22 Sep 5 Food Rules To Stay Energetic, Lean, Healthy
5 Food Rules To Stay Energetic, Lean, Healthy
I specialize in helping people lose weight, keep it off and stay at their absolute best.
A common question I get is about my food rules and my thoughts about dieting and meal plans. So, I came up with 5 Food Rules To Stay Energetic, Lean, Healthy. I hope these will help clear up some misconceptions about food.
Click HERE or on the image below to watch.
Rule #1- Eat real, unprocessed foods. 
The way I define unprocessed is, “it once grew and its in its most natural state. That’s a really easy way to look at it.
Think of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and meat, that all once grew. Those are all natural unprocessed foods.
You can take a real food like that and make it processed by adding a lot of ingredients to it.
I’m not anti-packaged food, I’m just anti ingredients we can’t pronounce or understand. If you have a pack with 5 basic ingredients like apple, salt oil, we know what’s in there.
But if it’s a big paragraph of things we can’t pronounce, that’s a heavily processed food and that’s something I put back.
Rule number #2- Avoid Artificial And Fake Foods. 
If it says fat free or sugar free, chances are that there are added artificial sweeteners, added replace what is missing sugar or fat. These are fake foods and I know they will make us bloated.
People think they are eating healthy but they constantly have that bloat issue and a lot of times it’s from that diet soda or those artificial sweeteners.
When you have artificial sweeteners your body thinks it’s still getting those calories and it’s going to crave and be hungry for those added calories that you’re NOT getting. It thinks it’s getting 100 calories of something but it’s getting zero because you’re eating artificial stuff.
The cravings are going to continue and you are going to want to make up those calories your body is asking for. So they get in the way of our weight loss effort and they can make us feel tired, depleted and create more craving.
Rule number #3- Eat A Heavily Plant Based Diet 
Although I’m not a vegetarian, any given meal most of my plate is fruits and vegetables. Because these are natural, they have tons of vitamins and minerals, and they keep us full.
If you eat a huge pile of raw vegetables or salad before your meal, you’re going to eat very little of whatever else you’re going to eat.
So they keep us full, they add a lot of nutrients and fibers. You really can’t overdose on vegetables.
Rule number #4– Eat Protein, Carbs, & Fat
Carbs are good for us and what you guys don’t know is vegetables and fruits are carbs. So when you say you’re doing no carbs, you need to continue to have fruits and vegetables because we need carbs for brain function.
You don’t have to have starchy carbs all day long or excess amounts, but you can get great carbs from vegetables and fruits.
I’m a fan of natural, starchy carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes and rice, but all in moderation. Go crazy on those vegetables. They have the right kind of carbs!
This morning I posted a breakfast recipe and somebody asked if the added banana was going to spike my insulin? No, it’s not. When you add the right balance of food, when you’ve got proteins and fats in your meals, you’re not going to have that drastic spike.
Eat natural real foods, balance things out, and make sure you’re getting your proteins, fats and carbs in all your meals.
Rule number #5 -Listen To Your Body, Never Starving, Never Stuffed
When you’re eating a natural food diet of primarily, unprocessed natural food, you start to get in touch with what you’re really craving and what you need.It gets a lot easier to stop eating when you’re full.
When you eat packaged, processed foods, there is a lot of junk in those foods. The companies that make them put things in there that make us crave more and eat more. So when they add sugar or they use artificial stuff, we’re going to crave more and we can’t put down that stuff.
If you don’t believe me, when was the last time you over ate a piece of fish and broccoli? It just doesn’t happen. When is the last time you overate apples or chicken? It doesn’t work that way. But when do we over eat potato chips, crackers, cake or candy? It happens all the time because of what’s in those ingredients.
When you’re eating a natural unprocessed food diet, it’s very hard to overeat. That’s exactly right. That’s why we over eat cereal. Because if you look at the ingredients its starchy carbs. There’s fake ingredients, there is sugar. We’re going to keep eating!
Be Happy… Be Healthy… Be FIT!
-Natalie Jill
Bloat, Fat, and Fatigue BE GONE! Give me 7 days to teach you the habits to get the weight off and change your life FOREVER! Start HERE!
At the end of this live broadcast I took a few Q&A’s from the audience. Below are some helpful FAQ’s that came from this broadcast:
Question: Do you drink coffee?
You know I just started drinking coffee a few weeks ago and I’m a fan now. The way I do my coffee personally is I use coffee, add a teaspoon of cacao to it, put ghee in it just about a tablespoon and then I take a little bit of MCT oil or coconut oil, a half or full scoop of chocolate pure whey protein. And I blend these at high speed on a blender and that’s the coffee that I absolutely love.
Question: What time do you stop eating?
I don’t have a rule on that, I’m not a fan of calorie counting and I’m not a fan of monitoring the exact time of day that you’re eating or stopping. If you’re eating natural real unprocessed food and you’re listening to your body, it doesn’t make a difference if you’re eating at 8:00 o’clock in the morning or 8:00 o’clock at night.
Question: Ghee in your coffee?
I love ghee and coffee, I know it sounds funny but we normally add milk or cream, this is a better version. Ghee is clarified butter, it’s the best part of it. It makes it super creamy and thick and I count that as a good fat. It has a sweeter taste than butter to me and I love it.
Question: Where do you find ghee?
Pretty much any grocery store. It’s just clarified butter, pasteurized butter. I’m not perfect with my eating. It’s what you do most of the time that matters. If you mess up and do something wrong, just bounce back and start over the next day.
Question: You should try Cinnamon on your coffee?
