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How To Stock Your Kitchen With Real Food Ingredients
Real Food Basics | Start Here

How To Stock Your Kitchen With Real Food Ingredients

When your pantry, refrigerator and freezer are all stocked with key staple ingredients, pulling together last-minute Farm-to-Table quality meals is easy! This list of real foods will help you…

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What is Real Food? A Simple Starter Guide
Real Food Basics | Start Here

What is Real Food? A Simple Starter Guide

Nourishing your body with real food sounds like a great idea, but where do you start? Understanding what real, traditional foods are (and what they are not) is key. …

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Where to Source Real Food
Real Food Basics | Start Here

Where to Source Real Food

A List of resources for quality food Let’s simplify finding quality sources of food. How do you really know the quality is meeting your expectations? I’ve done some research…

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20 Principles of a Clean Eating Approach to Diet
Real Food Basics | Start Here

20 Principles of a Clean Eating Approach to Diet

The daily challenge? A balance of clean eating and from scratch cooking alongside a realistic view of getting meals on the table quickly. You can feed your family healthy…

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10 Steps to Switch to a Real Food Lifestyle
Real Food Basics | Start Here

10 Steps to Switch to a Real Food Lifestyle

Let’s keep this simple and practical. This is YOUR journey. You can choose to go as real as you are able. Sometimes a real food way of eating can…

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The Ultimate List of Real Foods Categorized
Real Food Basics | Start Here

The Ultimate List of Real Foods Categorized

Eating real foods as the foundation for every meal gets easier over time. It will naturally become part of your lifestyle and require much less thought and planning in…

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thismealbydesign

▫️Clean whole foods + meal planning
▫️Balanced meals to boost metabolism
▫️Holistic Hormone support for 40+ women
▫️Ann Arbor, Michigan

