I have done my best to help provide all the information you need to make the best decisions around your nutrition and health, but sometimes, when we are short on time and energy, we just need to be told exactly what to do.
So I am just going to give you the facts on what you should be eating. If you’re struggling to decide what your meals should be, I’m going to lay it all out so you can know exactly what to improve with your nutrition.
No matter who you are, 80-90% of the principles I work with will apply to you so I’ll be including all of those and more in this episode.
In this episode I share:
- The sort of people this episode is for
- The ways the application of the universal principles can vary from person to person
- What the ‘All the elements’ principle is
- The right kind of glucose to eat
- The importance of healthy fats
- The best ratio of elements for your meals
- Why snacking can have the biggest positive impact
- The mistake people make with the size of their dinner
- My step by step, through the day, guide on what to eat
- What you need to keep in mind if having a meat free lunch
- The thing to keep in mind if you’re eating sushi as a lunch or snack
- What you shouldn’t do with dinner
- Why you should have a snack in the afternoon
- What to include in your afternoon snacks
Key Quotes
“So while the principle is all the plants, the way in which we do that is going to differ from person to person.”
“The goal here is to make sure every meal and snack has some colour in it.”
“When it comes to dinner the main thing you’re wanting to look out for is the size and also the timing.”
Episode Resources
Jessica Spendlove Website – www.jessicaspendlove.com
Jessica Spendlove Keynotes – JessicaspendloveKeynotes – Jessica Spendlove
The High-Performance Profile Quiz https://jessicaspendlove.com/quiz/
Jess Spendlove Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jess_spendlove_dietitian/?hl=en
Jess Spendlove LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-spendlove-64173bb8/
About Your Host
Jessica Spendlove | Wellbeing Speaker & High Performance Strategist
Jess Spendlove is an international wellbeing and high performance speaker, coach, and advisor. With over 15 years of experience across corporate leadership, elite sport and the military she is known for helping ambitious leaders and teams optimise energy, build resilience, and sustain peak performance.
As one of Australia’s leading performance dietitians and a trusted voice in executive wellbeing, Jess delivers science-backed strategies that empower individuals, teams and organisations to thrive under pressure and achieve long-term success.
Episode Transcript
The following transcript has been automatically generated and not checked for accuracy
Jess (00:03.374)
Team.
Welcome to another episode of Stay At The Top. Today is going to be a hard -hitting, information -packed episode where I am going to just give you the facts on what you should be eating.
Jess (00:21.774)
This episode is perfect for anyone who’s struggling to decide what they should eat, what they should feed their family. This information is perfect for anyone who’s struggling to decide what they should be eating, whether that’s for themself, whether that’s for their family, whether that’s when they’re at work. I really wanna just simplify everything and give you, I really wanna just simplify everything for you today so you walk away with some.
so you walk away knowing exactly what you’re going to improve with your nutrition.
Jess (01:13.454)
Now, as part of this episode, I’m going to be taking you through the principles that universally apply to everyone. No matter who you are, 80 to 90 % of the principles that I have when it comes to nutrition apply to you. That is if you want to eat better, to feel better, to use nutrition as a tool to…
as a tool and a vehicle for optimal health, optimal wellbeing and optimal performance. If that is you, this episode is exactly what you need. So strap in, get the notebooks out, get your notes on your phones out, wherever you like to keep your notes on your favourite episodes, this one is going to be jam packed today.
Jess (02:03.342)
Team, today’s episode has been inspired by conversations that I’ve been having with my clients, with my coaching team. Today’s episode has been inspired from…
Jess (02:23.342)
Team, today’s episode is for those people that are just like, just tell me what I need to be doing. I totally understand. There are some days where you’re like, I wanna learn the principles, I wanna learn the strategies, I wanna up -skill. And there are other days where you’re like, simplify, just tell me exactly what I should be doing. Now, for those, now, for those familiar, now.
