#9 How I Eat for Energy & More Visibility

Podcast
Written By

Today I'm going to get specific and transparent and share with you what's going on in my own self care balancing act as I get more visible in my business, put myself and my brand out there, hustle hard, and keep my upbeat vibe.  

I thought it would be valuable to take you on a tour of what food, movement, and mindfulness look like right now for me as a Healthy Living Strategist but also as a REAL person.I emphasize right now because these things change over time (if you like this episode, let me know, and I’ll do an update again somewhere down the road).

I’m covering food today and I’ll move on to movement and mindfulness in two weeks for my next solo episode.

Listen above or scroll down to read the full blog post transcript.

“I don't mind if I'm not perfect. I’d rather be relatable to my audience, let them see themselves in me.” - Adria DeCorte

In today's episode, you'll learn:

  • How I prepare for more visibility and media as I take the TEDx stage (hint: it's not dieting!)
  • My go-to breakfast and lunch for feeding my hustle during the workday
  • A contrast between what I do in my own kitchen and the very different advice I give my meal plan clients
  • The trick that keeps me from staring into the fridge aimlessly when it's time to make a meal
  • How I balance splurging on "junk food" with eating for vibrant energy
  • The quick "recipe" I use for making lazy salads for workday lunches

Mentioned in this episode:

The Full Episode Transcript - for your reading pleasure!

I was all set to do a bite size strategy episode this week on setting yourself up to make healthy eating easy during the workweek. I got feedback from the Feed Your Hustle Facebook group on what your biggest challenges were, drafted up my stress-free strategy for you...But then I had three interviews I'd done on other podcasts go live in the span of a few days, part of an uptick in more media attention for me, and the hustle that goes along with that. And when my business coach and meal plan client said she was super curious about how I was keeping my energy high, the inspiration for this episode hit me.So I’m sharing in hopes that it will resonate with you and inspire you into action (or to be okay with what you’re currently doing!).That being said, I will get to the originally scheduled Bite Size Strategy episode, it will just be bumped to next month. But I think and hope this will be worth it!

Preparing for the Stage by Focusing on Energy, Not Bodyfat

First of all, I've got a TEDx talk coming up - a highly visible event that will be recorded and hopefully watched thousands of times to spread our Feed Your Hustle Movement.And I won't lie that I've gained a bit of business baby weight in the midst of the self care balancing act over the last year (partly also as I practice intuitive eating and stop being so body controlling).Despite this, I want to emphasize that I'm not on a weight loss or body sculpting plan.

I don't mind if I'm not perfect.

I'd rather be relatable to my audience, let them see themselves in me rather than holding a mirror up for what makes them feel bad about themselves. (I've been there before and had everyone around me feel guilty about what they had or hadn't eaten, had them all say you’re so skinny while going away feeling bad about themselves.)Instead, I'm focusing on feeding my hustle and keeping my energy going strong. And that includes mostly nourishing whole foods meals, regular movement, and ways to rest and recharge.

The Balls I'm Juggling as I Grow My Brand

First off, I'm propelling this Feed Your Hustle movement with lots of podcast interviews for other shows to reach our sister entrepreneurs.Three went live this past week and I'm really proud of them and love these shows and think their hosts are wonderful. If one resonates with you, click the link to listen - these are all so worth it!

New Interviews Worth Checking Out:

  • on Fresh Eats Radio with Heather Rampolla, I confronted the "I'm too busy to eat healthy" excuse with head on advice to give you more energy without sucking all your time
  • on A Better Life with FYH #4 guest Rachel Rofe, we got into a discussion of what to eat to supercharge creative flow for more inspiration as well as what to eat to ground you
  • and on The Starters Club, Erin Smith and I talked about making sure you're at your prime as an entrepreneur by using food to optimize your energy

Plus I'm always interviewing guests for this show, producing new episodes (I don't have a va yet but Jarrett does the editing thank goodness!!), and I'm working on getting my TEDx talk in my bones.And then I have personalized meal plan clients, I'm designing a new product, and I love to be active in my local conscious entrepreneur community where I've been told I'm good at putting myself out there and initiating conversations.I participate in events every month like Sunday Reset and the private women’s group run by FYH #3 guest Jess Tomlinson. And of course, there are my business relationships which I like to take off line - I'm in a local mastermind with a few ladies that meets monthly, last week I got to meet a bunch of my sister podcasters at the women in podcasting meetup here in Vegas scheduled around New Media Expo, and I have an afternoon tea scheduled almost every week with a female entrepreneur friend.

This amount of hustle isn’t unusual for a female entrepreneur because we’re a pretty driven bunch. I imagine you've got a similarly full plate.

You can tell by listening to all this that the theme in my life and what drives me is community. But I probably wouldn’t be as good at building relationships if I felt icky, lacked energy, and didn't feel confident about being seen.

