Q

Can you tell us about your fab four philosophy? What makes up a complete meal, and how do you build one for vegans or vegetarians?

A

The fab four is: protein, fat, fiber, and greens. It’s a light structure. It’s not about what you can’t have. It’s not about what you should avoid. It’s not about a do-not-eat list. It’s like, how do I elevate this meal by making sure I’m eating the fab four because those four components regulate hormones in my body.

The beauty of the fab four is that people start thinking: What’s really in the food that I’m eating? How much protein is there? How much fat is there? How much fiber is there? How do I feel when I eat beans? How do I feel when I eat grains? It’s really just self-reflection. So much of how you feel in life comes back to how healthy your gut microbiome is.

Breakfast

Most of the vegans and vegetarians I work with still enjoy my fab four smoothies for breakfast. I put them on a limited-ingredient pea protein, and that will be their protein powder. And then we’ll pick a whole-food fat like avocado, almond butter, olive oil, coconut oil. I have clients who use MCT oil. It’s really picking the fat that you want to put in your shake. And then a fiber source—so chia or flax, or acacia fiber if you don’t want to do seeds. And then leafy greens, like a big handful of spinach. You could add a little bit of berries to that, or you could add a squeeze of lemon to flavor it. Whenever we add fruit, I limit it to a fourth of a cup. I just want the flavor and a little bit of antioxidants without a huge blood sugar spike and crash. So it’s just a formula to help people create a blood-sugar-balancing smoothie or meal-replacement shake.

If they didn’t want a smoothie for breakfast, we might do a lentil, kale, and sweet potato hash. Or a warm chia seed and flaxseed pudding. I call it my faux meal, and it’s pretty popular. If you were to make chia seed pudding overnight, you’d have to wait for it to become gelatinous. But if you warm it on the stove like oatmeal or cream of wheat, it becomes this warm, oatmeal-y type meal. I really make sure that people are getting the protein and fiber that they need to feel full in the morning. And then from there, we move into lunch.

Lunch

I love salad for lunch. I think it’s the perfect time to have a raw meal. So a lot of leafy greens, nonstarchy vegetables—maybe that’s cucumbers, carrots, radicchio, and cabbage. We might use a vinaigrette or a dressing and add watermelon seeds or pepitas and half of an avocado. If they don’t want to do seeds, we might add a fourth to a half cup of garbanzo or black beans for extra fiber and protein.

Dinner

I like dinner to be warm—people enjoy a warm dinner. I’m not anti-grain. Depending on the client and their weight-loss goals, or whether they have an autoimmune disease or are coming to me with any type of health issue, I may or may not pull grains. We might do a warm bowl of coconut cauliflower rice, sautéed kale, and crispy harissa or curry chickpeas with veggies. Or maybe that sheet pan dinner with a bunch of your favorite roasted vegetables and a whole-food fat dressing.

Snack

Most of my plant-based clients need a snack between lunch and dinner. If they’re a smoothie person, sometimes they’ll double their smoothie in the morning and take half of it in a Hydro Flask, which keeps it cold for eight hours. And then they’ll have that as a snack between lunch and dinner. Sometimes they’ll make a chia seed pudding or an avocado chocolate mousse or bring a handful of nuts or do an avocado with veggies. If they’re not vegan, just vegetarian, we might take advantage of having some hard-boiled eggs in the afternoon.