For those familiar with my process, you know that I am big on customizing and making sure something is tailored to the person. But I do need to let you know that, but in saying that, there are still principles that apply universally. The difference…
Now, while the diversity comes within the application, for example, when we’re talking about our gut health and we want to maximise our microbiome, we know that we need to eat 30 different plants. And…
Jess (03:27.822)
For example, when it comes to diversifying our nutritional intake and optimizing our microbiome, the goal and the principle is to eat all of the plants. What we’re aiming for is 30 different plant foods each week. Now, a plant is anything grown in the ground. It’s not just vegetables, it’s fruits.
fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, lentils, legumes, herbs and spices. So while the principle is all the plants, let’s hit our 30, the way in which we do that is going to differ from person to person. Now, you might hate bananas, but I love them. So that might be one of my plants, whereas you…
For example, one of my, for example, bananas, you might hate them, so I’m not forcing you to eat them, but then I have other clients, including myself, who quite enjoy them. So when we get into the detail, that is where it differs, but the principle of eating all the plants, hitting 30 different ones each week at a minimum, that is universal. So today’s episode is gonna be a mixture of principles, refresh on all of that.
clarity, to simplify, tell us what to do where, you know, we’re getting close to halfway through the year, we’re starting to get tired, we need a bit of a reset, we need a bit of a recalibration, and we need strategies that are gonna elevate our mood, our focus, and our overall wellbeing. So if that’s you, strap in today’s episode, you are going to love it.
Jess (04:58.734)
Now, the first place I want to start is all the elements. So as a quick refresh, all the elements is my first principle that I teach when it comes to nutrition. When it comes to all the elements, there are four. There are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and colours. It’s kind of my way of talking about micronutrients and macronutrients together, but I don’t want to just tell you what these elements are and what foods sit in each group.
What I wanna do is teach you what each of these elements does from a function point of view. Because when you understand that, you can start to understand when you have them, how you should feel, but it also starts to teach you when you miss something or you maybe don’t get the elements and the ratios exactly right, how you might feel. So as a refresher, protein is all about satisfying your appetite.
It is also about helping you recover. So when I talk about protein, I want you to think it helps sustain me and satisfy me. When it comes to all of these elements, we want each of them present at all meals and most snacks. We want them present at all meals and most snacks as well. Definitely the protein, the colors and the carbohydrates. And if you can get the healthy fats as well at the snacks, well then A plus to you. So protein, we’re talking animal -based or plant -based.
animal, anything from an animal, meat, chicken, fish, eggs. We’re also talking derivative of an animal. So dairy, milk, yogurt, and cheese. When it comes to plant -based options, soy -based milks, yogurts, soy -based products like tofu, tempeh, lentils, legumes, plant -based protein powders, really great sources of protein. So they satisfy and sustain you, which is why it’s so important that we wanna be getting our protein at each meal and snack.
in as even amounts or as I like to call it, we wanna pulse our protein across the day. We’ve then got our carbohydrates. We’ve then got our carbohydrates. These fuel our body and our brain. Yes, the more active we are, the more that we need, but it is also really important to understand that 20 % of our total energy requirements, our brain uses each and every single day. Glucose is the main food source of our brain.
Jess (07:21.902)
And in saying that, glucose is the main fuel source of our brain. Now glucose doesn’t mean we eat refined sugars. What we want to be eating is whole grain, high fiber carbohydrates because these also fuel our microbiome. So when it comes to carbohydrates, whole grain, we want whole grains, we want dark, we want grainy, we want skins on with our fruits and vegetables. That means we’re getting more fiber.
which means that the release of the carbohydrates is slow when it’s being broken down and all of these forms are broken down into glucose, which means we’re fueling our body and our brain. But what we also wanna be doing is choosing those really high fiber options because they are great for our microbiome. So that is why carbohydrates fuel our body, brain and microbiome.
When it comes to carbohydrates, we’re talking about basically everything. It’s pretty much, it’s easier for me to tell you what it isn’t rather than what it is. So what it isn’t is like a chicken breast or a piece of steak or lettuce or baby spinach. Otherwise, if we’re talking fruits, if we’re talking starchy vegetables, if we’re talking dairy, all of your grains, all of your lentils and legumes, they are carbohydrate -based foods. We’ve then got our colors. Basically here, if it’s colorful, if it’s a fruit or vegetable,
that is a color. The goal here is to make sure that every meal and snack has some color in it. I don’t care if we’re talking red, green, purple, yellow, orange, to be honest, the more colors the better. And the reason that is, is because the different colors reflect the different vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. With less than 10 % of Australian adults and less than 5 % of Australian children getting enough vegetables,
This is a huge opportunity to be better. But I don’t wanna just tell you to eat more vegetables, I wanna give you strategy and I wanna give you the why. This helps you have more vitality. This helps improve your immunity. This is also really important for your gut health. So remember, if a meal or snack is brown and white, it’s not complete. And the fourth element are our healthy fats.
