Here is where the magic happen on the inside of my DCW wellness membership!
My goal is for you to feel like my client in the TakeTEN 10-day wellness retreat, but all from the comfort of your home at your own pace.
Explore each tab at the top of your membership home page to find the tools & resources.
Please feel free reach out to me in the forum to "ask me a question" or email me directly at hello@drcherylwellness.com. Join me for the next live session to ask your question "live" and if you miss the live events, I will email members the recorded session for you to view at your convenience.
Welcome to wellness, Dr. Cheryl
An Easy Meal Planning 5-part blueprint To help you create meals That raise your daily diet & wellness score
and are tailored for your diet preferences, tastes, lifestyle & Wellness Goals
These MEals are made up of food Combos that naturally crush hunger, balance blood sugar, regain your energy,
Meet your daily energy, fiber, antioxidants, protein and essential fat goals,
and Boost Your Natural health defense to combat disease and add more healthy years to your life.
I created this meal planning tool as a blueprint to help you build better breakfasts, lunches dinners. It's can be tailored to your diet preferences, tastes, lifestyle & wellness goals.
The Diet & Wellness Score identifies the 10 life-changing foods and beverages for your daily dose of food as medicine to help you regain energy, combat disease, and add healthy years to your life.
The Dr Cheryl Plate goes hand in hand with my 20-point Diet & Wellness Score. I designed The Plate with my food combo so that each meal leaves you feeling full and satisfied, crushes hunger & curbs cravings, balances blood sugar after meals, sustains energy, meets your protein needs and essential fats.
You will see the foods and beverages limited on the Diet & Wellness Score will be in the Favorite Comfort Food 20% section of the plate -- foods added for your flavor and enjoyment rather than their health benefit.
The Plate is an 80:20 plate leaving you room to include foods you love, yet at least 80% of the plate is driving your wellness goals forward with a meal combo that gives you a "GLP-1 Ozempic-effect" to naturally shut down hunger and balance your blood sugar, and the bonus is it includes the 10-life-changing foods with the biggest impact and healing your body.
You choose your meals.
You don't have to choose a dietary tribe or a start a diet, you simply start making meals that work for you for that day or that meal with using the blueprint of The Plate that adds more of the foods that heal with 80%+ foods whole plant foods - and this we call the 80:20 or 90:10 Plate. This is a plate the works for your preferences, lifestyle tastes and goals. Try it and I promise you will see the results thousands of others have in just 10 days, and 10 weeks and 10 years.
Remember to make healthy eating a lifestyle and not another diet. I hope you love this plate blueprint to make healing meals your way.
Dr. Cheryl
P.S. The Dr. Cheryl "Full"Plate is your main meal planning 5-part blueprint. I have also created two other meal planning tools when you want a lighter meal, or when you crave a blended meal or a work-out snack. Check out "The Small Plate" and "The Smoothie Meal".
Choose 2 cups (or 1 cup blended)
category
examples
Fruits
Fresh OR Frozen
Watermelon, dates, melon, grapes, dark cherries, tropical fruits, pineapple, dried fruits, orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, apple, pear, peach, plum, mango, figs, red cherries, banana
Berries
Blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, persimmon, kiwi, grapes, currants
Vegetables
Beets, carrots, asparagus, zucchini, tomato, eggplant, pepper, green beans, artichoke, onions, chives, garlic
Greens
Spinach, swiss chard, dark leafy lettuce, herbs (cilantro, basil, thyme, parsley)
Cruciferous
vegetables
Arugula, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, radish, turnip, rutabaga, bok choy, mustard greens
Choose 1 cup whole grains, 1 cup starchy vegetables, 1 cup whole grain pasta or 2 slices whole grain bread
category
examples
Whole carb grains
& starchy vegetables
Corn, brown rice, pasta, whole grain bread, pumpkin, sweet potato, yam, new potato, russet potato
Soluble fiber
grains
Barley, oat groats, steel cut oats, rolled oats
Gluten free
grains
Quinoa, millet, amaranth seed, buckwheat, teff, wild rice, oats, corn
High protein
carb grains
Farro, quinoa, amaranth, millet, teff, whole wheat, bulgar wheat, buckwheat, wild rice
Choose 2+ servings of protein at each meal.
Choose 1 plant protein serving at every meal = 1/2 cup beans OR 1/4 cup nuts
Include a second protein serving and YOUR CHOICE =
1 serving plant protein OR,
1 serving milk, dairy products OR,
1 serving eggs OR,
1 serving fish OR,
1 serving chicken & poultry
See section to the right under nuts example.
Protein category
examples - Portion Sizes Per serving
Beans
1/2 cup beans, lentils, split peas, soybeans, edamame, tofu, 1 cup plant milk or yogurt (example: soy milk)
Nuts
1/4 cup nuts, 1/8 cup nut butter, 1 cup plant nut milk or yogurt (example: almond milk)
Choose a second protein serving from your choice of protein foods for that meal based on your preferences, lifestyle and wellness goals.