Self Care is the Backbone that Supports My Hustle.

Taking care of myself generates the energy that I need and keeps me present so that when an opportunity pops up, I can take advantage of it.So let's take a peek at specific healthy habits and self care that feed the passionate, vibrant "Adria" energy people associate with me. This episode will focus on food.

How I Eat Healthy for More Visibility

I make it a priority to feed myself nourishing whole foods - it's a lot harder to bring your A-game when you're drained from the meals you eat. I talked about this on FYH #5 Food Equals Energy.

What Do I Eat?

I eat a plant-powered diet. Currently, I start my day with a green smoothie and make sure to have at least half my plate green vegetables (including dark green leafies) at every meal. I round it off with lentils, beans, sweet potatoes, or alkaline gluten free grains like quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and amaranth.It’s taken me years to get to this point, but I don’t eat processed foods even those made from whole grains like bread, tortillas, or pasta in my everyday life.

I’m not better than anyone else because of that.

It’s just that by this point in my food evolution, it’s part of my routine and just as easy as eating something less optimal.(Not that I’m perfect, but we’ll get to that towards the end of this episode.)Fat also plays an important role in my diet since part of my past food perfectionism included being strictly low-fat which resulted in the inflammation of my then-acne (healed now but that's another story) and hormone imbalances. So even though I cook with veggie broth rather than oil, I eat a whole food fat at each meal - hemp seed in my smoothies, avocado with a salad, and pumpkin seeds on a cooked meal.You can get more details on my diet and eating plant-powered whether you're an omnivore or herbivore HERE.And let me know if you want me to record a podcast episode on this.

My Food-Day

The green smoothie I start my day with is key because podcast interviews (whether for my show or someone else's) usually take place mid-morning. The smoothie powers my morning, gives me clarity, and burns as clean fuel.If I have an interview coming up and it's been a few hours since my smoothie, I'll snack on a small handful of almonds with maybe an apple. These are packed with fiber and nutrients that keep me feel satiated and keep my mind clear.

What I eat for breakfast and lunch becomes the energy I use for my workday so I make sure my lunch meal is also powerful and nourishing.

Most recently it's either a salad or a cooked one-pot meal. I always include lentils, beans, or gluten-free grains as a base to provide slow burning calories. 

Community Question 1: How do you make it easier to make healthy meals during the workweek?

When I asked what you want to know about my behind the scenes in the Feed Your Hustle FB group, Peggy wanted to hear more about how I prepare foods so it's quicker and easier to make healthy meals during the workweek.Peggy asked,

"Do you do lots of chopping and then cook later?Or do you spend time cooking and then reheating things later?And how much to you plan (i..e specific meal plans for each night of the week) and how much do you do spontaneously (i.e. have ingredients in the fridge and then decide what to pull together at the last minute)?" 

These are such good questions Peggy that I'm going to devote another entire episode to my recommended strategies around this. 

But if I'm talking about myself, I'm going to be honest and say that what I do in my own life is different than what I recommend to clients.

That's because my recommendations come from a place of making everything simpler and full of ease for you and because healthy eating is a strength and passion of mine.Despite the craziness around me, I can always find my way to eating nourishing whole plant foods - while traveling at a conference, during busy launches, whatever the situation, I excel at strategizing ways to make it work and then implementing them. (You can look forward to me sharing many of these strategies.)But almost all my personalized plant-powered meal plan clients need quick solutions and don't have the bandwidth to focus on food as much as I do. They also don't have the same nutrition background as me - and there's no reason they should! 

So that being said, I'm a really free-spirited eater. 

I don't plan meals in a very structured way, I don't always do prep work in advance, and I like spending time chopping, tossing together ingredients haphazardly, and cooking. It's my meditation. That means that at lunch time even though I recommend having pre-cooked ingredients pulled together or making what I call a remix by livening up the energy of leftovers with fresh ingredients, I will take a break to chop up a full salad from scratch or make an entire one-pot meal.

But while I say I don't plan meals, what I'll often do is think about what I want to make a little bit in advance if I know I'm going to be hungry so I'm not standing in the kitchen getting frustrated as I wonder what to eat.

So maybe as I drive home from a morning event, knowing I need to make lunch, I'll run through in my mind what I know is in the fridge and pantry and come up with an idea so I can hit the kitchen running and not get stalled into inaction.There are points in my life where I do more meal planning and am better at having a batch of chickpeas or quinoa ready to go in the fridge or making extra portions so I have leftovers pre-made.But recently, I'm into being spontaneous and using meal prep time as part of my self care.

Even so, I'm still a lazy cook, so I do have a few quick tricks that I always use.

