I feel like I’ve revealed a lot of very personal information on PD (:D). But isn’t a food diary pretty right up there on the personal-and-up-close level? It’s like if someone visits and opens your fridge (!!). (Mom, please!) But I think it’s also fun to talk about what we actually eat on a day-to-day basis–*not* anything that requires so much effort (unless it’s a day I make my amazing wild rice risotto–recipe TBA).
Coffee (somewhere between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.)
When I wake up, I have about 8 oz of water–and colder the better, for me. I get ready, and head out to Pure Barre. Some days I teach early morning classes (6 a.m. and so on), and these days I have my coffee after I’m done. Other days I have coffee first, then teach. Coffee during summer is just large iced decaf coffee with soy milk and agave. (Unpictured). If I wake up hungry, I might have 1/2 a banana before teaching but usually my rule is to have no food until after I’m done–it makes me feel lighter on my feet.
Snack: Smoothie + fruit (around 1:30 p.m.)
On weekdays I go back to the cafe and work for a few hours on PD until coming home and making a quick smoothie with chia, banana, almond milk, and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Because it was Saturday, I treated myself to a green smoothie called Thrive at my favorite vegan fast food place Blossom on UWS. It has kale, almond butter, almond milk, banana.
I also stopped by the farmer’s market and picked up some peaches and a ginger gold apple–first of the season!! I had the apple walking home. So fun!
Lunch: BBQ Chickpea Kale Salad (2:20 p.m.)
Because it was a Saturday and I hadn’t eaten anything yet, I decided to make a big beautiful salad: Warm BBQ chickpeas, onions, and mushrooms, with tomato, fresh corn, avocado, on top of kale massaged with Dijon red wine vinaigrette. It was so delicious and filling! I had about two big bowls of this salad.
Usually my lunches are *not* salads, though. My weekday lunches tend to be a bit heartier since I get a good workout in and don’t have a true breakfast. This usually means quinoa, polenta, or pasta with lots of veggies, usually kale, broccoli, and/or green peas. I can usually fix these lunches in 15 minutes and it really doesn’t take away from my time at my desk.
Afternoon Snack: Peach (unpictured) (4 p.m.)
Usually, I have some sort of fruit snack in the afternoon. I don’t really keep track or limit my fruit intake–if it tastes good and I’m hungry, I have as much as I want. Sometimes that’s 3-4 cups of watermelon, or 2 ripe peaches, or a whole pint of blueberries.
Dinner: Turkish Mezze out at a restaurant (7:30 p.m.)
I cook most nights of the week but eat dinner at least once during the weekend. This time I was at a Turkish restaurant and we ordered a mezze plate with many vegan options (hummus, babaganoush, coriander spinach, rice dish) plus a cold eggplant tomato dish. This came with fluffy Turkish bread warm from the oven. So amazing! I had about 2 fluffy breads and lots of the side dishes.
Though when we go out I eat bread, etc, at home we tend to do a lot of gluten-free dinners, especially during summer. This wasn’t so intentional, but I love my spiralizer so I make a lot of zoodles and cucumber noodles for dinner. I love making completely whole plant-based dinners, and I eat as much as I like. You feel so energized and light eating at home like that. Here’s what I mean (another night):
Typical dinner at home looks like this: Warm chickpeas with shiitake, cold cucumber noodle salad
Dessert: Frozen blueberries (9-10 p.m.)
I always eat something sweet at the end of the night, usually a bowl of frozen blueberries. These are great because you can’t eat them as quickly–fresh blueberries don’t last a week! Once a week or so my boyfriend and I will split a dark chocolate bar. Yes, I eat whole 1/2 of a bar in one seating! I don’t think it’s so crazy. 🙂 Who *really* eats just one square of a chocolate? Not me!
Frozen blueberries
Also, I don’t really have a rule about when I finish eating at the end of the day. For some people that might work well, but personally if I stop eating too early in the day just based on what I think is appropriate time to stop, I might wake up in the middle of the night or too early. This is one of the signs of not getting enough calories, and usually becomes worse over time. I’ve found that I sleep the best if I just listen to my body, so if I’m still feeling a little hungry, I’ll have a half a glass of almond milk or a piece of fruit.
What do you think about my day of eating? Yum? Or too much? (Gah- don’t tell me!!)
More food diaries: What I Eat in a Day – A Vegan Nutritionist
3 Day Food Diary of a Fruitarian Vegan
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Photo: Peaceful Dumpling