Cinnamon sounds great and it helps regulate your blood sugar. I will try that. Yes, ghee is great to cook with. My favorite oils are coconut oil and ghee, I use those a lot. These are my favorite, but don’t use coconut oil at high heat.
Question: What do I do about my ice cream and sugar craving?
If you’re eating a natural unprocessed food diet that should slowly go away. It’s the processed sugars and junk that drives pir cravings. If you’re having artificial sweeteners those will drive it up too. So sugar can be an addiction, so if you have a problem with it I would cut it out gradually. Go to fruits and vegetables and low glycemic fruits like berries, nuts, and seeds. Get the cravings away and if you’re going to add sugar use fruit sugars.
Question: Should I stay away GMO’s?
Yes, stay away from GMOs. GMOs are genetically modified foods. Read food labels to make sure you are not getting GMO’s.
Question: Can you eat too much fruit?
You can eat too much of anything, it’s just too hard to overeat fruits. If you’re eating a processed food diet and then you’re over eating that’s a problem, but if you’re sticking to natural food it’s very hard that you’re going to be obese because you ate too much fruit. It’s usually something else.
Question: What’s your advice for men?
My advice for men is that same as for women.
Question: Do you use fiber bars?
I have to know what you’re talking about fiber bars, what’s in there. My fiber comes from fruits, vegetables, real food.
Question: Are bananas fattening?
No they are not. No fruit or vegetable is fattening in its self. Those are natural foods, everything in moderation, balance it out with your proteins and your carbs and you’re fine. Now if you’re eating 100 bananas then that’s a problem. But if you’re having 1 banana a day, unless you have a medical condition and your doctor told you otherwise then it’s fine.
Question: Are you a fan of low carb diets?
I’m not a fan of low carb diets but I am a fan of unprocessed natural carbs. My carbs come in the form of fruits and vegetables.
Question: I can’t eat tilapia, what should I do?
Pick another fish. Pick chicken; pick another protein if you want. You don’t have to use tilapia.
Question: Are you a fan of vitamin B?
Yes I’m a fan of vitamin B. Supplements are an addition to a natural food diet, if you’re getting all your nutrients from real food you don’t have to have supplements. I don’t like supplements as a replacement for real food. Nothing takes the place of real food, real exercise and real hydration from water. That comes first. If you choose a supplement as an addition, that’s like an insurance policy. Just make sure you know what you’re taking.
I do use some supplements, I use a probiotic every day. I have caffeine and vitamin B, I supplement with whey protein, its fast absorbing, helps control hunger, and it’s good to add to a quick meal replacement if I want to on the go and good for pre and post work out. I do fish oil too. So I do supplements, however I encourage you to know what it is that you’re having and not to have it as a full replacement for real food.
Question: What about protein shakes?
There are so many different kinds of protein shakes. If you go to www.nataliejill.com/protein, I go into length about that. There are different types of protein powder, there’s whey, there’s egg, there’s casein and so on. There are like a gazillion different kinds and there’s a difference with all of them. My preference is a pure natural whey if I’m going to have any. And a meal replacement shake is totally different so you have to read the ingredients. And there are different pros and cons for them, just get really familiar with these.
Question: Does you book share the products you prefer?
She’s talking about my book, The 7 Day Jump Start. It’s hard copy, all color, 77 new recipes and a new meal plan, available in-stores now or on my website, at www.nataliejilfitness.com/book.
Question: Is organic food better?
Yes, I personally prefer organic food. First, I can taste the difference if I use organic food. If you taste organic berries for instance you can always tell the difference from the conventional ones. I’m not a fan of eating pesticides and adding them knowingly, however if you’re starting to make better choices and organic is not an option, I would rather you have conventional fruits and vegetables versus not having fruits and vegetables. Don’t beat yourself up, if you can do organic, that’s my preference but it’s baby steps and everything is progress.
So if you are switching from candy for instance to a snack food with fruits, that would be the next better thing. The next better would be the natural fruit and vegetable and the next step would be to make sure it’s organic. So it’s all steps, it’s all how you move.
Question: What is your opinion on protein bars?
I love some of those bars, it’s about ingredients. Just make sure you can read the ingredients and define things and if you can they should be ok. I have a few recipes in my book that I love. www.nataliejilfitness.com/book.
Question: How often should I work out weekly?
My deal is I am a fan of being active daily, but my intense focused work outs are like 4-5 times a week and I give them everything. And to do that they are typically 20-30 minutes max but intense. If you think that’s short, go try to do a plank for 10 minutes or pull ups. It’s hard when you do intense training. In my book I actually have seven 7 minutes workouts in there that you can do at home that are going to change your body www.nataliejilfitness.com/book. I also have a variety of workout plans for all fitness levels. To learn more, click HERE
Question: Can I have bloating with whey protein?
You can have bloating with all types of things, and depending on the types of whey you’re using it’s very possible. I know on the two types of whey I prefer I do not have bloating. I would look at the ingredients to make sure you’re using a natural one without artificial sweeteners, which can cause bloat.
Question: How can I tighten loose stomach skin?
You can’t change skin through diet and nutrition. You can lose or gain fat and tone muscles. It’s very hard to tighten that loose skin through just exercise and diet. HERE is a video I did on loose skin that will definitely help out.
Question: What work out video do you recommend?
I recommend mine, www.nataliejilfitness.com/dvds . I’ve got 4 awesome DVDs that are all body weight workouts.
Question: What do you eat for fruits?
I’m human so I eat sugar sometimes but I love fruits. One of my favorite things is to take an apple and slice it up, heat it up and add cinnamon to it. It’s so good, it tastes like the inside on an apple pie.