When I haven't prepared anything in advance, I'll either pop open a BPA-free container of beans (Eden Organics or fig food co) or make up red lentils which are split so only take 5-10 minutes to cook but are high in protein and easy to digest.I'll often toss these with baby kale (from a bag) and a quick dressing of salsa and nutritional yeast (which is a rich cheesy flavored vegan essential that is high protein, nutrient dense and not related at all to candida or the yeast you use to rise bread or make beer).I top this with 1/4 diced avocado for healthy fats to help absorb some of the vitamins and regulate my hormones.This meal is super fast and requires no chopping! If I feel like taking a few minutes to relax into chopping, I'll add diced red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes. If I want a little crunch, I'll add pumpkin seeds for mood-boosting zinc.

Community Question 2: Do You Eat Perfectly All the Time?

But even though this is the basis of my diet, I learned a long time ago that stressing over eating perfectly 100% of the time ends up doing more damage to happiness than if I ate something “bad”.In the Feed Your Hustle FB group, Stefanie asked

"I wonder how much you let yourself eat junk food - or do you eat perfectly all of the time?"

That's a great question, and I'm happy she brought it up because NO I don't eat perfectly all the time. If you listened to FYH #1 where I shared a little of my story, you'll know about my own battle with food perfectionism.

I now strongly believe in balance not perfection. 

On a weekly basis, I eat at least one meal that doesn't fit in those typical guidelines I described earlier.The thing is that almost always these splurges take place outside of the house. I don’t believe in tempting willpower when you don’t have to.My sister is a talented vegan baker and I consider it a special treat to eat her muffins, cookies, or whatever her newest experiment is when I visit her place a couple times a month. She uses whole ingredients, but it's still white flour which doesn't normally have a place in my life. And even if she's using maple syrup, it's still a sweetener.

I admit to having a hard time stopping at just one of her desserts when I’m there and still struggle with some guilt over it. I’m a work in progress, after all.

Then my husband and I have date nights maybe once a week, usually at a healthier plant-based restaurant where I tend to choose whole foods based items on the menu because honestly I like how they make me feel better.I have an aversion to overly processed, sugary, or fake tasting foods so my idea of junkfood might be different than yours. I tend to choose the healthier things on the menu, but I still consider this a splurge because I don't control how much oil or salt or unknown ingredients they use in the kitchen.And I let this go.Then when special occasions come up, I let myself indulge, too. Here's an example - this week, my mastermind buddy Donna, personal chef founder of Gourmet Girl LLC, had a mock dinner party photoshoot. She had appetizers served up with Buckwheat pancakes, fruit compote, cashew spread, tofu bruschetta, chocolate covered strawberries, I’m sure I’m butchering the names of these amazing dishes.When the photographer was done taking photos of us with the food, we were allowed to dig in. And I enjoyed everything. She was gracious enough to point out which items were plant-based and I stuck to those.Also, this week was the grand opening of a long-awaited vegan restaurant in Vegas called VegeNation and they were serving free drinks and appetizers. So I sipped on a delicious sangria made with real fruit juice and had some forbidden rice avocado rolls and portobello mushroom sliders.I just let myself feel relaxed around it, knowing that it’s not my last yummy meal and I can have more later. 

And that’s the thought that I want to leave you with.

That the balance that I’ve tried to strike with food is knowing what foods will make me feel amazing and feed my hustle and then allowing myself to have treats and eat the foods that I know aren’t optimal when the occasion pops up so I don’t feel deprived.

I’ve worked hard to remove the judgement from myself and that’s what I want for you as well.

Comment on this post, or come on over to the Feed Your Hustle FB group to let me know what you thought about this episode or to add your voice to the next episode by telling me what you want to know about.Stay tuned next Friday for my conversation with a fitness coach who's been asking successful female entrepreneurs how they fit in fitness and then in two weeks for part 2 of this “Adria Gets Real” episode where I’ll dive into what I’m doing for movement and mindfulness.

And subscribe to this podcast:

You can also listen in iTunes or Stitcher. Be sure to subscribe by email so you never miss an episode.Warmth and joy,Adria P.S. Loved this episode? Leave the podcast a 5 star rating or review in iTunes. It only takes a second but will help this much-needed community conversation reach your sister entrepreneurs! 

Adria 300pxHI!  I'M ADRIA DECORTE, M.S.,HEALTHY LIVING STRATEGIST

As an Architect turned Plant Scientist turned Healthy Living Strategist, I help female entrepreneurs who don't want to choose health over hustle make healthy living part of their business plan.    

WANT TO JOIN ME? (YOU'LL LOVE IT.)

Sign up here to join my lovely community and get actionable & strategic insight every week. (It's free!)

Previous

#10 Feed Your Fitness with Trainer Catherine Basu
Next

#8 Honor Your Bandwidth with Coach Hillary Rubin