WELCOME TO FOOD BY MARS
MY NAME IS ALISON MARRAS
I’m a New York City-based Nutritional Therapist, Coach, and Avid Health Food Cook. This blog started as a way to document my own health journey and has evolved into my platform to connect with and teach my readers to make healthy cooking delicious.
With all of the fad diets and conflicting information out there, it’s hard to know how to make food that nourishes our bodies, tastes good, and can be prepared and cooked in the midst of our busy schedules.
I first started this blog to experiment with recreating my favorite foods, given my own sensitivities and health issues. That was over 3 years ago. Since then, I returned to school for Nutrition and I’ve devoted much love and energy to this blog, where I share delicious food and tips. Here, you’ll find simple, nutrient-dense recipes so you can feel empowered in the kitchen. I have plenty of easy-to-follow recipes with substitutions for various health needs. I want to help you learn the essentials, and I’m here for nutritional therapy and health coaching if you need extra support on your journey.
What do I eat?
Seasonal, nutrient-dense, properly prepared food. Food that makes me feel good inside and out. The labels on my recipes range from Paleo, AIP, Whole 30 to Gluten-free, etc. as that is what I tend to cook mostly. However, through my healing journey with Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Disease, I go through stages of elimination and reintroductions as I’m able to make progress with digestion and my symptoms. I treat food as my medicine and take great joy in preparing that food.So, I will never strictly subscribe to a diet if my body is craving and can handle something outside of that. In general, I believe the diets I create recipes for promote healing and are helpful whether for a short period of time or otherwise.
Bio-individuality is a huge part of my practice and outlook on health and wellness. This is why I say getting in tune with our bodies is the most important thing we can do – you’ll care a whole lot less about rules of a diet if you know what your body needs and wants. I work with my clients to find what this means for them, as I’ve done and continuously do with myself. There are just too many factors to place everyone in a perfect diet box. And if there was a perfect diet, there wouldn’t be so many!
My Food Tips
Take out the Processessed Foods.
When you buy something that’s considered processed, READ ALL LABELS. Make sure it has VERY FEW ingredients, with all of them being recognizable as actual food to you. Keep the artificial ingredients, dyes, excessive gums, and SUGARS out of your pantry and out of your body. There are many amazing new brands that I frequently mention here or on Instagram that makes life convenient without jeopardizing your health.
NIX THE SUGAR. But when you do want sweets, get your sugar from WHOLE FRUITS, VEGETABLES, and “functional” sweeteners. I consider a “functional sweetener” to be a non-refined sugar like raw honey, maple syrup, monk fruit, dates, etc. – these sweeteners have some health benefits, unlike refined sugars which have none and ONLY take you out of balance. Baking with banana, applesauce, sweet potatoes, squash, dates, pumpkin, etc. is something I commonly do to reduce or eliminate added sugar. Once you greatly reduce your sugar intake, you won’t like as much anyway.
Every chance you eat is a chance to NOURISH your body. In modern times, food has become entertainment; but never forget that food is your nourishment. Your body requires nutrients from food that it cannot make on its own. If you are not giving your body what it needs, do not be surprised when it doesn’t work like you want it to. This is where “nutrient-dense” comes in. EAT THE RAINBOW by getting plenty of colorful vegetables and fruits in your diet. Choose organic, grass-fed meat and pasture-raised poultry and eggs. Wild-caught fish when possible. Use good, non-hydrogenated/refined oils like ghee, grass-fed butter, tallow/duck fat, extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, raw (preferably sprouted) nuts and seeds. And drink plenty of filtered water in between meals.
Practice BALANCE. If that means 80/20 or 90/10, figure out what works well for you in order to be successful while still having some fun.
Be present, still, and calm when eating. You are what you digest, not what you eat – so give your body that chance and SLOW DOWN. CHEW. DO NOT GUZZLE WATER AS YOU EAT. CHEW SOME MORE. Rest & Digest.
I hope you’ll read along, try some recipes and tips to apply to your own journey while having fun along the way!!
Thanks for visiting. XO.
P.S. For updates, subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Bloglovin’, and check me out on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
