Why You Need More Fish In Your Diet

Why You Need More Fish In Your Diet

General

Fish contains much needed minerals and certain health benefits that other meats don’t. Eating oily fish twice a week is recommended for your overall good health, especially for your heart and blood. Oily fish varieties include small fish such as anchovies, sardines, herring and kippers as well as larger types like ocean tuna, Atlantic salmon, mackerels, eel, trout, silver warehou, mullet, trevally, sand whiting and snapper. But don’t forget about the leaner, white fish – they have loads of health and weight benefits!

Frozen is a good option if you can’t buy it fresh. Canned sardines, salmon and tuna are convenient and affordable. Frozen fish fillets are a busy woman’s dream. They are individually wrapped so you can take a fillet out, put it in a bowl filled with warm tap water and it will defrost in just a few minutes. It doesn’t get much quicker or easier than that! Look for frozen fish at Coles, Woolworths, IGA’s, Aldi or Costco. Buy the plain (no sauce, no crumbs) fillets and add your own dressing or just a splash of lemon juice and some herbs.

Fish

Oily fish are darker in colour and stronger in flavour than white fish. They have a higher fat content and 5 to 6 times more omega-3 than white fish. In addition, oily fish are rich in vitamin A and vitamin D. But white fish have a place in the diet too! Fish is very good for weight loss, especially white fish. White fish can be used in S or E meals.

Just as we have fatty meats and lean meats as part of our diet, we also need to have fatty fish and lean fish in our diet – this is best for optimal nutrition but also to change up or juggle the caloric load of our food.

Tip!

For canned tuna, check the label for a claim “High in omega-3” as many brands have had their natural oil reduced during canning.

Here are some more reasons to include more fish this week:

  • A great protein source in either S or E meals
  • High in important nutrients
  • Powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Good source of Vit D. and iodine.
  • It prevents and helps battle against auto-immune issues such as Hashimoto’s.
  • It boosts your own natural collagen production.
  • Breastfed babies of mothers who eat fish have better eyesight, perhaps due to the omega-3 fatty acids transmitted in breastmilk. Eating fish two or more times a week is associated with reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration.
  • It boosts heart health and the entire cardiovascular system.
  • It may help prevent and treat depression
  • It may relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and autoimmune disease.
  • It may boost brain health. Elderly people who eat fish at least once a week may have a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
  • It can help improve your sleep.
  • It may help people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
  • It helps lower blood pressure that is too high.
  • It has shown in studies to lower asthma risks in children by 24-25 percent.
  • Eating at least two serves of fish per week reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by reducing blood clots and inflammation, improving blood vessel elasticity, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood fats and boosting ‘good’ cholesterol.

Get Your Fish On
If you are struggling with your weight – eat more fish.
If you are struggling with your health – eat more fish.

Just Eat More Fish!

An easy way to increase your fish consumption is to simply double what you are doing now. If you are eating fish zero times per week – start by eating it once a week. If you are eating it once a week – eat it twice a week. If you are eating fish twice a week – double it and eat it four times a week. If you are already eating fish 4 times a week don’t forget to vary the sources. Aim for a minimum of 2 serves of oily fish PLUS 2 serves of white fish every week!

Sustainability

This isn’t something I’m addressing in this post but the Good Fish website is great for learning more about fish and and sustainability practices.

Pop on over to my Facebook page and let me know how often you are eating fish! 

 

oily fish
white fish image
Pressure Cooker Bone Broth

Pressure Cooker Bone Broth

Recipes

There is more than enough information and recipes on the Internet and books about making a good bone broth so why should I add one more? I’ve put off writing this out as it is so simple and I honestly thought that no one would be interested but I’ve several requests now so thought I’d compile it in the one place – my website.

Jump to Recipe

Easy Bone Broth in the Pressure Cooker

I’ve been doing broth/stock for many years – that’s nothing new. However, I previously used the slow cooker which I did NOT like due to the time and smell. I’ve used stovetop, slow cooker, and pressure cooker (Crock-Pot Express or CPE) but I achieve the best results with the pressure cooker or InstantPot for those in the US.

The batch pictured below was made with grass-fed chicken wings and necks – grass-fed does make a difference. If you can afford it, it’s worth it!

I used my Crock-Pot Express Multi Cooker – cooked on ‘soup’ setting for 2 hours. Add bones (raw or roasted) to the CPE or IP along with 2TB ACV, some herbs and spices. Add some halved carrot, celery and onion. Add bay leaves, herbs – whatever you have in the fridge!

