what a day of eating might look like…

For breakfast this could be,

• a smoothie including some fruit, some greens, some avocado, nut milk, seeds and perhaps a protein powder

• A bowl of greek or plant-based yoghurt with berries, nut butter, ground flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and perhaps a gluten-free granola (with no added sugar :)

• If you have animal protein in your diet, this could be eggs, with beans, some greens and avocado

Lunch might be a salad, a wrap or a bowl with a good mix of veggies, grains, nuts, seeds, and some protein.

And then for dinner, maybe its a curry with brown rice, or some wild-caught salmon or your choice of clean protein with quinoa, beans and veggies. If you’re looking for some good recipes, I highly recommend Rich Roll’s, The Plant Powered Meal Planner. Even if you’re not plant-based, this will give you some great tips for incorporating more nutrients and your chosen animal protein can easily be incorporated.

If your goal is for visible abs, in my approach, the answer here is partly what to eat, but also what not to eat! The Session trainers have got you covered for everything to help you build the abs, though in order to have them seen you want to avoid the foods and beverages that can cause inflammation, water retention or contribute to the body holding on to fat - gluten, sugar, highly processed foods, alcohol, refined carbohydrates.

Ensuring a strong intake of good fats (unsaturated fats at approx. 15% of your daily calorie intake) will help to support metabolism - nuts, seeds, avocado, fatty fish, olive oil. Brazil nuts in particular are great to add in for metabolism support.

Then a couple of non-food related suggestions are 1) to implement cold showers if it’s not already something you practice or 2) try dry brushing. Both of these practices can stimulate the lymph which can help with reducing water retention.

Two suggested approaches here -

From a physiological standpoint, sugar cravings can often be a sign of an imbalance in the gut - potentially an overgrowth of bad bacteria. Refined carbohydrates feed the bacterial overgrowth and this is what creates the cravings. In response, you want to think about trying to increase the good bacteria and starve out the bad. It is about cutting off the food source of the overgrowth.

Some tips to try:

• cut all refined carbohydrates from your diet for 4 weeks (this includes alcohol)

• Try to cut any vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, safflower), these have been shown to also feed bad bacteria in the gut

• Add in foods with high prebiotic and probiotic content - garlic, onion, leek, artichokes, kimchi, sauerkraut, greek yoghurt

• Try a daily Gymnema tea (great for sugar cravings)

When making changes like this, we have to take into consideration that the body in some cases is ‘addicted’ to the sugar. So attempting four weeks of no refined carbohydrates might require a lot of effort and energy. If it feels like this may be what is needed, then ensure you have some strong support to keep you accountable (the session community are the perfect for this :) And know that the first two weeks will be the most difficult!

From an emotional and habitual standpoint, begin to explore for yourself what feelings are being experienced at this time of the evening. Often times we can attached food behaviors to challenging emotions that the subconscious is seeking to soothe.

A few question to ask yourself:

• what emotions do I feel in my body when I crave the sugar?

• What meaning does my mind give to these emotions?

• Why does my mind believe the sugar will help?

In our third Zoom session of the challenge will we dive into our emotions and subconscious beliefs tied to food in detail. I will provide in that session some tools to help create shifts in behaviors and mindset.

I would suggest that approx. 20% of each meal is whole grain-based and then another approx. 20% to be plants that contain a good amount of complex carbohydrates.

So perhaps its a bowl for lunch with some brown rice as your grain, then adding some black beans, broccoli and sweet potato, in addition to your protein choice, greens and fats.

All in all, if you are including some form of whole grain, and then a good portion of either fruits or vegetables in every meal, you should be hitting your carbohydrate needs.

As mentioned in previous answers, I loosely suggest planning meals around the following:

50% plants / 20% protein / 20% complex carbs / 10% good fats

If we are looking purely at the measured amount of protein, there is no surprise that animal protein contains higher values in majority of sources. That said, animal proteins can be quite high in saturated fat and limited in the other nutrients they can provide for the body. High consumption of saturated fats is a leading cause in the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

If you are someone who does consume animal proteins, then I always suggest to try and vary your sources and also include plant-based as much as possible - whole plants over meat alternatives, always. Some great plant sources are; beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables high in protein - mushrooms, avocado, artichoke, kale, sprouts, peas. Another suggestion here if you are someone who consumes animal products is to opt for fish or seafood over meat a few times a week, given it contains more unsaturated fats vs. saturated.

In response to the specific supplements mentioned - both Creatine and L-Glutamine can be of great support to those who are training at high levels with high frequency. That said, it is difficult to determine if someone would reap the benefits of these without knowing their individual goals and other nutrient intake.

Creatine and L-Glutamine are amino acids which a not considered ‘essential’ as the body naturally produces them both via intake of other nutrients. Therefore, if I were working one-on-one with a client looking to introduce these supplements, I would first look to ensure they were getting the foundational nutrients required to ensure the natural process of production in the body is functioning optimally.

So my approach would be to start with a review of the body’s foundational processes - elimination, detoxification, defense, energy production, structural processes, cellular transport and communications. If we found there was a challenge with one of these core processes, I would suggest other supplements to treat that as a starting point. Then once the core processes are in balance, if the individual felt their training and muscle recovery could do with additional support, then we would look to add in either of the mentioned amino acids.

Essentially, I’m saying that these supplements can be great, but I would consider them both a secondary level of supplementation support.