Jess (09:34.318)
These have an anti -inflammatory properties. They help absorb our fat soluble vitamins like our AED and K and they make our food taste good. Fats as well as fiber and protein are very satisfying. They also help sustain the release of food which is really good for controlling our blood sugar levels. When it comes to healthy fats, we’re talking monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, things like avocado, nuts and seeds, extra virgin olive oil.
oily fish, that type of thing. So crash course, really quick refresh in all the elements. If you want to dive deeper on that, there’s a few episodes dedicated to performance nutrition in season one. Even episode one of Stay at the Top goes a lot deeper into all of that. So I would suggest having a listen, but for the purpose of today, we’ve reset, we’ve had a little bit of a refresh. Now, how do we apply that? As I touched on,
All the elements formula applies to all of our meals and if we can, all of our snacks. So when it comes to a meal, we wanna have protein to satisfy us, colors because it fills us up and it’s important for our immunity and our vitality, carbohydrates to fuel our body and our brain, and healthy fats to help us absorb those fat soluble vitamins, give us those anti -inflammatory properties and help our food taste good.
So step number one is to look at your main meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and have a look. Do you have all of the elements there? The next part to that is to then look at the ratios. So as a nice starting point, I do have three different plate models that I do reference, but for everyone listening to at least to simplify the concept, what we want is a third color, a third protein, and a third carbohydrates.
with a tablespoon of healthy fats. That’s what we wanna aim for. We will dive into some examples quickly. I’m just introducing the concepts first. Once we’ve got that, we can then start to adjust. A low plate, for example, is something where I would say a low plate can be used for someone with low energy requirements, someone who’s looking to drop weight, or someone that doesn’t have a big energy budget. So in that instance, we want half of the plate coming from the colors.
Jess (11:56.59)
a quarter from our carbohydrates, a quarter from our protein, and one to two teaspoons of healthy fats. And then for the people tuning in with high energy budgets, so if that’s someone training twice a day, training for marathons or Ironmans, it might be an athlete who’s eating the night before a game, then we might want to have a high plate. But the high plate really doesn’t get used all that often unless it’s someone with a really high energy requirement.
or it’s being strategically used to fuel like a multiple hour training session. So in that instance, we’re talking about reversing the colors and the carbohydrates. So half the plate would be carbs, a quarter colors and a quarter protein. We want to two teaspoons or so of healthy fats, potentially up to the tablespoon if we’ve got that, potentially up to the tablespoon.
Jess (12:51.918)
Now, when it comes to snacks, we wanna use the same combination. We definitely want protein to satisfy us. We definitely want colors because most people are not getting enough and we want carbohydrates to fuel our body and our brain. If we can get healthy fats in there as well, even better. The concept of that is what I call the everyday snack and that, and snacking is honestly one of the biggest areas most people can improve.
Snacking is a really overlooked area when it comes to optimizing nutrition. It really is the main meal. It really is an opportunity where people can add serious nutritional value to their day or really undermine it. So I really want you to start looking at a snack like a mini meal. It should have all of the elements that are there that are in a meal in a snack, particularly that afternoon snack, which tends to be the halfway point between.
lunch and dinner, which generally can be five, six or seven hours apart.
Now, a lot of people meet that with a bit of resistance. They’re like, oh my goodness, Jess, I’m trying to lose weight or that sounds like so much food. And I will challenge them and say, yes, strategically, purposefully, proactively, it is more, but by giving yourself more there, you will top your energy up. You will have more focus. You will feel refreshed across the back of the day, but you will also find that your dinner portion is a little bit smaller. And that’s a good thing.
