Thrive in 12 – Week 6 (April–June 2026) – Nutrition 102 - Meal Planning for Nourishment and Energy!!

Hello Thrive in 12 ladies 💛

Thank you for another wonderful session this week.

Nutrition can feel overwhelming because there is so much information available, much of it contradictory.

Our goal is never to make eating more complicated. It is to help you understand a few key principles that make healthy eating feel simpler, more sustainable, and easier to maintain for life.

Today I want to expand on a few concepts we didn't have time to fully unpack during our live session.

🍽️ Satiety: The Missing Piece Most Women Overlook

Many nutrition conversations focus on calories, carbohydrates, blood sugar, or glycemic index.

While those things can matter, one of the most powerful concepts for long-term success is satiety.

Satiety simply means:

How full a food keeps you and how long that fullness lasts.

Two foods can contain the exact same number of calories and create very different experiences in your body.

For example:

✅ Eggs
✅ Greek yogurt
✅ Potatoes
✅ Oatmeal
✅ Fatty Fish
✅ Meat

tend to keep people fuller much longer.

Whereas:

⚠️ Pastries
⚠️ Crackers
⚠️ Snack foods
⚠️ Granola bars
⚠️ Highly processed foods

Often leave people hungry and "crashing," again shortly afterward.

When meals keep you satisfied for several hours, healthy eating becomes dramatically easier.

This is one reason why we focus so heavily on whole food protein, fibre (veggies, wholesome carbs, fruit, and berries), quality fats, and minimally processed foods throughout this program.

Want to Explore the Satiety Index?

If you enjoy learning about nutrition research, here's a great review paper that discusses satiety, appetite regulation, and how different foods influence fullness:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20181811/

While we don't need to obsess over numbers or rankings, it can be fascinating to see why foods like potatoes, oatmeal, eggs, Greek yogurt, fish, and other minimally processed foods often help us stay satisfied longer than highly processed snack foods.

Remember: the goal is not perfection. The goal is building meals that keep you energized, nourished, and comfortably full between meals.

🧬 The Food Matrix: Why Whole Foods Matter

Another important concept is the food matrix.

This simply refers to how nutrients are packaged together in food.

Whole foods, for instance, will contain the following components (on top of their macros: protein, carbs, and fats):

• fibre
• water
• texture
• micro nutrients
• a natural structure binding everything perfectly together

All of these help regulate digestion, fullness, energy levels, and appetite.

For example:

🍎 Apple vs apple juice

🥔 Potato vs potato chips

🥣 Plain Greek yogurt vs sweetened dessert-style yogurt 

The food may appear similar, but the body's response is often very different.

Whenever possible, choose foods that look as close as possible to their original form.

🏷️ Simple Label Reading

One of the easiest ways to improve nutrition quality is to become a better label reader.

Ignore the marketing on the front of the package.

Turn it around.

Look first at the ingredient list.

Ask yourself:

• Can I recognize most of these ingredients?
• Is sugar showing up multiple times under different names?
• Are highly refined oils near the top of the list?
• Is there meaningful protein and fibre?

Remember:

"Low-fat" does not automatically mean healthy.

"Gluten-Grain-Soy-Dairy-Nut- ETC....free" does not automatically mean healthy.

"Sugar-free" does not automatically mean healthy.

The better question is:

Does this satiate me? Does my tummy feel good when I eat it? Will this nourish me for 2-3+ hours and help me move toward my goals?

🥩 Protein: Still One of Our Greatest Allies

Protein remains one of the most important nutrients in midlife.

It supports:

• muscle maintenance
• recovery
• satiety
• metabolic health
• healthy aging
• bone health
• body composition

While whole foods should always be the foundation, protein powders can be a very practical tool when life gets busy.

A protein shake is not a replacement for nutritious meals.

It is simply a convenient way to help you meet your needs when necessary.

🥤 Choosing a Protein Powder

Many women ask about protein powders that are not overly sweet.

One option I often recommend is LeanFit Whey Protein (available at Costco).

Why I like it:

✅ Quality Whey - based (our bodies absorb whey protein really well.)
✅ Good macro nutrient content ( 20+ g of protein/serving, almost nothing else.)
✅ Sweetened with stevia rather than aspartame or sucralose, so a little less "sweet." 
✅ Generally milder tasting than many commercial protein powders
✅ Convenient and affordable

If dairy does not work for you, other excellent options include:

• Egg white protein
• Beef protein isolate
• High-quality plant-based blends (Lean Fit also has one I recommend.)

When choosing any protein powder, look for:

✅ Transparent ingredients
✅ Minimal fillers
✅ No added sugars
✅ A complete amino acid profile

Remember: protein powders are tools, not requirements.

🥑 A Quick Word on Fats

Fats are essential for health.

However, quality and quantity matter.

Whenever possible, aim to get most of your fats from foods such as:

• fatty fish
• olive oil
• avocado
• nuts
• seeds
• Naturally occurring fats in whole foods are packed with micronutrients and are delicious!

These unsaturated fats are consistently associated with positive health outcomes.

Saturated fats such as:

• butter/cream
• Tallow, Lard, "Marble" on your stakes, and poultry skin
• coconut oil
• high-fat dairy like cheeses etc

can absolutely be included, but moderation is helpful, making sure that you get them mostly from whole foods!

No fear.

No obsession.

Just balance.

🥥 What About Coconut Oil?

Coconut oil is often marketed as a superfood.

The reality is more nuanced.

It is very high in saturated fat.

That does not make it harmful.

It simply means it should not be your primary fat source, nor is it a miracle pill.

If you enjoy it, use it occasionally and rotate your fat sources throughout the week.

🥣 Greek Yogurt: What Fat Percentage Is Best?

I generally recommend Greek yogurt between 0% and 3.25% fat.

Why?

Because if we are using yogurt primarily as a protein source, lower-fat versions typically provide more protein per calorie.

That said, dairy fat is not something to fear.

The bigger picture always matters more than whether your yogurt contains 0% or 2%.

💧 A Quick Note on Added Fats

One simple principle:

Try to get most of your fats with food rather than pouring large amounts onto food.

Examples:

✅ Salmon
✅ Greek yogurt
✅ Nuts
✅ Avocado

versus:

⚠️ Multiple tablespoons of oils
⚠️ Large amounts of butter or nut spreads
⚠️ Heavy dressings added to already calorie-dense meals

Moderate amounts are absolutely fine.

Awareness is what matters.

But again, do what works for you! Some people, in certain circumstances, can thrive on very high-fat diets, eating sticks of butter as snacks:)

If that's you, great.

Always check in with your body, your mood, energy, performance, lab work, and a trustworthy, evidence-based clinician and health coach for quality support and guidance!

🌟 Final Thoughts

Nutrition does not have to be perfect to be effective.

The women who succeed long-term are usually not the women who follow the most restrictive plan.

They are the women who learn how to:

• build satisfying meals
• prioritize protein
• include fibre regularly
• choose mostly whole foods
• understand labels
• enjoy food without fear
• stay consistent

Progress is built through small, repeatable decisions.

Keep focusing on the fundamentals.

They work.

I hope this helps deepen your understanding of everything we've been discussing together.

As always, if questions come up, please post them below.

We're building this together, one meal, one habit, and one choice at a time 💛

Coach Sasha