So...I'm On Substack Now
But I was a baby about it.
Do you know my friends Stephanie March and Tracy Morgan?
The three of us each share our names with more famous people, but that’s not why we’re friends.
Smarch (I’m Smeyer, to keep track of the several Stephanies in our friend group) is a long-time food writer and editor (now consultant) in the Twin Cities and is author of the marvelous Substack Pickle.
Trixie is a digital marketing expert and Facebook ads fairy and lives in New Orleans.
The three of us meet regularly to brainstorm marketing ideas and to hold each other accountable for our various projects and endeavors.
When we met a couple of weeks ago, Smarch heavily suggested I move my newsletter —this newsletter—over here to Substack.
I sighed and argued and balked because I already manage several software platforms in my business and the idea of yet another pushed me out of my comfort zone and into whiny baby territory.
She wisely asked, “Aren’t you trying to grow your business? Is your current newsletter platform supporting that?”
Yes to grow. No to current.
And so.
I just wanted to come clean with you that for all of my encouragement to embrace change, to try new things or you’ll never see progress, to seek discomfort because that’s where growth is…
…I absolutely, totally resisted all of that until I got called on it. 😬
If you know Smarch and Trix personally, you’re very lucky. It means you laugh a lot because seriously, these are two of the funniest humans on the planet. Like cry-laugh, make-a-scene-and-get-frowned-at-in-public howwwwling funny.
And so, I have laughed a lot over the last week, as I’ve been sheepishly cutting, pasting, and reformatting my newsletter over here to Substack. Hi!
If you know me at all, you know I’m going to turn this right around and ask, Where are you resisting change and being a bit of a damn fool about it?
I hear this one a lot:
“I thought if I knew which foods were healthy, and bought them often, that would be enough. I would magically without much effort incorporate those foods and everything would change.”
Look, aspirational nutrition afflicts us all. 🤣
Who hasn’t bought a beautiful load of fresh, healthy vegetables and ended up tossing more than half of them after a couple of weeks?
Ditto aspirational exercise (gym membership!), communication (we’ll talk about it, just not right now!), job changes (I’ll update my resume!), and budgeting (I’ll do the math in my head!).
In some ways, aspirational improvements are the curse of a curious mind—when you read a lot, and love to soak up new info, and truly enjoy thinking, it can feel like you already took action.
Right?
And that’s fine. Better curious than not. 100%.
Until…you have some big event approaching.
You know the ones, the see-everyone events that make you think about your health and wardrobe and foundation garments and shoes: reunions, weddings, hiking trips, beach vacation, cruises, Paris.
The events that make you want to feel like your most vibrant self.
That’s when sh*t gets real.
That’s when you need someone like Smarch to say:
“Look, do what you want, but none of the things you wish could change and grow into are going to happen if you don’t take uncomfortable action.”
She’s that person for me, so let me be that person for you. AND offer you a solution like she offered me. She pointed me to Substack and taught me how to use it.
I’m pointing you to coaching + recipes based on what is proven to work and what I would love to teach you.
Mindset + a path to follow step-by-step = real change.
I work 1:1 every day with clients to change their health, weight, cooking, and understanding of midlife nutrition shifts.
Luckily for you, and for me, both Substack and improving one’s health are fun and rewarding and challenging in a good way if you’ve got a good guide and teacher.
So thanks to Smarch, I’m here on Substack! Thank you for joining me here. If you haven’t read my newsletter before, let me point you toward a few keystone back issues.
For humor, I suggest The Great Fartgotiation.
Making Beauty Out of Grief is self-explanatory.
For understanding why some foods create over-eating and others squash it, Baby Hedonism, If You Will is foundational reading with concepts I’ll bet you don’t already know.
And The Body Always Knows is deeply personal but also incredibly important if you want to wrap your head around why your best efforts at health improvement tend to fade away…
I have big plans for this Substack. Podcast? Yep! If you follow me on Instagram you know that I share a steady stream of free tips, PDFs, videos, audio clips, and recipes all day long. I’m here to be your midlife badass nutrition bestie.
If you’re so inclined, I’d love for you to upgrade to a paid subscription to support my work and writing. I’m a solopreneur cranking out free content and teaching about cooking and nutrition for hours each day. I’m offering a low introductory price for now with member benefits coming your way! Your support is greatly appreciated and will not be wasted. Muah!
Cheers to the badass women who push us to be better, to grow, to laugh, to break barriers, to step way out of our comfort zones, to earn money, and to be strong instead of small.
I’m here for all of it and I hope you are too!
I had the pleasure of being a guest on Chef Ryan Hoffman’s Take Flyt podcast a couple of weeks ago.
Ryan is a private chef in the Twin Cities and our paths have almost crossed a few times, but not quite.
Until now.
Ryan is the take-action guy we all want to be - he conjures a great idea and thinks “I’d like to try that” and he just goes for it. He was tired of his corporate job and wanted to be a private chef in charge of his own creativity and hours and just…made it happen.
