Empowering Healthy Living
with Wick Nixon
Wick Nixon is an expert when it comes to delivering healthy food that doesn't cost the earth and doesn't take forever to prepare.
Author of two award-winning healthy kids’ lunchbox cookbooks, she's also worked with hundreds of women through live workshops and events, facilitated weekend wellness retreats and helped hundreds of women realise that prioritising their own health and wellbeing is essential through her online membership, the Wicked Healthy Tribe and her One-to-One and group coaching programs.
We spoke to Wick on Good Change Conversations about the ABC’s of healthy eating for busy families and how to create good habits that are easy to stick to.
Here’s our top five takeaways from our chat with the amazing Wick.
Get organised and plan ahead.
Think about your plans for the week ahead and pinpoint times when making healthy choices might be more difficult. For example, if you know you’ll be out late on a Wednesday evening – plan to make a meal that you can double and repurpose the following evening.
Try a veggie-packed spag bol that you can turn into nachos or quesadillas the next day. Wick recommends keeping burger patties pre-made and ready to roll in the freezer too. Using a ‘free flow’ method, make up your patties (Wick suggests Pork and Apple!) and freeze them on a baking tray. When they’re frozen, pop into freezer friendly bag and use whenever you need a quick, healthy meal for the family!
Organisation is the key to success for making healthy eating a habit in your home.
Think about your plate portions.
Aim for half a plate of veggies or salad, a quarter protein and a quarter carbohydrate – and think about healthy fats.
“Healthy fats and protein are your two main food groups”
Add avocado, nuts or a good drizzle of quality olive or hemp oil over your meal for that extra nutritious boost!
“Carbohydrate doesn't have to be a rice or pasta, this too can come from a leafy green vegetables and other sources.”
Set aside time.
For busy families, Wick’s top tip is to set aside a couple of hours on the weekend for food prep and baking.
If you’re a busy mum or find it hard to fit time in the kitchen into your schedule, think about ways you could multi-task while you’re cooking.For example, combine with listening to a podcast, with a TV on in the background or involve the kids in the process for some (probably messy…) quality time.
“If you are used to convenience foods, moving from packaged to home-based, it does take organisation and it takes preparation. So, yes, there is time involved, but once you get in the groove, you’ll feel so good from nourishing your family with home baking. ”
Set yourself up for success with these pantry staples
Make sure you’re topped up on these pantry staples so you’re never caught out by a lack of healthy ingredients to whip up a quick meal:
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Canned whole chopped tomatoes
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Tomato paste
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Lentils
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Beans
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Plain nacho chips
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Tacos
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Whole meal wraps
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Worcestershire Sauce
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A good selection of herbs and spices
Start the day off right.
Starting off your morning with a warm lemon and water is a great way to boost your immunity, kick-start your digestive system and wake up your system (rather than with coffee)
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cup or glass of warm water
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a small squeeze or slice of lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
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a slice of fresh ginger
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pinch cayenne pepper (if you’re game!)
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pinch of turmeric or slice of fresh turmeric
“The ginger soothes the stomach and has anti-inflammatory benefits to the gut. Lemon juice & cayenne pepper are both immune boosters, and the cayenne gets rid of toxins sending them screaming and the turmeric is also a great anti-inflammatory food.”
Our Favourite Recipes from Wicked Wellbeing
Good Change Conversations
Good Change conversations with Kristy Hunter and Stine Smith is a seasonal podcast dedicated to equipping you with practical advice to do small, but good changes.
In each episode we interview people making good changes, who are experts in their field. If you are looking to make small changes, Stine & Kristy will give you the inspiration and action plan to do this, today.
Listen to our full Good Change Conversation with Wick and explore more episodes