When using the pressure cooker I don’t see the point of soaking the bones in the ACV as the machine takes awhile to heat up before it starts cooking so I count this towards my soaking time.

Cook on high pressure for 2 hours. Natural release, strain and put in fridge. After straining, I add some 1-2 TB of collagen and 1TB gelatin. Not to cheat for the gel rather for the health benefits. That’s it, that’s all I do.

Some general notes on broth straining

For fatty bones, cook the bones ( roast them) to render out any fat first, then make the broth. After making broth, there are a few suggestions for straining off all the fat, which is helpful for fat straining but also if you are particular about what you eat but aren’t able to eat grass-fed/organic. Those suggestions are to:

Chill the broth and skim it. Then warm it just enough that it is pourable. Fill a strainer full of ice. Then pour the broth over the ice. Any remaining fat sticks to the ice and the broth goes under into the container.

Or

Line your pot with cheesecloth. Then simply pull up the cheesecloth, bringing all the bones, etc. with you, leaving broth.

However… I don’t strain using those methods suggested above – but they are great suggestions. I use tongs and a large spoon to get out as much ‘stuff’ as I can and then I pour the liquid though my nut milk bag, which isn’t really a nut milk bag but a paint straining bag that I buy cheaply from the hardware store.

After straining I cool it and then scrape, lift off or remove the fat. If it was organic or grass-fed bones I’ll reuse the fat for cooking otherwise I don’t use it because fat stores toxins. Then I bag it up and freeze it! Done!

Then it can be used in soups, casseroles or wherever broth or stock is used in a recipe. or I drink it daily as a warm drink. I add 3/4 tsp of mineral salt, and ¾ tsp of Trim Bouillon Mix to 1 cup broth. Delicious at any time of the day but especially for breakfast and just before bed.

Print Pin

Pressure Cooker Bone Broth

How to make bone broth in the pressure cooker - quick and easy!
Course Appetizer, Drinks, Soup
Keyword Comfort food

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot/ Crock-Pot Multi Express Cooker
  • Nut milk bag or cheesecloth
  • Colander or strainer
  • Tongs

Instructions

Add bones and vegetables

  • Add bones (raw or roasted) to the CPE or IP along with 2TB ACV, some herbs and spices. Add some halved carrot, celery and onion. Add bay leaves, herbs - whatever you have in the fridge!

High pressure for 2 hours. Natural release.

  • Cook on high pressure for 2 hours. Natural release, strain and put in fridge.

Strain and cool.

  • Use tongs and a large spoon to get out as much 'stuff' as possible and then pour the liquid though the cheesecloth.
    After straining, let the broth cool to room temperature or just warmer and then put it in the fridge. It will form a layer of hardened fat on top which is then scraped or lifted off.

Pack and store.

  • Add into glass jars, plastic bags or containers ready for the freezer or fridge.

Notes

15+ Foods That I Always Have On Hand

15+ Foods That I Always Have On Hand

General

These are 15+ foods I make sure I never run out of – these are my staples that allow me to eat healthy food even when I don’t have a lot of food prepped or made in advance. I don’t always bake or have meals cooked but I can always eat well as there is always something easy to eat. If I have it in the house, I will eat it – this goes both ways, for healthy, nutrient dense food or food that isn’t so healthy.

My Top 15

In no particular order.

  1. Dark chocolate
  2. Eggs
  3. Chobani 0.5% Greek yoghurt
  4. Salmon fillets (frozen)
  5. Ground turkey, beef mince & chicken fillets
  6. Deli Meats/Cold cuts
  7. Bone broth (both homemade or store bought)
  8. Seasonal fruits and vegetables, especially strawberries and sugar snap peas, zucchini, broccoli & mushroom, rocket and baby spinach, capsicum, cos lettuce and avocado. Frozen fruit and veggies – berries, cherries & lemon wedges.
  9. Chana dahl (dried) chickpeas, black beans, red kidney beans and lentils (canned)
  10. Oats
  11. Brown rice [precooked] sachets
  12. Passatta and Peeled & Diced Tomatoes
  13. Butter
  14. Olive oil, Coconut oil & MCT oil
  15. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Five Extra Foods (because to be honest I always have these as well)

  1. Mixed nuts and seeds
  2. Chamomile tea and White tea, Coffee beans
  3. Hydrolysed Collagen
  4. Laughing Cow Light Cheese wedges
  5. Natvia sweetener or Monkfruit sweetener

What foods are staple items in your house? Let me know!

