Way back when (before Instagram was even around), I kept a food dairy. My OCD self actually designed a food and workout tracker on Microsoft Word that I printed and filled in each day. To some, that would sound like a hassle, but I absolutely loved it… color coordinated pens, post it-notes, and all!
When I first jumped on Instagram with my fitness account, I loved sharing the meals I ate each day in the same way. It was the ultimate accountability with one new component: I could connect with other women who enjoyed the same! I remember asking others, “how did you cook your chicken?” and sharing my recipe creations as well.
I remember the feeling of finally finding friends (many of who I still remain in contact with) who enjoyed discussions of feeling half awake at the gym early in the AM, blow drying sweaty hair when there wasn’t time for a shower, eating healthy in a cafeteria, and all of that fun stuff that comes with a healthy, active lifestyle! That’s pretty much how the LG Community began, and I love that three years later, we’re still share the same types of things.
I am so confident in saying I know I was able to turn my initial, short-term “diet” into a healthy lifestyle because of the online fitness community. The girls made is so fun that the healthy eating and daily workouts just came naturally and quickly became habits. The results only fueled the motivation to continue. And then, I somehow had the privilege to write this to you lol.
This post is basically my meal diary made public. I don’t share my meals all that often because frankly, they’re pretty boring. I enjoy the same types of meals all of the time. I seriously think I’ve made an egg scramable every day for the past two years. You’ve probably noticed that on snapchat hehe.
There are a few takeaways I noticed when writing down my meals that help me and hopefully will help you too!
(1) Meals > Snacks
I refer to all my meals as meals instead of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I prefer eating several, small meals per day because I’ve found that it provides me with stable energy all day long and it keeps me from munching on things in between bigger meals. When I ate 3 meals and 2 “snacks,” I really just took out a box of crackers and mindlessly overate, calling it a snack. Now, I try to more consciously choose my foods by putting together meals.
(2) Protein
Protein is a staple in my meals and it’s probably the first thing I pick out in a meal. Protein doesn’t just mean meat. My husband was actually a vegan for quite some time and it was an amazing experience learning how many foods you wouldn’t think of being high in protein were, in fact, packed full of it! Protein is the macronutrient that most responsible for making us feel full and it plays a critical role in muscle synthesis (a goal always at the top of my list!)
(3) Combinations + Portions:
As you can see in the meals below, there are different types of foods that make up my meals (combinations). What you can’t exactly see are the portions, but that plays one of the biggest roles in my meals. This is a guidelines from the Eat Your Way Lean Meal Plan you can read more about there. It’s the foundation for my entire nutrition approach because it sets me up for physical results of a fit and lean body!
(4) Foods I Like
I make my meals with 2 thoughts in mind: which foods will help me reach my goals and which foods do I truly enjoy. It takes dedication to find foods that fit both of those conditions. For example, my goals are to maintain a fit, muscular body as well as nourish my cells. Therefore, I choose nutrient-dense foods and I opt for ones that my taste buds truly enjoy. I don’t force myself to eat something just because it’s healthy, but I also don’t fool myself into thinking it’s nourishing and beneficial for my body to eat junk (although, I do enjoy treats regularly!) Sometimes, it takes a little bit more time and effort to find foods items that I both enjoy and push me closer to my goals, but it’s so worth it to me!
My Meals:
This is exactly what I ate in one, full day with some pretty photos added in lol. These are older photos because let me tell you… I can spend a legitimate 30+ minutes styling a food photo.
Meal 1: For the past few months, I’ve had a really hard time eating a full breakfast. I recently became a morning workout person, but have always needed a meal before, which is totally a personal preference thing (side note- I don’t think one way as in working out fasted or with a meal in your belly is healthier; it totally depends on you). So typically, I have a protein smoothie, but the day I tracked my meals, it was an off day so I opted for one of my favorite Egg + Avo Toast with my secret seasoning!
Meal 2: The second meal I eat is typically more of a “lunch” and I almost always make a double serving of dinner so that the second serving becomes the next day’s lunch, which is what my M2 is today! TUNA PATTIES – omg, if you have yet to make these from the Eat Your Way Lean Meal Plan, do so! They don’t taste anything like tuna! I also had a salad with sliced almonds, cucumber, tomato, croutons and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing (if I have a salad, it needs croutons lol).
Meal 3: This is the meal that could be considered a “snack” but again, I try to call them all meals to remind myself to include combinations of all three macros (protein, fat, carbs) that will ensure a slower digestion and help me hit my protein goal. This meal is never really put together for me. Today, I had hard boiled eggs, a sliced bell pepper with hummus and “cookie dough” which is one of my favorite meal plan recipes!
Meal 4: The timing of M4 works perfectly as a “dinner” meal. I love spending a bit more time on this meal. Typically, Anthony and I will cook it together to make it more of a fun activity and like I said, we make extra servings so we can have a quick and easy, reheatable lunch the following day. Today, we made an old favorite: zucchini ravioli (here is the recipe!) The prep is a little time consuming, but it is the perfect meal to make with a friend or family member. You may have seen on Snapchat how much Anthony like to blast music in the house, so we jammed out while cooking!
Meal 5: And here it is… the egg scramble (minus the potatoes I normally throw in there). I just love this meal before bed! Breakfast food is my absolute favorite and I enjoy seeing how many vegetables I can throw into here.. it’s the perfect way to clean out the refrigerator.
All of that in my belly in one day = happy, healthy LG! Nutrition, for me, is the more challenging component of healthy living, so I will share as much as I can about what works for me! Next week, you can look for a post all about counting calories, macros and the approach I find to work best!
Learn what to eat, how much to it and even when to see physical results through food!
Join the Eat Your Way Lean LG Meal Plan!
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