Why you can’t eat like those fitness buffs or health nuts

Reasons: it’s almost impossible, is a major time sucker, and is way expensive! I am no fitness buff or obsessive health nut. I am just a huge advocate of eating well everyday within reason. Like, for normal people who love to be healthy! I try to eat the best I can in order to feel super good inside and also have a rockin’ body on the outside!

A little about me: I am a vegetarian but eat seafood, eggs, and dairy. I have eczema so I’m trying to go gluten-free to see if it helps. I teach dance fitness and work out pretty regularly so I need to have protein in my diet.

Below is what I eat on a typical day (weekday and weekend).

Eating on a Weekday

Breakfast

Egg and cheese sandwich: Gluten-free bread, 2 eggs, 1 slice of American white cheese

1 cup of coffee + soy creamer

Mid-morning snack

Raw almonds- unsalted and untoasted

1 cup hot jasmine green tea with nothing added

Lunch

Home-made salad: Spinach, ½ avocado, corn, hearts of palm, marinated tofu, wasabi peas, miso ginger sesame vinaigrette

Afternoon snack

Fresh-pressed juice. I use my Jack Lalane juicer and juice: 1 cucumber, handful of rainbow swiss chard, 1/2 apple, 5 carrots, 1-inch piece of ginger, small green bell pepper

Here’s a hint, make enough for 2-3 servings, and freeze the ones you aren’t drinking. When you thaw it, you’ll have a nice slushy that tastes good AND is healthy for you.

Workout

Post-workout meal

Protein shake: whey protein powder, almond milk, frozen berries, ½ avocado, chia seeds

If I’m still hungry or if I didn’t work out that day, dinner consists of:

Green smoothie: Big handful of kale, 1 banana, coconut water, flax seeds,  ½ cucumber, sprouts, almonds, frozen grapes

Another good tip for green smoothies: Make a lot and freeze the rest. When you are ready to eat, let thaw for a couple hours in the fridge and it’ll taste like ice cream! Yum!

Throughout the day, I drink lots and lots of water. Like 8-10 glasses of it.

Eating on the Weekend

I tend to splurge a little more on the weekend. Brunch is my favorite meal so I tend to stay in every morning and just cook my own.

Breakfast

Blueberry buttermilk pancakes- This is my ultimate splurge.

I use a pancake mix called King Arthur Gluten Free Pancake Mix. I add some fresh buttermilk and frozen blueberries to it. Serve with agave nectar.

Alternatively, if I’m trying to be super healthy, I’ll just make a green smoothie.

Lunch

Green smoothie: Big handful of spinach, 1/2 zucchini, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 apple, frozen grapes, almonds, 1/2 green bell pepper, and a little agave nectar.

Then I work out a few hours later

Dinner

Stir-fried french string beans with garlic & toasted almonds, baked sweet potato, and tofurkey (from Trader Joes)

Recipe for french string beans here

For the baked sweet potato, I wash the sweet potato, don’t dry, cover it with a wet paper towel, and pop in the microwave for 2 minutes, puncture it with a fork, then put it back in for another minute

Tofurkey, I just slice up into pieces and stir fry with a little olive oil.

Other tips

So that’s my typical diet. I also think it’s important to incorporate new habits slowly into your routine to ensure success. It’s taken a while for me to get to this point in my eating habits through years of learning by trial and error, so I would suggest taking it easy. Try substituting some meals with green smoothies or leave out some meat and adding in more vegetables when you eat.

My diet is not perfect either, but it doesn’t have to be and neither does yours. Recognize that your diet and YOU are a work-in-progress, so as long as you’re striving to be better than how you were yesterday, you’re doing the right thing!

When it goes to shopping, I try to shop for most of my vegetables and fruits over the weekend. I pick up random groceries usually once a week when needed. I am also a subscriber of a farm share, where you can buy in advance a portion of the produce grown by a local farm, then every week you just pick up a box of freshly harvested veggies. This is often called a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture), so check out if your city has them!

Why gluten-free?

There’s a lot of buzz going around about being gluten-free. I honestly just got tired of feeling bloated, tired, and had some problems with eczema so I started trying out this kind of eating. I haven’t experienced a reduction in my eczema yet but I have experienced increased energy and less allergy problems. If you’re interested in learning more, watch this awesome video with Dr. Frank Lipman including a fabulous gluten- and guilt-free dessert recipe you can try:

Now get out there and take control of your eating! Only you can change how your body feels.

This week’s tush-kickin’ challenge: Take action now! Share with me below at least one eating change you would like to incorporate into your diet!

“In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Author Unknown Click to Tweet

PS, My workout schedule coming up in the next article!

I am a fear conqueror, life coach, and health junkie helping quarter-lifers embrace their passion, purpose, and find courage to live their dreams!

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