What a day of meals and nutrition looks like for me currently

I wanted to create a blog entry to share with my readers what a “day in the life of my meals” looks like. I get a lot of emails asking what you should eat during weight or strength training and how many calories, etc. First I have to say that the below is based on my personal needs and is not a clear cut version that works for everyone. It is important for you to calculate for yourself how many calories you expend per day, your calorie goal per day, and your macros (macro nutrients – fats, protein, carbs) you need per day to meet your goals.

I think one of the most common downfalls to so many female’s (and male’s) diets is you just look at “How many calories should I have per day?” instead of worrying about what those calories are made of. It’s important to also make sure to meet your macros per day and this also allows for a bit more flexible dieting. There are two very different views on IIFYM or Flexible Dieting – I won’t go into that in this post. I will say this though, having been a very restrictive dieter for years I refuse to just eat to meet calories per day. I make those calories count and I make sure to eat good for me foods that meet my macros.

 I love to use this scale to monitor my weight, body fat percentage and weight in water. Click here to learn more about the Escali Digital Scale

The first number I needed to know is how many calories can I consume per day to maintain my weight. That number is 1,711 CALORIES/DAY. This is also based on how many days a week I work out and my activity level. If I want to “bulk” or put on some more muscle I would bump this up to 1,882 CALORIES/DAY. Right now I put myself at 1,800 per day. (if you want to use the calculators that I used to come up with my numbers go to www.IIFYM.com and click on the calculators tab)

For my MACROS:

Grams per day: Protein 165 Grams // Carbs 206.5 grams // Fats 44 grams // Fiber 22-28 Grams

1,800-1,882 calories per day

WATER WATER WATER (#ABD always be drinking!)

I love to infuse my water with fruit to get some great flavor. I do this by adding fruit and ice into pitchers like the below (which I got at the Dollar General for $4!) and fill with enough water to just cover the fruit. Let them sit in the fridge or outside in the cold for 24 hours to let the fruit really infuse the water. Then add some more water and drink all day long. I have to do this or a version of this or I can’t get in the much needed water I need daily. So many women believer drinking water makes you bloated, but it’s the opposite. Keep chugging all day to reduce held on water weight. I use a 28 ounce shaker bottle and keep refilling it all day long at work and at home. (click here) I also leave one next to my bed over night so I wake up and drink some overnight too. I try to drink up to a gallon of water a day, but honestly it doesn’t happen often. I usually go through 4-5 of these per day and then also I have coffee in the morning.

Breakfast, Mid Morning, Lunch & Mid Afternoon Foods

The first part of my day always starts with taking my vitamins & supplements. These vary but not by much every few months. I stick to some staple items in my routine and then add in things here or there to test out but mainly it’s always my core vitamins. This does not include the sports nutrition supplements I take like protein powders, BCAA’s and electrolyte powders.

Multivitamin – Alive Gummies (click here)

Omega 3 Fish Oil 600 DHA / 240 EPA – (click here)

Adora Calcium Chew – (click here)

Chewable Probiotic (digestion) – (click here)

Viviscal Hair Supplement – (click here)

Resveratrol (antioxidant/anti aging) – (click here)

Silica (hair, skin & nails) – (click here)

Zinc Chewable Tablet (for skin) – (click here)

I take these in the morning after I have had a breakfast, I don’t recommend taking vitamins on an empty stomach and they seem to be easier on the stomach when you take them with food. I do this every morning and am religious about taking my daily dose of vitamins. During the cold/flu season I also add in a bit more Vitamin C, though I do get my daily amount need in my multivitamin. 

 

Lately I have been on a bran flakes kick, it’s my go-to cereal when I feel like I just want something different in the morning. I like bran flakes because they are low in calories (80-120 per cup depending on the brand, I usually get mine from Trader Joe’s). I also like to cut up 1/2 of a banana and put it in the bowl with almond milk (unsweetened) or Skim Plus milk if I am out of almond milk. This gives me a good amount of fiber and almost no fat. It keeps me full until at least 10/1030am. With a cup of coffee this is about 225 calories for my breakfast. I also like to eat more of my carbs in the beginning part of the day so I don’t mind that it’s a “carb” food either. It gives me the energy I need to get through my morning.

Next up is my mid morning protein shake. I make this in the morning and pack it with me to work for drinking sometimes between 10-1030am at my desk or in a meeting. I always use my Nutribullet to make my protein shakes and love it. It turns them into a milkshake when you add 1 handful of ice. It is the best investment/gift I ever received. I use it every single day and it’s great for shake making. I use 1/2 banana (the other 1/2 I used above in my cereal so no banana is wasted) – this also makes the shake a bit thicker. I use a handful of ice, 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 cup of water and 1 scoop of BodyTech Whey Tech Pro 24 in the flavor Chocolate Mint. I love this flavor because it tastes like a Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint! I mix this up and then drink it mid morning for some protein that is low calorie as well. This shake is 215 calories and have over 25 grams of protein in this small mug!

Nutribullet – click here

Chocolate Mint Protein Powder – click here

For lunch time – always a high protein meal

For lunches I usually meal prep these on the weekend so that I have lunches ready to go to bring to work and heat up in the microwave. Sometimes I also have left overs from my dinner the night before and can bring that in instead. For lunch it always revolves around a lean protein source like chicken or turkey. I prefer white meat over red so usually my lunch is made with white meat. I don’t bring any kind of fish to work, no one likes to smell your food when they walk into the kitchen if you are heating up fish, yuck. So below is an example of my lunch. A lean meat about 4-5 ounces, a vegetable (usually a green vegetable) and some source of fiber or healthy carbohydrate. Today it was lean grilled chicken with some chicken sausage (1 link), brocolli rabe made with olive oil and garlic and some cannelloni beans. This was 345 calories and 35 grams of protein. Sometimes I don’t finish the entire thing so I may have to edit my MyFitnessPal if I don’t.

Mid Afternoon Snack Attack

I bring this with me every day and absolutely love it as a snack: no salt Friendship cottage cheese (1 cup), 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter (chunky or creamy) and a handful of chilled blackberries. Cottage cheese was never my “thing” but I started to really like it recently when made this way. It is a balance of a high protein food and a good source of healthy fats as well as antioxidants. This is 215 calories and 22 grams of protein. When cooled in the fridge this tastes so good mid day as a sweet pick me up. Cottage cheese is a caseinate protein, so it digests very slowly so it keeps me full until 6pm when I get home and start to make a healthy dinner.

Here is the breakdown of all the foods listed above which get me through the day until night time for dinner. As you can see I still have 771 calories left for the rest of the evening. This allows for a nice sensible dinner (for example 4 ounces of salmon, brocolli and some quinoa) and also a Quest Bar before bed which sometimes is my dessert. That will get me to around the number I need to be by the end of the day. As you can see it looks like a LOT of food, but it’s all healthy and meets my macros. I hope this helps serve as a guide that you can find great ways to nourish your body and not starve!! Be sure to ask questions in the comments below. xo

Connect with me on social media:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•