The 80:20 or 90:10 concept lets you create meals that are whole plant-forward with every meal built on one plant protein and you choose or second + protein based on your choices.
Second + protein serving options to choose from: (Some will need 3 protein per meal to stay full and meet their protein needs)Choose
1+ servings plant protein for a Whole Plant Protein Meal
1+ servings low-fat dairy products like 8 ounces of milk, yogurt or cottage cheese for a Lacto-Vegetarian Meal
1+ servings eggs for an Ovo-Vegetarian Meal
1+ servings fish (4 ounces per serving) for a Pesco Vegetarian Meal
1+ servings of chicken & poultry (3 - 4 ounces per serving) for an Omnivore Plant Forward Meal.
NOTE: I recommend limiting red meat and ultra-processed meats like bacon, sausage, pastrami, & deli meats and charred meats because they have been identified as carcinogenic foods by the World Health Organization. If you choose a red meat or ultra-processed meat for you meal, it will count as a favorite comfort food in Step 5 learn more about this. These are the foods on the limited list on the Wellness Score - they count as Favorite Comfort Food.
Choose 1/4 cup or 1/8 cup
category
examples
Healthy
fat fruits
1/4 cup avocado, olives, coconut
Seeds
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds
Nuts
1/4 cup nuts, 1/8 cup nut butter, 1 cup plant nut milk or yogurt
Essential omega-3
Plant fats
1/8 cup flax seeds, 1/8 cup chia seeds, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup edamame/soy/tofu
Favorite foods are your comfort foods that may be ultra-processed refined foods & beverages that made it on the limited list on The Wellness Score such as:
Sugary foods and beverages, desserts, pies, cakes, pastry
Refined grains like white rice or sour dough bread from refined flour
Saturated fats like butter, cream, ice cream, coffee creamers, sour cream, cream-based salad dressings and transfats or hydrogenated plant fats like margarine.
Red meats (beef, lamb pork)
Ultra-processed meats - like bacon, hot dogs, pastrami and deli meats and charred meats)
Alcoholic beverages add calories to your meal. Alcohol is metabolized more like a drug and has the calories closer to eating fat, and some alcoholic beverages contain higher amounts of refined sugars.
Foods you choose for flavor and enjoyment and not for their health benefits.
category
examples of Favorite Foods and foods on the limited list on THe Wellness Score.
Favorite
Comfort foods
Favorite foods are your comfort foods that are on the limited list on The Wellness Score such as:
Sugary foods and beverages like sugar sweetened beverages and desserts, cookies, cakes, pies and pastries.
Refined processed carbs / grains like white rice or sour dough bread made with refined grains that do not count in the whole carb grain section 2 on the plate.
Saturated animal fats like butter, cream, ice cream, and sour cream, cream based salad dressings, animal based gravy, transfats from plant fats like hydrogenated margarine or foods with hydrogenated fats we want to limit how often we consume these foods.
Also red meats (beef, lamb pork) and ultra-processed meats - (like bacon, hot dogs, pastrami, deli meats and charred meats) because these are foods hit the limited list on The Wellness Score because they are considered a carcinogenic food by the World Health Organization. If you choose to include them in your meal, they count as a favorite food or comfort food on the plate and make up your 20% on the plate.
Alcohol is on the Comfort food and beverage list because it adds calories and alcohol (ethanol) to your meal. Depending on your choice of alcoholic beverage, it may contain higher sugar content than others. And alcohol (ethanol) is metabolized like a drug in the body and it contains 7 calories per gram which is close to the energy of eating fat. I recommend if you don't drink don't start and if you choose to drink limit your weekly intake to 5 servings and a maximum of <1 serving daily. Alcohol is limited on the Wellness Score and contains calories and alcohol and that lands it on the comfort food portion of the plate.
The foundation of the whole food plant forward flexible 80:20 plate is made up of steps 1, 2, 3, & 4. Step 3 protein - you choose your second + protein. Step 5 you choose your favorite comfort foods. This is how you make the 20% of the plate based on your preferences, tastes, lifestyle and wellness goals.
Remember this is a lifestyle and not a diet. I want you to enjoy your meals and remove the guilt and not feel restricted. This is how we do just that with our plate. The goal is to create a meals with 80%+ whole unprocessed plant foods with the power to turn on your body's natural health defense and add more healthy years to your life. And the Plate meal planning tool is designed with a food combo to help you shut down hunger, balance blood sugar, get your protein and fiber goals and improve your health.
The goal is to stay full and get the energy needs met and eating more fruits and vegetables, high fiber, with two plus servings or 20 to 30 grams of protein on each plate and healthy plant fats is the goal for a full plate meal.