What the heck do you eat?

Some of the questions I get asked a lot are:

“What do you eat?” or “What should I eat?” The answer is “It depends”. I know that if I write a blog on that though, you all would kill me – in fact, you’re probably already rolling your eyes… I know it can be tough to even find a place to start, SO here is a day of my life/food to give you some ideas*:

4:30am: Wake up and get ready to teach group class

5:15 – 7:15am: Teach group class at Tysons Playground. I bring a bottle of water with me and sip on it during class. I am usually not hungry when I first wake up and don’t like to eat until I am. This differs for everybody. Do what feels best and provides the best performance to you.
7:30am: Meal #1 (varies some). Recently, I’ve been doing omelets with 1-2 whole eggs + 1 egg white, turkey breast deli meat, and a slice of cheese. I’ll add berries, half a banana or nectarine, or a piece of toast. I usually have about 12 oz of water with breakfast. Sometimes I’ll change it up and eat leftovers from the night before. I’m not picky about needing ‘breakfast’ foods.

7:45 – 8:15am: Shower, pack food for day, and go to work
8:15 – 10:30am: Work while drinking two cups of coffee (with stevia) and about 25 oz water
10:30 – 10:45am: Eat a snack or small meal. Today, this was turkey pepperoni (17 slices!), low fat mozzarella string cheese, and sliced bell pepper dipped in ranch dressing

10:45am – 12:15pm: Work while drinking another 25 oz of water
12:15pm – 12:45pm: Lunch! Today I had chicken fajitas that I had prepped in bulk earlier this week. Grilled bell peppers, onions, eggplant, and chicken with lime juice and spices. I usually have a diet soda or flavored soda water with lunch.

12:45pm – 2:45pm: Work while drinking 25 oz water
2:45 – 3:00pm: Eat a snack or small meal. Today this was 3 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper and a serving of steamed edamame

3:00pm – 4:30pm: Work
4:30pm – 4:45pm: Eat a snack or small meal. Today it was cucumber salad (1/2 cucumber sliced and soaked overnight in pickle juice) coupled with 1 serving of Syntrax Nectar protein (fuzzy navel flavored-not pictured)

4:45pm – 5:15pm: Work
5:15pm – 6:30pm: Head home, change and pack for the gym, go to the gym
6:30pm – 8pm: Complete my workout or train clients then head home
8pm – 8:30pm: Dinner! By the time I get home from the gym I am usually starving. Tonight I had Korean bulgogi (beef) with peppers and onions cooked with some soy sauce and garlic. About 1x/week I’ll stop at chipotle and get a steak salad instead (with hot salsa, sometimes black beans, and cheese).

8:30-9:30pm: Unwind, watch a little tv or catch up on emails/FB, plan clients’ workouts
9:30pm-10:30pm: Eat my bedtime snack. This varies and is often a combination of random foods that makes up whatever macronutrients I still need to hit my daily goals. Tonight it was ½ cup of 4% cottage cheese with fresh ground pepper, 1 TB of crunchy almond butter, and ½ serving of Quaker ‘quakes’ mini rice cakes (chocolate flavored). Shower and hit the sack.

So there you have it: what I eat in a day.  All of my food is typically prepped in bulk 1-3x/week.  I keep a large bag/container of protein in the fridge to divvy out (or pre-divide into lunch containers depending on how busy I know my week will be). Of note, my nutrition has been MUCH lower carb than it is typically (so don’t allow that to trip you up).  I would usually eat the same things but add brown rice, a tortilla, or wheat bread to them.  This is a short term change for a side goal/bet against my coach.

*My nutrition changes based on my goals and circumstances. I continually assess and re-adjust based on the results I’m getting, the amount of training I’m doing, and how I feel, my overall energy level, etc.

SO: what do you eat? what did you think? what do you want to hear about next?