15 foods I have on hand
Cruciferous Veggies

Cruciferous Veggies

General

Cruciferous veggies are a diverse group that includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy, arugula, Brussels sprouts, collards, watercress and radishes.

When cabbage is chopped, chewed or digested, gluosinolates break down into substances called isothiocyanate. Now these are extremely toxic to insects but they have an incredibly protective effect to humans. The finer you chop cruciferous veg, the more nutritious it is due to this process. So chop it finely then leave it for an hour or two before eating or cooking and you are getting much more bang for your buck! But even better, you don’t have to feel guilty about preparing the veggies beforehand and worry about losing nutrients because the opposite is true – you get more! So go ahead, prep those veggies early and put them in the fridge for tea later on tonight!

When buying broccoli, try and buy and eat as soon as possible. If you can’t buy and eat fresh then store in continuously in the fridge in a sealed bag. In fact, if you can purchase the broccoli in sealed bags, even better. Have you seen the coloured cauliflower? Go for the brightly coloured ones first – purple, orange or green as they have more phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Cooking Cruciferous Veggies

Steam, sauté or microwave with a minimum amount of water to increase the levels of Vit A and antioxidant carotenes up to 5 times. Don’t forget to add a dash of olive or coconut oil.
Even more bang for your buck? Add mustard powder to your cruciferous veggies. Not only does it taste good but the mustard allows the cruciferous veggie to restore their ability to generate isothiocyanate. Simply add ½ tsp to each 200gram of cooked cruciferous veg! Or if you hate mustard, try horseradish, wasabi or radish, rocket, watercress, raw sprouts for similar effect.

How do you like to eat your cruciferous veggies? Got a favourite recipe to share? Rueben in a Bowl or Kai Sing Me or something else?

Cruciferous veggies
Start-Use-Do

Start-Use-Do

General

~What if I can’t cook well?⁣
~What if I go off plan?⁣
~What if I have ten children and am time challenged?⁣
~What if I have ten children and a husband that won’t eat diet food?
~What if I can’t get special ingredients?

I get it. I’ve probably asked those same questions. Usually when it has meant me starting a new diet. But I’m not talking about a diet. I’m talking about eating healthy in a way that allows your body to find its comfortable weight and strive for optimal health.⁣

You will never be perfect with your eating or exercise or anything else so let’s all just accept that right now, eh? Forget perfection and focus on progress. I don’t eat perfect all the time – nope! But I eat so much better now than what I did 5, 10 and 20 years ago!
⁣

Start where you are.

Use what you have.

Do what you can.

Contact me if you need to learn how to eat in a way that works towards optimal health and weight in a safe, reliable and healthy way.

Start where you are image
Which Book Is Best?

Which Book Is Best?

General, Tips

Which book should you use?

THM Books
The Original THM book, The Trim Healthy Mama Plan, the Trim Healthy Cookbook or Trim Healthy Table – which one is right for you?  Where does one start? I get it. You’re time challenged, budget conscious, dislike reading or whatever else. Not everyone wants or needs to know the science behind the plan nor do they want to read all the chatty-Cathy banter. This post will help you decide which book is the best fit for you.

Updated 14/09/20: This post has been updated to include the Trim Healthy Starter.

The Original Trim Healthy Mama Book

This is the first book, the original. The one I devoured and continue to read even though I own all the others. I call it my THM Encyclopaedia. However, not everyone feels the same. some say it is too chatty, too wordy, too ugly, a hard read, convoluted and more. I can see why some would say that with a whopping 642 pages to get through. But that’s just who the authors are – this first, self published book was simply a reflection of who they are and what they do. They didn’t set out to change the world. They were simply sharing what they’d learned.

This is a large, chatty book that contains both the science of the plan and basic recipes for the plan. The 250 recipes are not laid out correctly (I won’t lie, it’s hard to cook from) and there are no photos. I still make some of the original recipes – they were quick and easy.

The sisters chat. A lot. Back and forth banter, rabbit trails (which the sisters are famous for), words, words and more words, which I love but not everyone does. If you don’t have time for all that then this is not the book for you.

If you are a person who loves to read, or you have read the Plan Book and want more or if you enjoy the rabbit trails of the podcast then this might be the book for you.

Trim Healthy Mama Plan

I also love this book and refer back to it often. After the first book was written, released and read people wanted more. Many readers asked for a more concise explanation of the plan without all the chit-chat, more in-depth, more straight to the point. They also asked for more recipes presented in more professional way. The authors heard them and did exactly that with the Plan Book and the Cookbook!

