Lisa Bryan – Downshiftology
Another week has come and gone! This means I’ve cooked plenty more meals and have a new recipe developer to highlight: Lisa Bryan. She is the founder of a website named Downshiftology, where she shares her wholesome recipes and a lifestyle advocating self-care and taking life “down a notch” because life is all about BALANCE. She had to learn and work through this due to her former corporate career leaving her in a blaze of burnout. Later, she realized her work and lifestyle were affecting her health, so she opted for a “life do-over” and quit. After several months off, the dots finally connected, and she learned how to nourish her body – through food and lifestyle.
She began sharing her recipes and tips on living a more balanced lifestyle through her YouTube channel and recently has written a bestselling cookbook, Healthy Meal Prep. Today, she is passionate about “life restarts and helping others make positive food and lifestyle changes – at any age. With delicious, wholesome, gluten-free recipes along with inspiring travel and lifestyle posts (Bryan, 2023).” She shows people that simple is not boring and food restrictions are not life restrictions.
Barbacoa
I’ve indulged in plenty of wonderfully delicious (not so healthy) meals in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, I made an impulse purchase and bought Lisa’s new cook meal prep cookbook to attempt to start this week on a healthier note. I was surprised to see she had a variation of barbacoa in the book. This, for me, was the perfect example of her mantra that “food restrictions are not life restrictions.”
For those who have yet to try barbacoa, it is a Mexican staple. Its main ingredient is juicy, meltingly tender beef seasoned with flavorful chilies and spices. Lisa advised that this staple can be used to make a variety of dishes such as tacos, bowls, and so much more! Today, this meat has been in my slow cooker for 9 hours, just waiting to be enjoyed. Instead of a tortilla, I chose romaine lettuce as a healthy substitute.
Clean Eating
According to Healthline, “Clean eating simply involves choosing minimally processed, real foods that provide maximal nutritional benefits (Spritzler, 2019).” The idea is to eat fresh, natural, and unprocessed products as possible. However, as Lisa Bryan encourages, try focusing primarily on what is practical and doable. It may be less overwhelming to pick one small healthy change at a time. Here are some suggestions provided by Healthyline to try when choosing to eat more healthily:
- Eat more vegetables and fruits.
- Read labels to ensure that packaged produce, nuts, meats, and other foods contain ingredients you want to consume.
- Limit refined carbs, which are inflammatory, as they can lack fiber and other valuable nutrients, so choose minimally processed grains.
References
- Bryan, L. (2023, January 25). About Lisa. Downshiftology. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://downshiftology.com/about-lisa/
- Spritzler, F. (2019, April 8). 11 simple ways to eat whole today. Healthline. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-ways-to-eat-clean#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6