On supplementation in general - we’ve likely all heard that our bodies are designed to get all the nutrients it requires from food and therefore, poses the question whether supplements are really necessary…and while I believe this wholly, unfortunately with the current diets and food production processes here in the US, it is very difficult to achieve optimum health via food alone.

Supplement suggestions are going to be specific to each individual based on their goals, health needs, and their level of movement and diet. That said, a few very common challenges I see with foundational processes, along with suggested supplements to support are:

• LOW B VITAMINS IN WOMEN. So often I see women struggling with anxious thoughts, brain fog, low energy levels, sluggish metabolism, and skin concerns. B vitamins are involved in all of these processes in the body (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12) and it is quite common for their intake levels to be low with the average diet seen in the US. Low B vitamin levels have also been strongly linked with the contraceptive pill. If you are taking the pill, or even if you have stopped but took it for an extended period of time, then introducing a B-Complex supplement could be of great support. I love Moon Juice’s Ting Powder, or if you prefer a capsule, Thorne is a brand I trust.

• STRESS LEVELS / ANXIETY. The first thing I always suggest here is to take a look at your gut health and eliminate or limit anything inflammatory in the diet, then add in more prebiotic foods. Though from a supplementation perspective, there are a few things I see to be of great support: magnesium, ashwaghanda, and again, B Vitamins. If you are struggling with sleep as a result of the mind and body hanging on to stress then these three should have a positive impact - once your sleep improves, all other systems of the body are able to function more optimally - hormone production, metabolism, energy production, etc.

• VITAMIN D3. This is an essential nutrient for which deficiencies are very common. D3 is involved in a long list of functions in the body including - immune support, muscle recovery, management of inflammation, skeletal strength, mood regulation. I prefer D3 in liquid form - again, Thorne have a good one!

• LOW ENERGY. If this is something you struggle with, my favorite supplement to boost energy production and increase mental focus is Rhodiola. I swear by it. Supports physical energy and mental focus.

There are endless possibilities of what can contribute to hormonal imbalance - stress, nutritional deficiency, lack of movement, exposure to toxins, poor sleep, light pollution, trauma and more. So food is really just one piece for us to look at if the body is experiencing an imbalance.

That said, when it comes to food as a contributing factor, it can be a very big one. Therefore, making some shifts in your diet can have a great positive impact on bringing things back into balance. As a general rule, foods that contribute to inflammation in the body are going to increase the symptoms of a hormonal imbalance and prevent the body from correcting the issue - this includes highly processed foods, sugar, refined carbohydrates, high saturated fat intake, gluten, alcohol and yes, dairy.

This doesn’t necessarily mean having to give up all of these things forever. The body has such incredible capability for healing, which means a very high likelihood of getting to a place where you can consume these foods (in moderation of course!) with very little or no negative impact. But the healing process required to get there will very much be inhibited if inflammatory foods are being consumed. My suggestion here would be an elimination diet of sorts to determine which foods your body is most sensitive to.

A great resource for links between hormonal imbalance for women and food is Dr. Jolene Brighten.

As for the research portion of the question - these days there is proven research on any nutrition question you could possible have :) But not all studies are equal - we need to be cautious about the source of the research, who carried out the study, who funded the study, who were the participants, how long it was carried out for, what data was measured, if contraindications were taken into consideration, and most importantly in my opinion, what the desired outcome of the study was. UGH. When we take all of this into consideration, along with the volume of information available, it can feel extremely overwhelming and difficult to determine what information we can trust.

It is for this reason I strongly believe in learning how to read the needs of our own bodies. We will explore this topic in more detail in the next zoom workshop!

This is really not an area of my expertise and not an approach I personally work on with clients. If anyone has some trusted sources of info to recommend here, please do pass on for us to review and share with the group if helpful!

As a holistic nutritionist, my approach to food is very much rooted in looking at the ways in which we can use it to ensure optimal health and create longevity. It’s about getting all the systems of the body functioning at their best. As mentioned in a previous answer, when we take this approach to our health, I often find the outcome is that short term goals (i.e. weight loss or greater muscle definition that might be the intended outcome of bulking vs. cutting) can be met.

There are definitely many studied health risks that are associated with high consumption of red meat - namely its high saturated fat content contributing to chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease (the leading cause of death globally). Though not all red meat is equal. If its something you choose to include in your diet, my suggestion is always to keep it in moderation (once to twice per week), opt for unprocessed and be considered with where you source it - grass-fed, and organic where possible, ideally from a local source. If you are including red meat in your diet, ensure a good varied intake of plants to go along with it.

The development of cardiovascular disease is not something that happens over night, though can form over time from high cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is found in 3 core sources - saturated fat, trans fat and eggs. Having high cholesterol is not a cut and dry indication that you will develop heart disease - your levels of stress, movement and other dietary factors outside of meat consumption are also big contributors here. So if you exercise regularly, manage your stress well and have a relatively clean, varied diet then some red intake meat shouldn’t pose a great risk. However, if you lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, with high stress and a diet lacking in varied nutrients, then red meat would be a much greater concern.

When it comes to any meat - white included - the two key aspects I suggest to focus on are looking for lean cuts and ensuring a clean source. White meat can also pose health challenges if we are not careful on how it is sourced. Pasture-raised, free of antibiotics and ideally locally produced is ideal!