Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
As CEO, founder and senior partner of her busy Toronto-based law firm, Lisa DeMarco needs to be intentional with healthy eating. Especially as the 57-year-old wife and mother is also an avid marathon runner.
“I have to stay pretty healthy with my diet to keep my energy levels up and stay injury-free,” says DeMarco, who typically runs a few times a week with a group of women who have dubbed themselves the Silver Foxes.
To avoid inflammation, she typically eats food lower on the food chain (consuming more plant-based foods and less meat), and opts for a diet rich in fruits, nuts, seeds, brown rice, lentils and simple meats such as turkey kielbasa that she enjoys as snacks. All of this, she says, helps protect her body.
But keeping on track with her eating habits can be hard when she travels often for business. Her team, whose work focuses on climate change, clean energy and Indigenous rights, is usually pulling all-nighters to analyze documents overnight before negotiations the next day.
On her trip to Azerbaijan last November, she led her firm in negotiations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. While she was there, some of the food served at obligatory dinners were cooked in traditional methods including a lot of lamb and lamb fat.
“It’s really about maintaining a balance when you travel. You have to attend these dinners with clients, so you make sure to keep your lunch and breakfast healthy,” she says. DeMarco chooses rental homes instead of hotels so that she can grocery shop and prepare food for her meals. She purchases nuts including almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds that she can easily add to a quick salad for lunch; alkaline water to drink throughout the trip; and healthy snacks such as Smartfood popcorn or dark chocolate.
On a recent trip to Dubai, she and her team discovered Bolt Food, a delivery service they used to order groceries while there.
DeMarco also travels with her shaker bottle and protein powder, which she mixes with flax, chia and hemp seeds, along with some powdered greens as a quick breakfast while she’s travelling, and packs KIND bars and her Genestra travel-friendly probiotic.
How I save money on groceries: I cook a lot of soup at home, which I make with whatever vegetables are starting to go bad. I freeze them in Souper Cubes, which are similar to an ice tray, but can hold a serving of soup in each compartment.
How I splurge on groceries: Good cheeses are my guilty pleasure. I love this local place called Cheese Boutique, where I go in to make a purchase a couple times a month.
The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Shopping instead of eating out. When I travel, I go grocery shopping on the first day to make sure I get it out of the way.
How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: I’m more cognizant of trying to eat between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., as I train for my marathon this month. I’ve cut out processed meats, red meat and simple carbs.
Five items always in my cart:
- Dairy-free cheese – Boursin – $6.97: I eat this on top of my rice crackers. I also mix it with white-wine vinegar, oat milk or almond milk to make a quick creamy salad dressing.
- Gyokuro Yamashiro Tea – David’s Tea – $27.50: I very rarely drink coffee to avoid the crashes. I usually enjoy my green tea in the morning for my caffeine fix.
- Crackers – Mary’s Organic Crackers – $8.99: These are celiac-friendly (I have a gluten allergy). I typically eat them with my red beet hummus, fresh tomatoes and top that with lemon juice and basil.
- Powdered peanut butter – PB & Me Original – $9.99: I like this in a smoothie, it makes a difference because I can travel with it.
- Aduki beans – Eden Organic – $4.99: I make homemade hummus with these, white navy beans and beets. I like them because they are high in protein and fibre, low in fat and sodium, and they taste good.