The “Trim Healthy Mama Plan – the easy-does-it approach to vibrant health & a slim waistline” is THE 300 page book to read and study. It is the same plan as the original book but written in a more clear, concise way and the layout, print, fonts, etc. are much easier to read and refer to. It is jam packed with information though, including time saving tips, family meals, eating out, plan basics, higher learning, speciality foods, superfoods, some updates and much more! This book does NOT contain any recipes – instead purchase one of the cookbooks.

If you are new to THM or want to understand the science behind it without loads of chit-chat then go for this book. It is informative and will give you both the nuts n bolts of the plan as well as loads of other helpful information.

Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook

This book is one of my favourites. My copy is dog-eared and has notes scribbled all through it where I have modified a recipe to suit our family, changed quantities, etc. This cookbook has gorgeous, professional photos to accompany many of the 350+ recipes that are well written and easy to follow.

There are not many special ingredients used; most can be found in your local supermarket or health food store. Another feature of this cookbook is that there are categories for single serve meals and family meals. At the end of the book there is a brief recap of meals THM style.

Categories are; One Pot meals, , Mains and Sides, Breakfast meals, Sweet Treats, Beverages, Crackers, chips, dips, condiments and extras.

Some of our favourite family meals are from this cookbook. I don’t use many ‘special ingredients’ so this cookbook is great if you just want to prepare and eat real food. However, you will need to know and understand the plan in order to use this book so best not to purchase this book alone. Use it in conjunction with the original book or the THM Plan book.

Trim Healthy Table

This is the 560 page book that has both the nuts and bolts version of the plan along with over 300 family friendly recipes. Not only does it have some beautiful recipes with stunning photos, but a feature of the recipes that I love are in the meal suggestions for the rest of the family;  i.e. There are notes at the end of the recipe that give suggestions for the meal when it weight loss mode along with suggestions for how to turn this meal into a Crossover for family. I love, love, love this feature!

There are special ingredients used but they always mention that one doesn’t need them and suggest everyday items to be bought from the grocery store to be used as substitutes.

This book contains 3 whole chapters devoted to teaching the THM Plan in a concise, practical way. This book although it has the basics of the plan, it doesn’t go into the why’s and wherefore’s (the science) of the plan. Just the basics, ma’am.

If you are new to THM, dislike reading copious amounts, or are limited with time then this is the best book for you.

Trim Healthy Starter Book

This is a full colour book of 208 pages which condenses the plan into its most basic levels so that anyone can begin the THM journey.  There are 50 of the most popular THM recipes included. Most of the ingredients can be purchased at your local supermarket.

Part 1 has 7 chapters where they go through the basics of the plan, offer helpful tips for weight loss but also for feeding the family.

Part 2 is where the recipes are. Then there is another section that they call the ‘cheat sheets’ which is the basics of how to build a meal and all the ingredients for each S, E and FP list.

This is a great condensation of the plan. It is a fairly quick read so might be a good option for those who dislike reading.

Trim Healthy Starter Book

In a nutshell…

If you’re an experienced THM, love to read, and love the informality of The Poddy, you’ll love the original, self-published, Trim Healthy Mama whopper!

If you’re well on your way and want to understand the depth of the science behind the plan, you’ll enjoy the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. And if you want recipes to go with it then the THM Cookbook is a go-to.

If you’re brand new to Trim Healthy Mama and want to understand and implement the plan and have yummy recipes that the whole family will enjoy then Trim Healthy Table is the best book to start with.

If you are new to the plan and want to get started quickly you may like the Trim Healthy Starter. However, I would imagine that very quickly you’d be ordering one of the cookbooks to make more yummy recipes. Shipping to countries outside of the USA may make this option not as feasible as Trim Healthy Table.

If you want to expand your recipe collection, both the Trim Healthy Table and the Trim Healthy Cookbook will not disappoint!

If you are in Australia, I have listed the best places to purchase below. You can purchase them from other places but these stores have been found to be the most reliable and some, like Book Depository and Fishpond, offer free shipping!

Trim Healthy Starter Book

THM Original

THM Plan Book

THM Cookbook

Trim Healthy Table

Trim Healthy Starter

Your Aussie THM Certified Coach

I can’t wait to get started in helping you with your own THM journey. I can assist you with meal reviewing, meal planning, grocery shopping, figuring out how to eat THM with a family, helping you to balance your blood sugar levels or any other way you might need a little extra help as you strive towards finding your trim and your healthy.

Pin It on Pinterest