The Story

 

This is how The Complete Plate came to be. My name is Lauren. I am wife and a mom to a very captivating a bubbly little girl with the most precious blonde curls. I currently call Calgary home.

 

Physical fitness has always been a priority for me from the time I was young. In 1994 I entered into the world of competitive swimming. Within a few years I began to excel at the sport, setting club records, obtaining qualifying times, and attending high level training camps with Olympic coaches. I was swimming up to nine times a week and five to ten kilometers a day.  

 

In 2002 I transitioned in the sport I loved so much from an athlete to a coach. When I graduated from high school I realized that fitness was such an important and integral part of my life so I went to University to become a personal fitness trainer (PFT). In 2008, I graduated with my PFT and immediately started working with clients, teaching bootcamps, and running some dryland programs for the swim club.

 

In 2012, my husband and I found out the very exciting news that we were expecting our first baby! Around week 15 of my pregnancy I noticed that I was having really bad heart palpitations. After numerous tests I was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricle cardiomyopathy (ARVC). 

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The result of this diagnosis completely turned my life upside down. I am no longer allowed to exercise, my career as a personal trainer is over, I am not allowed to have anymore babies, and to add insult to injury I have given up all caffeine.

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As a result of not being allowed to exercise for the rest of my life, I now have to manage my weight by some means other than fitness. I don't have the luxury of relying on a 'quick fix' by starting a fad diet or detox. I need to develop long-term, sustainable healthy eating habits. I need to develop a lifestyle.

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The Concept 

 

The Complete Plate is a meal planning cookbook for three different caloric groups 1500, 2000 and 2500 calories. Each meal plan covers all of your daily recommended intake values just from food.* My diagnosis required me to give up a lot. I wasn't ready to also give up all the foods I really enjoyed. I wanted to show that you can still enjoy foods like chocolate and bacon within a healthy balanced diet. There is nothing wrong with giving up foods because we don't like them, or because after eating them we just don't feel that great. However, when we give up foods for the sole reason that they have been labeled as good or bad it can be damaging to our long-term relationship with food. 

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The Complete Plate has 30 perfectly balanced daily meal plans, which provides your breakfast, lunch, dinner and all your snacks for the day. This provides the user flexibility in how they use the book. Some people have said they follow the plan for 30 days, others say they use the book once or twice a week, and others have said they just enjoy using the recipes. If you need to use up chicken and spaghetti squash one week then you can choose to plan for meal plans 1 and 19, or if you are in the mood for Halibut and Chili you can include meal plans 22 and 8.

 

There are lots of sustainable ways to enjoy healthy eating habits when using The Complete Plate as your guide!  

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*Does not cover DRI for Vitamin D, you still require a vitamin D supplement 

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Terms

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Macronutrients - Dietary Fat, Carbohydrates & Proteins

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Micronutrients - Vitamins & Minerals

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Nutrient Dense - Foods that are rich in micronutrients but low in calories

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Energy Dense - Foods that poor in micronutrients but high in calories

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