In a recent episode of Indie Business Podcast, I sat down with Tiffany McCauley, the incredibly devoted and diligent mind behind the popular Gracious Pantry website. Not only did Tiffany and I discuss some of her recipes, but Tiffany also shared a bit about her journey to better health through “clean eating.”
Not only has she lost 59 of the 114 pounds she's aiming to lose, but she is also off of her blood sugar medication and hopes to soon be able to ditch the high blood pressure pills too. This was a holiday show from last month, but the principles Tiffany and I discussed apply all year long. Sit back and enjoy super tips and ideas to help you improve your life by improving your diet.
To listen to my 30-minute interview with Tiffany, and to put her tips to work in your life right away, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don't feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Tiffany and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.
- Reinvention (2:00)? Before Tiffany and I got into the aspects of clean eating, she shared some of the emotional challenges she faces on her fitness journey, and how she changed her professional career more than once before settling on her current passion, which is also her business. This is a super segment if you need some encouragement and confirmation about the kind of dedication it takes to get a new business off the ground.
- Holiday celebrations shouldn't last forever (8:30). Tiffany reminds us that a holiday should never last a whole season. After all, it's Christmas day, not Christmas month. It's a birthday, not a “birthweek.”
When not enjoying the actual holiday celebration itself, you should choose healthier options. “Preparation is the biggest key to success where eating is concerned,” she says. Enjoy your treats, but make sure your meals include good tasting foods made with lower fat ingredients. (See below.)
Love this quote from Tiffany: “You have to know what you're going to eat ahead of time. Otherwise, you'll just eat what's there.” (So true!)
- Substitutions (11:47). Tiffany shared a few substitutions you can use for higher fat ingredients: substitute grapeseed oil or olive oil for other types of oil. Bake, instead of fry, as much of your food as you can — baking requires less fat to cook food. Replace some of the fat in some baked goods with pureed bananas. Use a combination of grapeseed oil and unsweetened apple sauce to sweeten baked goods. Use whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour.
Don't miss the part at 15:00 where Tiffany offers tips to convert your favorite calorie laden sweet potatoes into something healthy and delicious, how to liven up your oatmeal, some smoothie ideas (with spinach?), and also, what she thinks of sugar substitutes of all kinds. (Hint: the term “chemical surprise” involved.)
And in case you're wondering, the graphic above is Tiffany pictured with her brand new Clean Eating Four Bean Chili — get the recipe here.
About Tiffany McCauley
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tiffany McCauley is a soon-to-be published cookbook author (January 8, 2012), and is currently pursuing a master's degree as a registered dietitian. She publishes TheGraciousPantry.com and SkinnyCrockPot.com (which she co-authors with Gale Compton). Both blogs offer clean eating recipes, tips, weight loss support and encouragement. Follow Tiffany on Twitter here, and check out her website here.
How to Listen to the Show
This post contains my paraphrases of the information Tiffany shared. To hear it from the horse's mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:
- Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
- Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
- Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.
Question: What do you think of Tiffany tips and insights? Do you practice “clean eating?”