Most people tend to have quite a big dinner. It tends to be the biggest meal of the day by far. Whereas what we would actually wanna be aiming for is lunch and dinner to be about the same size. Extrapolating that out, once you get that down pat, you actually want breakfast, lunch and dinner to be a similar size. Because when they’re similar size meals with similar ratios of elements, i .e. the same amount of protein, carbs, colors, healthy fats, at…
Jess (14:47.79)
really balances things like our blood sugar levels and our appetite across the day. I appreciate everyone listening is at a different time point, so I don’t want to necessarily, if I don’t want to necessarily, now I appreciate everyone listening is at a different point in their journey with their nutrition. So focus on what matters for you, whether that’s breakfast, whether that’s snacks, whether that’s spreading that intake out. But I think it’s really important you understand the concept.
You understand the elements, you understand that the meals and those plate ratios, and then you also understand the snacks. So they’re the principles, that’s the theory, that’s what we’re aiming for. That is what I teach all of my coaching clients. That is what I am going to be diving deep in my group coaching program, which I am offering for the very first time to a very limited number of people who are going to have the highest access and highest support and highest accountability from me.
Well, I teach them a new way of operating with their nutrition, their sleep, their movement, their recovery practices, so they feel like they’ve got this sustainable way of operating that serves them, their life and their goals, that doesn’t have them swinging from being an all or nothing human or doing fads or challenges or following another meal plan for their gym when they’ve got a thousand of those. It has them customizing.
a way of operating and a way of eating and a way of being to them, their life and their goals. And my friends listening, that is the secret on how I actually, that is the secret on how I help these behaviors stick with my clients. I teach them principles, I make sure it’s tailored to how they’re eating and what their life looks like with the principles that I have seen work time and time and time again. No matter if it’s a corporate, an athlete, a junior athlete, a professional,
professional speaker, whoever you are, there are universal principles that apply.
Jess (16:51.374)
So if that is of interest to yourself, the group coaching program is launching late in May. Jump into the show notes, add your name to the wait list to be one of the first to grab one of these limited spots, but the highest access and the absolute lowest price. That’s the other thing. It’s gonna be less than 50 % of what this program will cost when I launch it later this year. So if you’re listening, there really has never been a better opportunity or a time if this is speaking to you. Make sure you get your name on the list.
I’d love to welcome you into that program. Now, anyway, as I meant, now, in saying all of that, let’s get into it. I know what you’re thinking, Jess, you told me you’re gonna tell me exactly what to eat because I’m sitting here struggling to decide. So let’s get into it. I am gonna step you through the day, starting with breakfast, starting with breakfast.
making sure that it considers all of the elements. And I’m also going to call out some of the blind spots that a lot of people have. First things first, breakfast. Now,
Jess (18:03.726)
Now for those listening, first things first, breakfast. This is definitely one of the biggest opportunities for a lot of people. A lot of what I see and hear is people having a coffee and a banana or maybe avocado on toast, that type of thing, which nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it’s not optimized. So if you’re someone who…
is just having the coffee, maybe the banana, your breakfast or your first meal is pushback, or you’re just having the avocado on toast, I can guarantee, I would be willing.
I also bet you’re the types of people who maybe find that you’re craving sugar a little bit later in the afternoon or after dinner. Or maybe you find you get really snacky and hungry in the afternoon. That is a byproduct of not getting this first meal with all of the elements sorted. So if you’re someone who is more team sweet, maybe what you might like to do here is have a smoothie. Whether it’s like a protein powder with your choice of liquids, whether it’s coconut water or whether it’s…
plant milk or even dairy, and then you might wanna put some berries or some banana, and maybe you wanna put some peanut butter or some oats in there. If you do that, instead of just having a coffee and a banana, and look, maybe still have your coffee, or maybe add the shot of coffee to the smoothie, if it’s like a coffee and peanut butter flavor, that’s actually quite nice. But what you wanna do there is you wanna buffer that and make sure you’re getting those elements. If you’re my avocado on toast person,
and you have the opportunity to have some eggs with that. Three eggs will give you close to that 20 grams of protein, or you might wanna have some smoked salmon, or if that just is not speaking to you, maybe you just wanna have like a high protein yogurt, something like the Evia or the Yo Pro Perform, they give you 20 grams in a pot, or maybe you just have a protein shake or protein powder with some mixed berries blitzed up quickly on the side.
