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What happens when a life-altering event forces you to re-evaluate everything you thought you knew about nutrition and safe cooking practices? Shelley Loving faced this exact challenge when her husband suffered a heart attack at just 41 years old.
Before this, Shelley’s relationship with food mirrored that of your average American in many ways. They weren’t just eating junk all the time, but they also weren’t putting much thought into nutrition at all. But once it became clear that nutrition might actually be a matter of life and death for her family, she did a deep dive into all things nutrition.
What she found in her original search was a lot of conflicting, frustrating information. But she didn’t give up! She took this so seriously and played such a pivotal role in her husband’s recovery that his doctors were asking how he did it. Turns out, he had completely reversed the damage done from sleep apnea, stress, and poor diet.
Now, Shelley has made it her mission to simplify nutrition and make healthy and safe cooking practices accessible and straightforward. We’re talking about everything from how to meal prep without causing a huge headache to what kind of oil you should be using from one dish to the next.
Join us as we uncover how Shelley transformed from a conventional home cook into a culinary nutrition expert, armed with the knowledge to fight chronic inflammation and advocate for healthier living.
In this episode, we’re chatting about:
- Do Americans actually have a gluten problem or a glyphosate problem?
- How to address chronic inflammation through nutrition
- Practical tips for busy moms looking to meal prep
Are Gluten Problems Real?
Is gluten bad? Shelley tells people that it’s not about having a gluten allergy, although a lot of people do now. It’s not so much that Americans have a gluten allergy; it’s that we have a glyphosate allergy.
Wheat has been sprayed with glyphosate since the 1960s. There was this surge in wheat products and the demand was too high and they couldn’t keep up. They started spraying the wheat with glyphosate so they could have more products on the shelves. That’s been the new norm in the United States. That’s why people don’t have issues when they go overseas and have bread in Italy. Their wheat is completely different.
Gluten is wheat, barley, and rye – that’s it. No oats, rice, or quinoa. When you eat glutinous products every day (pasta, bread, cereals, etc.), your body just gets inflamed because it’s just trying to fight off the poison that’s on the wheat.
This is one of the safe cooking practices Shelley began – eliminating gluten from her diet.
How to Get Started with Meal Prepping
At some point, someone in the household has to cook a meal. We can’t survive without it. Why are we not putting time and energy into what we’re putting into our bodies?
Our priorities are so skewed today because we’re so “busy” but if people really assess their time management, how much time are they on social media? How much time are they on Netflix? How much time are they talking with their friends?
Safe cooking practices and meal prepping are a mindset shift. Shelley taught a masterclass earlier this year about habits and they started with the subject of where is your brain when it goes to make a meal. Do you tell yourself you don’t want to do this? Do you say you’re not good at it? Do you think you’re too tired? You’re telling yourself and your body how to think about your approach to the kitchen.
Shelley wants to help people flip the script. Now, you say to yourself, “I get to make this meal. My kids are going to think it tastes delicious. I’m going to make a healthy meal for us.”
Plan Your Meals
I get that we’re busy. I asked Shelley to share some tips to save time making meals for your family. She has a whole course on meal planning and prepping. There are two phases to that.
You have to plan. Take 10 minutes a week, get out your calendar, and decide. You don’t have to decide the exact day to make a specific meal (unless that works for you), but if you can at least decide the few meals you’re going to cook that week, that’s perfect.
Then, plan your grocery list around your calendar. It saves so much time and you don’t waste money on products because you don’t go to the grocery store, buy a bunch of food, come home, and then it all goes bad. It just takes a little bit of effort in the planning phase.
Prepping Meals
Then comes the prepping phase. You don’t have to prep three meals a day, seven days a week. Prepping is what works for you. What meal can you make ahead of time that you can grab in the fridge? Maybe that’s breakfast or lunches. You could make salad jars or a big pot of soup. Maybe you make overnight oats for breakfast or some egg muffins so you can eat them all week.
It doesn’t have to be all the meals. Maybe you make some dips or sauces ahead of time so your kids have a snack when they get home from school. It’s just the little tiny things. If you can just prep an hour a week on whatever day works for you and your schedule, it can save you multiple hours.
Try meal planning and prepping! You’ll actually end up spending less time cooking by meal prepping. Plus, you’ll make healthier, toxin-free meals for your entire family.
Connect with Shelley:
If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please:
- Leave a positive review or rating wherever you listen
- Shop toxin-free products on my Toxin Free Shopping Guide
- Download your free 25 Toxins to Avoid
- Post a screenshot, share what you loved, and tag me on Instagram @wendy_toxinfreeish
- Want to ask me a question to get answered on the podcast? Leave me a voice message here.
Related Episodes:
Episode 33: A Deep Dive into Macro Nutrition with Claire Cook
Episode 57: 5 Reasons I Don’t Recommend Relying on Ingredient Apps (Yuka, Think Dirty, EWG)
Episode 74: What is The Best Non-Toxic Cookware? Avoid PFAs When Cooking
Episode 82: Banned Pesticides in the US: Everything You Need to Know About the Emergency Ban on DCPA
Episode 85: The Label Reading Method You Can Use to Making Toxin-Free Shopping Simple
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