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Shan Cooper describes herself as a Mum, bacon addict, coffee lover, food, health and wellness coach and Director at My Food Religion.
She has a passion for pure, unadulterated food, food that is good for the body and the soul, food that makes you feel good from the inside out. Her goal is to help people to get comfortable again in the kitchen through cooking classes, workshops and easy recipes and empower them to take back control of their own health, starting with food.
Here's Shan's day on a plate...
As a solo mum to a very busy 3 year old, being prepared when it comes to meals is paramount to make sure I can nourish myself and my little girl the best way possible.
For me, our food needs to be 3 things. Easy, nutrient dense and taste great but I find that the only way I can ensure that happens most of the time is to be organised plus, I’m not a short order cook so making bulk of our base meals is a huge time saver! If I’m making veggies for dinner it’s not much extra work to chop enough to have leftovers for some meals tomorrow. Generally, what I eat, Grace eats, so here’s an example of what a day on my plate looks like!
Breakfast
I’m a big believer that there’s no such thing as ‘breakfast food, lunch food or dinner food’ there’s just food and you can eat anything at any time so there’s absolutely mornings where my brekkie will be leftover salad and chicken! I have finally arrived at a place in my life that I feel like I can eat more intuitively rather than just eating because it’s “lunch time” etc. Some days I eat a huge brekkie and no lunch and a big dinner. Other days I don’t feel hungry in the morning so I will eat my first meal around 11am. I listen to my body and my hunger signals.
My day ALWAYS starts with coffee. I only have one a day but it’s a ritual that I have grown very attached to, I don’t need it, but I love it. I try to get up half an hour before the tiny human so that I can make and enjoy my coffee while the house is still.
Often I’ll sit out the back with our chooks and just enjoy the peace! I make my coffee at home on either coconut, almond or cashew milk and always add in a couple of tablespoons of Great Lakes Collagen powder.
Today’s brekkie was 2 eggs cooked in ghee, some leftover greens from last night’s dinner (broccoli, chard and beans), ½ an avocado and some homemade sauerkraut.
Lunch
Lunch consisted of more leftovers- a broccoli salad that I made in bulk a couple of days ago topped with a tin of wild caught sardines and some Kehoe’s fermented cashew cheese.
Dinner
Dinner was 'Bangin’ Chicken' that again, was made in bulk so I could pop some in the freezer for another time, with roasted sweet potatoes, and loaded slaw.
I tend to not really be a snacker as I generally eat quite big main meals and don’t feel hungry between. If I do snack it would be on some celery with peanut butter, some nuts or some fruit and if I need a sweet treat. I can’t go past some dark chocolate with peanut butter on top or medjool dates stuffed with peanut or almond butter!
I wake up around 5am most mornings so by 9pm I am ready to hit the sack! I try to do 10-15 minutes of meditation before bed and use apps like Smiling Mind and Headspace to help as I’m not the greatest at quietening my mind on my own!
I try and incorporate daily movement into my life and that varies depending on my energy, available time and other life stress. A couple of times a week that might be a tough session of boxing, a couple of times a week it’s a PrimalThenics session in my living room (with or without the toddler joining in). Some days we manage a walk to the park and a play. It’s flexible, it’s not set in stone but I do know that regular movement contributes to my wellness.
So that’s a little insight into a day on my plate and some of the activities around that.