He wanted to try his hand at podcasting and talking about what makes other people go for it and “take flight” and boom, he has a podcast and interviews guests about exactly that.
I am deeply envious of his ability to get. it. done! Life is short! Be a Ryan!
If you need inspiration and real-life stories to motivate you to take your own big risks, then Ryan’s podcast is for you.
Catch our conversation here. And follow him here on Substack!
PS I love that picture of myself and it’s by the amazing Eliesa Johnson. If you’re in the Twin Cities and need a headshot, or wedding photos, or corporate photos, she is the literal best of the best.
OK I’ve been teasing this one out there for ages. Did Chef Ryan Hoffman have an impact on me by talking about just going for it?
Yes, yes he did.
I’ve been wanting to teach a super affordable class that gives an overview about everything I know about midlife nutrition, especially the things that bust tired old ways of thinking, that don’t work, but get ladies results.
So here it is: Eat Like a Midlife Badass, which I’m teaching live on Zoom, in 6 sessions (with replays), starting June 11. It’s half-off for now, price doubles after the class!
Share this one with your friends so you do not ever again have to describe to your ladies why:
Avoiding carbs doesn’t work.
Eating an egg for breakfast is not enough protein to change your appetite.
Relying on protein bars and protein powder doesn’t do much for afternoon cravings.
Yoga sculpt and circuit training classes are not creating much muscle.
Working out 7 days a week is not getting rid of your new belly.
All the things that used to work for you (cutting calories, more cardio) no longer do.
Intermittent fasting isn’t working if you’re starving all evening.
We will deep dive on Foods That Act Like Ozempic…Sort Of and how to incorporate them for maximum satiety every day.
We will debunk the crazy amount of perimenopause/menopause mythology out there and get right to what works.
We will talk through emotional eating, rebellion when you make the effort to eat healthier food, how to let go of recipes (even though I write recipes) and assemble quick meals, my Satiety Formula so you can get full for the right number of calories wherever you are (even a gas station, not kidding).
Are GLP-1 meds right for you? Either way, you want to know how to eat enough protein and nutrients. Win-win.
Think of this class as an overview and 1:1 coaching as personalized, tailored-to-your-life work. If you know that you need one-on-one guidance and accountability and you need to get it done now, I totally get that. That’s how I am too.
If you’re new to all of this, and you’re not in a rush, then the course is for you. If you want both, I’ll include the course for free for 1:1 coaching clients.
Either way, I can’t wait to create life-transforming change for you. Feeling stuck is the literal worst and having 5000 things to change is the second literal worst and just not necessary.
My brand is ease. I honestly pretend I’m French and just whip up insanely delicious, simple-to-assemble meals every day and love to teach my clients to do the same. None of this is hard, but it does require a formula.
Let’s find the simplest, most effective, easy-to-implement changes together.
See you on Zoom soon!
I always leave you with a recipe and this time, it’s going to be embarrassingly simple.
This is not even a recipe, LOL, I don’t even have a picture, but it is SO delicious, and it makes other fast meals taste fab, so it’s worth sharing.
One of my favorite fast get-it-done meals is roasted tofu (or roasted Caulipower Chicken) alongside a quick spicy slaw and perhaps some rice for carbs.
OK here we go:
Easiest Delicious Embarrassing Sauce
Serves 2
2 tablespoons cocktail sauce (you want that horseradish bite)
2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Splash of fish sauce (optional)
Splash of vinegar or squeeze of lime juice (not optional LOL)
Whisk together. It gives BBQ vibes, but with not much sugar and very few calories.
Here’s how I use it:
I slice firm tofu into 8 slices and lay it out on paper towels, then press it dry-ish with more paper towels while preheating the oven to 420°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and slice the tofu into cubes. Distribute the cubes evenly on baking sheet and drizzle lightly with oil (olive, avocado, canola, all work). Turn the cubes to coat evenly. Season with salt.
Roast tofu for 20 minutes until crisp in places. Drizzle with sauce and toss.
Serve with rice, slaw, or sautéed veggies.
I also use it with GF chicken strips/nuggets. I like Caulipower brand, also like Real Food brand. Add them to a salad and top with this sauce and perhaps a small drizzle of ranch dressing.
Good! Fast! Filling! You do NOT need to cook every single thing you eat from scratch. Creating a blend of healthy purchases + food you cook yourself + having a few non-cooked meals up your sleeve too is how you successfully eat nutrient-dense food often enough to see results. I offer my clients little tweaks and non-recipes and grace like this all day long.
OK Substack friends! Thank you for being here, for supporting my work, for being my lovely client, and for creating a community of badass midlife women who care about nutrition, health, debunking baloney, cheering on each others’ work, building muscle to be strong (and burn calories, a nice side effect), and assembling simple delicious meals. If you become a paid subscriber, I’m so grateful!
Talk soon,
xoxo Stephanie (aka Smeyer)