For some reason I really like seeing “What I Ate In A Day” posts on blogs. I find it really inspiring and get really good ideas for what I should make for my own meals. Sometimes I will find myself thinking “oh yeah, I used to make that all the time, I should make it again”. Sometimes I get into the routine of eating the same things over and over and then getting bored which isn’t always the best thing, because it is important to get a variety of nutrient dense foods into your diet so that you can get the most vitamins and minerals. One way to do that pretty easily is to eat seasonally. Right now since we are transitioning into fall, I have been incorporating a lot more fall produce into my meals like squash or pumpkin. But there are still a lot of good summer vegetables in season like tomatoes and peppers. Lunch might still look like a summer salad and then dinner might include warm veggies and squash. It’s been a little mish mashy lately and I am OK with that.

One thing to keep in mind when ever you check out “What I Ate In A Day” posts, or when you are scrolling through social media and see food posts, is that just because that person is posting that they ate that food doesn’t mean that food is right for you and your body. Social media can also be pretty deceiving because what you see someone post that they had for breakfast, they actually might not have even eaten that. Or, depending on who you follow, I have seen people post photos of these insane smoothies with all kinds of super foods, adaptogens, herbs, and nut butter drizzling down the sides. That is not very realistic for most people. First of all, that smoothie probably cost about $20 if you broke down all of the ingredients. Second of all, that is a high calorie smoothie. Personally, I cannot handle eating a lot of nuts and seeds and have to keep those to a limit and if I copied those Instagrammers smoothie recipes, I would have some major gastric upset. Be mindful of your own body and just use the internet for food inspo. Like I said above, use it as a reminder to make an old recipe that you haven’t made for a while or put your own spin on someone else’s recipe. Listen to your own body and stay in your own lane.

On this day, I had just gotten back from traveling and I ate lower carb to help get back on track. Everything that I ate that day was Whole 30 compliant and had very minimal ingredients, was grain free, high in protein, veggies, and greens. I have tried this numerous times after getting back from traveling and eating lower carb and super clean is what helped my body get back to normal again. When I do eat carbs, I typically like to eat them later in the day. I find that it helps me sleep better and fuels my workout the next morning. Starting my day with mostly protein and fat gives me steady energy to get through the work day, that way I am not constantly thinking about food all day long. But, remember, you-do-you. If you want carbs in the morning or at lunch, go for it!

Also, disclaimer, these are all iPhone photos, taken in poor lighting at my office and in my kitchen. That is real life. I eat most of my meals out of glass containers and not plated and styled beautifully like you see on the internet. Hopefully those of you who work full time jobs, have commutes and are always “go, go go” can see that it is possible to eat healthy and nutritious foods. Most of it, you just make a head and pack it in containers to take with you. Find some time to carve out to dedicate to packing healthy meals. Your health is worth it.

Here it is, What I Ate In A Day:

First thing in the morning, which was around 4:30am, is drink a glass of room temperature water. Sometimes I put lemon juice in my water, but not always. I always make sure to drink tons of water throughout the day, about a gallon. Then, I get my workout in from 5-6am (that includes drive time). When I get back home, I shower and get ready for work.

On my way to work I sipped on coffee with a scoop of Vital Proteins collagen.

Breakfast – for breakfast on this day I had some Pedersons farms breakfast sausage patties, half of an avocado with pink salt, some tomatoes from my in-laws garden and arugula drizzled with EVOO and lemon juice. I ate this at my desk at work between 8-9am.

Lunch – for lunch I had some leftover beef stir fry that I had made the night before. I used stir fry beef, some frozen stir fry veggies, added some extra bell peppers and broccolini. The sauce was made with coconut aminos (soy sauce alternative) and some garlic. I ate this at my desk at work around 12:30pm then went for a walk afterwards.

Dinner – for dinner, I made a quick chicken soup in my Instant Pot. The night before I had cooked some chicken breast in the Instant Pot and then used my Kitchen Aid mixer to shred it up. I threw in some celery, carrots, onion, garlic, seasonings, broth and the chicken in the Instant Pot and it was done in about 10 minutes. I topped it with fresh parsley and salt. This made a ton of soup that I could have for meals the rest of the week. Since I had to wait for the food to cook, I didn’t eat this until around 6:30pm.

Dessert – I don’t always have dessert after dinner but was feeling kind of hungry because I didn’t have anything in between meals.  I had some raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries topped with a few macadamia nuts and cashews. I ate this around 7-7:30pm. Around 8:30pm I made some Natural Calm magnesium to help me wind down and get ready for bed.