Jess (20:09.838)
There’s two options, really popular options, but a way of completing that. Otherwise, some other options might be toast with some, say, cottage cheese and tomato, or maybe you might want to do some sourdough with, say, some smoked salmon and some tomato or some cucumber on top. A way that you can just round out, get the protein, get the healthy fats, the colors and the carbohydrates. So there’s a few breakfast options to get you sorted.
When it comes to lunch, most people are getting most of the ratios right here. The only thing I wanna flag, and this is nothing against plant -based meals at all, I’m very pro people diversifying their intake. But if we are having a meat -free option, we just really need to be conscious about what our protein source is. We need to make sure that it’s got a good amount of lentils and legumes in there.
maybe we want to add some tofu or some tempeh. If we’re eating fish, maybe we could add some tuna or some salmon. But if you were just having a like rice with a salad or vegetables or a stir fry and it’s not got a source of protein coming from a plant -based option or an animal option, then we could be really low in the protein. And that is going to drive you to be really hungry in the afternoon. So,
Another example there might be if we’re just having some falafels, falafels on their own again might not get you to that 20 grams of protein. So we may need to be adding some extra protein into that dish with some extra lentils or legumes. Or as I said, if we’re eating plant -based, sorry, if we’re eating animal -based protein, maybe we just want to add some chicken or we want to add some salmon or some fish to the side of that.
I…
Jess (22:06.35)
So hopefully that’s given you enough. Sorry, the other thing I wanna call out with lunches is if we’re just having a wrap, whether we’re making it or buying it and whatever meats we’re putting on there, whether we’re putting chicken, whether we’re putting turkey, something like that, what you wanna be aiming for there is a minimum of 20 grams of protein. So in terms of a weight, we’re looking at around 60 to 80 grams.
up around that hundred grams is 30 grams of protein per 100 grams. So what I often see people doing if they’re making or if they’re just buying something from a cafe or quickly, there’s sometimes only a little bit of that, the protein in the wrap. So this again, if we’re not hitting that amount at breakfast and at snack, at breakfast and lunch, we can find that in the afternoon where we’re feeling really hungry.
and we’re potentially snacking or overeating or craving the sugar. So there’s some, I guess, blind spots to look out for at lunches that I commonly see. The third one is sushi. So I think sushi is a great option for a lot of people, but if we’re just getting rolls and it’s just really rice with either chicken or tuna or salmon, where are the colors? So we wanna make sure the colors are there to boost up that total volume of the meal to make sure we’re getting those antioxidants.
to increase our vegetable intake, which we know 95 % of people are not hitting. So what you might wanna do there is you might wanna add like a salad on the side or order some edamame beans, or you might wanna get some of the places that do sushi, you can kind of get like a sashimi salad. So maybe you wanna do that and add a sushi roll. So you’re getting less sushi rolls, but you’re boosting up and you’re getting that nice diverse mix of nutrients and elements in the ratios that.
Jess (24:00.398)
Dinner, similarly, most people are getting this right, but probably the blind spot to look out for at dinner is if we’ve under eaten across the day, are we overeating at dinner? If you’re someone whose dinner is like one and a half, two times the size of every other meal, that is a sign to me that you are not eating enough across the day. Now, I know this can also just be a habit, something that you’re used to doing, but what we wanna be mindful of, bye.
by having the majority of our nutrition at the end of the day, particularly if it’s close to sleep, that might actually not be supportive of, sorry, I scrapped that bit, Sam. The thing I wanna call out with having a really large dinner.
that.
Jess (24:47.63)
What would be the gold standard would be looking to spread out some of that intake at dinner and having that earlier on in the day. So whether that is earlier on in the day, whether that’s in the afternoon, as I mentioned at the start, if you do get this more even spread of meals and timing and composition, that is more supportive of stabilizing your blood sugar levels, which is really helpful when it comes to energy, appetite and focus.
So when it comes to dinner, the main thing you’re probably wanting to look out for is the size as well as the timing.
Jess (25:22.638)
If we’re wanting some dinner inspiration, yeah.