Kristi Bowlby | Holistic Nutrition Coach
Here are 5 key components of Hormone Health to inc Here are 5 key components of Hormone Health to increase energy levels, stabilize mood, and improve sleep and weight loss: 
1. Consume anti-inflammatory fats: Healthy fats such as avocado, coconut, olives, fish, nuts, seeds, and healthy cooking oils help to stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels, provide the building blocks of hormones, and are necessary to absorb the nutrients in veggies. 
2. Daily stress reduction techniques: Incorporating daily habits to lower cortisol (our stress hormone) levels is essential for increased energy, quality sleep, stabilized mood and loss of belly and visceral fat. Anything that releases oxytocin will help to reduce cortisol. This includes reading inspiring stories, snuggling with your pet, chatting with a friend, intimacy with your partner, and genuine hugs. Add more joy to your life!
3. Prioritize sleep: Sleep is a restful time for your body to repair and rebuild. Liver detox and clearing of toxins, gut healing, fat metabolism, and brain rewiring all occur during sleep. For healthy mitochondrial function, 7-8 hours of sleep is key.
4. Functional movement and strength training: Building lean muscle mass will increase your metabolism. It's important to do the right type of exercise relative to your sex, age, stage of life, and menstrual cycle. High-intensity exercise, while cortisol levels are elevated, can spiral into increased hormonal imbalance. 
5. Modified intermittent fasting: This one requires a much longer, detailed explanation. Look for that coming soon. How your body tolerates fasting is dependent on many factors and therefore should be personalized to your unique situation. I recommend a daily 12-hour fast at a minimum.  Longer fasts can be helpful, however, caution should be taken when progesterone needs are elevated, if cortisol levels are spiked, or if you have been cutting calories too low and hitting weight loss resistance. 
#hormonebalance #hormonehealth #holisticnutritionist #intermittentfasting #foodismedicine #eatformetabolichealth #modifiedfasting #personalizednutrition #bioindividuality #menopauseweightloss #perimenopausesupport #eattobeatdisease #bloodsugarbalance #supportyourhormonesnaturally
Many factors play a role in stabilizing blood suga Many factors play a role in stabilizing blood sugar levels and preventing insulin resistance. 
Here are 3 ways to flatten the blood sugar curve with food. 
#timingofmeals  #hormonehealth #perimenopausesupport #bloodsugarbalance #insulinresistancediet #metabolichealth #holisticnutritionist #thismealbydesign #womenover40
Soaking up the flavors of June with fresh local st Soaking up the flavors of June with fresh local strawberries and sugar snap peas.
Our goal as a family and through my holistic nutrition and metabolic health programs at This Meal by Design is to eat at least 5 colors a day.
Off to a good start here with: 
🍓 Red strawberries
🟠 Orange bell peppers
🥒 Green cucumbers and sugar snap peas
What is your favorite early summer veggie??
#eattherainbow #eattosupportmetabolism #metabolichealth #wildsalmon #5colorsaday #eatlocal #eatseasonally #juneveggies #earlysummerveggies #eatsimple #simplecleanmeals #eatrealfood #summermeals #holisticnutritioncoach #eatformetabolichealth
Our modern diets and lifestyles have created an en Our modern diets and lifestyles have created an environment of chronic inflammation in our bodies. 
Chronic inflammation is the root cause of many chronic conditions including dementia, heart disease, a sluggish liver, joint pain/arthritis, cancer, and diabetes. 
Inflammation also contributes to the exacerbation of:
➡️ Hormone imbalance
➡️ Menopausal symptoms
➡️ Sleep disturbance
➡️ Fatigue
➡️ Mood swings
However, just because we likely all have some degree of inflammation it doesn’t mean we’re helpless.
There are things you can do to reduce inflammation by dealing with common root causes—and adding these herbs and spices to your diet.
Herbs and spices such as ginger, garlic, green tea, cinnamon, and turmeric all contribute to healthy inflammation levels and support the immune system as well as blood sugar levels. 
In fact, curcumin (in turmeric) has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to be beneficial in mitigating inflammation and oxidative stress in various chronic conditions.
Which of these do you use the most?
#thismealbydesign #antiinflammatorydiet #eattobeatdisease #turmeric #greentea #hormonebalancetips #holisticnutritioncoach #wholefooddiet #antiinflammatoryherbs #antiinflammatoryspices #foodismedicine #metabolichealthreboot #perimenopausehealth #restoreyourenergy #balancednutrition
This Cobb Salad can serve as a main dish perfect f This Cobb Salad can serve as a main dish perfect for a weekday dinner or entertaining!
This salad is a feast for the eyes and the taste buds!
Simple ingredients that together are magical!
Crispy Fresh Greens
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Avocado
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Mushrooms
Red Onions
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Hemp Seeds
Fresh Herbs (basil, mint, parsley, tarragon)
➡️ I offer Grilled Chicken and Fermented Veggies on the side.
#metabolichealth #eattobeatdisease #antiinflammatorydiet #healthyfatsburnfat #cleaneating #eattherainbow #mindfuleating #hempseeds #thismealbydesign #annarboreats #foodismedicine #eatformetabolichealth #cleaneatingideas #fermentedfoods #fiberforguthealth #fermentedfoodsforguthealth #hormonesupportingfoods #womenover40
Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market favorites. Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market favorites.
When restriction calories and exercise no longer s When restriction calories and exercise no longer seem to be working the way they used to...
It is time to look closer at the potential root causes of a slowing metabolism.
.➡️ Chronic dieting can wreak havoc on our hormones and ultimately give us the opposite affect when it comes to long-term sustainable weight loss
.➡️ Experiencing chronic stress can lead to high cortisol levels. High cortisol increases your appetite and causes cravings, it zaps your energy, causes insulin resistance, and leads to storage of fat, especially around the waistline.
.➡️ Insulin resistance is caused by uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Many factors contribute to insulin resistance including chronic stress, not eating balanced meals, accumulation of visceral fat, and lack of exercise. 
.➡️ Gut health is a key driver of a slow metabolism. We need a thriving gut microbiome for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients that build hormones and facilitate liver function.
.➡️ Sleep and Rest alongside working with our body's circadian rhythm has a strong effect on circulating levels of ghrelin and leptin (our hunger and satiety hormones). We tend to eat more when sleep deprived. 
#thismealbydesign #metabolichealthreboot #holisticnutritioncoach #hormonehealth #womenover40weightloss #guthealthdiet #foodismedicine #supportyourmetabolismnaturally #metabolismbooster #adrenalsupport #cortisolbalance #perimenopausehealth #menopauseweightloss
🥞My favorite “clean ingredient” pancake mix 🥞My favorite “clean ingredient” pancake mixes. 
Keep in mind, you still need to add quality protein and healthy fats to your breakfast for blood sugar stabilization. 
Never eats carbs alone! 
🥥Cook pancakes using lots of coconut oil for healthy fat. 
🍳Add a side of organic sausage or eggs for protein. 
#cleaneating #cleanpancakes #simplemills #metabolichealthreboot #prometabolicbreakfast ##purelyelizabeth #bloodsugarbalance #eatrealfood #foodismedicine #insulinresistancediet #antiinflammatorydiet #thismealbydesign #annarbor #annarboreats
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  • Start Here
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    • Nutrition + Health
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