Jess (25:40.91)
And when it comes to snacks, like I said, the formula is the same. For some people, they might only need one snack. For others, you might need two. It really depends on what your day looks like and your energy budget. But what I find is that most people need a snack in the afternoon because the gap from lunch to dinner is quite big. So what you’re wanting to do there is use a similar formula. You want the protein, you want the colors, you want the carbohydrates.
and if you get the healthy fats, A plus. So some options there might be a soy or a high protein yogurt with some berries or some fruit of choice, maybe with some nuts or seeds. You could also do like a muesli or a high fiber cereal with maybe some natural peanut butter. Some other options might even be a sushi roll. Maybe you’re having a salmon or a tuna sushi with some cucumber and some brown rice. Maybe you’re just having one if you’ve got a high energy budget or you’re training a lot, maybe it’s two.
A smoothie or a protein smoothie might be a really great option. So that could be something with a protein powder as well as some frozen berries or banana, as well as maybe some nuts or seeds in there as well. I’m a big fan of a snack plate. So whether you’re in the office, that might be prepping and taking something. So it might look like your veggie sticks with hummus, but maybe you’re also adding a couple of boiled eggs or some cheese or some smoked salmon to that.
as well as a couple of whole grain crackers, just so you’re completing it. Because if you’re someone who’s just having carrot sticks and hummus, while that is ticking a couple of the boxes, if you are then also someone who’s finding that your dinner is a lot bigger than your other meals, or you are craving sugar, my recommendation there is bulk up your carrot and celery sticks with dip to a snack plate, and I can nearly guarantee that you’ll find that they…
reduce. So there’s some of my favorite meals and snacks as well as blind spots that you might want to look out for. As I said, I think it’s really important to drive home the fact that I really want as much as I wanted today’s episode to be super practical and give you tips and ideas that you can walk away and implement. I also want you to understand that it is about understanding the principles and it is about
Jess (28:04.75)
customizing something to your life. And when you do that, that’s when it does, it starts to feel easy, it starts to feel repeatable, it starts to feel consistent. And then what do you know, your energy levels and your mood and your focus starts to be more consistent and starts to be more at the level that you probably want to have it at.
So I hope there’s been a lot of examples there that might give you some inspiration or things that you can try, but rather than, but for those of you out there who feel like this is too far from what they’re currently doing or they’re wanting something more customized or they’re wanting to be kept accountable, they’re wanting something that accounts for their job and their life, whether they’re working at home, in the office, having a lot of domestic or international travel.
whether you’re someone who trains a lot, whether you’re someone who doesn’t train at all, all of these factors will determine how many snacks you have or what your overall composition looks like.
Jess (29:18.286)
So in saying all of that, I really encourage you to look for the path of least resistance. Ultimately, something is going to stick the more it is customized to you and your life. It needs to consider your goals. It needs to consider where you’re starting from. And if you’re wanting or needing someone who can just guide you, support you, keep you accountable, teach you proven methodologies and frameworks that they have used time and time again, well, I would absolutely love for you to put your name on the wait list for my very first group coaching program.
It will be launching later in May. And as it is the first time, it is what we call a beta launch, which means it is the highest access, highest touch, highest support from me. The group is being kept small and it is at an absolute bargain. It is going to be 50%. It is going to be less than 50 % of what the price will be when the program officially launches later in the year. So if you would like more information or to be kept in the loop, put your name.
on the wait list, which you can find in the show notes. Team, I hope you’ve gotten a lot of value out of today’s episode. As I said, I wanted it to be hard hitting, full of information, full of plenty examples, so you can walk away and just start putting things into practice. Sometimes it’s just about taking messy action and being able to tune into our body and know that if we’re doing something, it is supporting us or it’s not.
That’s what my intention has been with the first few episodes of season two. I really want you to start putting things into practice, tuning into energy, tuning into your performance, tuning into your appetite and making sure that it feels easy, repeatable, easy and repeatable for you. That’s it for this week’s episode. If you’ve loved the episode, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or on social media. If you haven’t given the podcast a rating and a review, please do so. It helps me reach more people.
It also helps me know how the episodes are landing for those people listening. On that note, I’ll be back again next week with another tactical and practical episode helping you not only reach the top, but sustainably stay there.