What Do You Eat?
When people hear that I don’t eat processed sugars or that I don’t eat wheat or other grains very often I commonly get the response, “I could never eat like you! What do you eat?!” But in reality I eat a LOT of really delicious food. I usually eat every 3 hours and I often have some sort of animal based protein with most of my small meals/snacks. I do enjoy sweet treats on occasion but they are usually sweetened with dates, bananas, honey, or liquid stevia.
Here is what a typical day of eating looks like for me:
Breakfast: I never skip breakfast! I wake up super hungry. I do have to wait 30 minutes to eat because of my thyroid meds. But as soon as those 30 minutes are up, there is food in my belly. For me, skipping breakfast just makes me want to eat more at my next meal (causing me to over-eat), and it slows down my metabolism. I can’t get by on coffee for breakfast. But maybe that’s because I don’t like coffee… I know, I’m weird.
So my typical non workout day breakfast is: 3 whole eggs with spinach, bell peppers, fermented red cabbage and salsa.
On a workout day I will substitute an egg or two with some black beans (or oats when I’m eating grains).
“Second breakfast”: I usually work out in the morning so I slice up half an apple or grab a grain free pumpkin blueberry muffin and put some home made almond butter on it, or I eat a homemade cashew protein bar. I eat this right after dropping off my daughter at school then I head to the gym. In a pinch I will grab a LARABAR and share it with my son on the way to the gym.
After my workout I sometimes drink a protein shake or eat a little chicken with celery and half a banana that I prepped before hand and put in my mini cooler. I try to eat within 30 minutes after my workout.
grain free pumpkin blueberry muffin with almond butter
Lunch: For lunch I usually eat some form of animal protein (turkey muffins, chicken, cod, beef) and a carb like sweet potato fries, lima beans, or spicy black bean soup, and I don’t limit my veggies. Eggs with spinach, bell pepper, salsa and fermented red cabbage are always a quick easy go to when I don’t have anything else planned.
eggs with fermented red cabbage
Afternoon snack: About 3 hours later I grab another mini meal or snack. This snack is usually similar to lunch (sometimes the same thing as lunch). Lately I have been big on eating bone broth chicken soup in the afternoon. I love the benefits of bone broth soup and it warms me up on cold Minnesota winter days.
Dinner: I eat whatever I’ve made for the family that night and we have a nice sit down dinner together. We almost always have a meat protein (on occasion I make a bean based meal, but even then I usually find myself frying up some eggs for added protein). We eat tons of veggies at dinner too. I love roasted anything, but some of my favorites are broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I use coconut oil, pepper and a bit of Himalayan or sea salt. Some of our favorite meals are beef quinoa bell pepper casserole, zucchini spaghetti with meat sauce, beef curry pie, crock pot chicken, or burgers wrapped in lettuce.
Post dinner snack: After the kiddos are in bed I get a little snacky and usually munch on celery or carrot sticks with some protein such as: half a can of tuna, a hard boiled egg, or a little bit of leftover chicken. I like to eat a little something to keep my metabolism going. I find that if I am super hungry late at night I either need to eat something little or go to bed. If I’m not hungry, or I ate a late dinner, I skip my late night snack.
On Sundays I treat myself to something special for my post dinner snack. I usually choose something like avocado “pudding” with raspberries, or a homemade cashew protein bar, or maybe a couple of date sweetened “chocolate cheesecake bites“. Or, if I want something salty my favorite nighttime snack is salted macadamia nuts.
I don’t eat a LOT of cheese, but when I do it’s usually a weekend treat. Before I went off grains I love to eat organic corn chips and cheese some weekends. I recently made some home made sweet potato chips and topped them with beef, cheese, lettuce, and salsa-like nachos. I highly recommend trying this! Too much dairy makes my tummy feel a little off though, so I don’t eat cheese very often.
So, there you have it. That’s a typical day of “clean eating” for me. This may seem like a lot of food (and it is) but it’s quality nutritious food. It isn’t processed junk filled food that can lead to the wrong kind of weight gain and leave me feeling like crap. I couldn’t stay lean eating this much food if it was junk. This doesn’t mean I can eat all the food I want just because it’s real whole food. Too many sweet potato fries or date sweetened brownies can add to a growing waist line just as much as a bowl of grocery store ice cream. I still have to watch how much I eat. But I eat smaller portion controlled meals and then I don’t feel the need to count calories.
Do you have any “clean” recipes or snacks you love? If so feel free to share in the comments below.
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Love reading this kind of posts. I guess I’m nosy. 🙂 That’s a lot of meals! We generally eat 3 big meals, I try to let my digestive tract rest in between, I also rinse my mouth out with water after every meal and try to stay disciplined until my next big meal, so that my mouth can stay clean. I love this way of eating because before I was constantly thinking of food, now I’m not at all. :-). My favourite snack or dessert after a meal is a piece of extra dark chocolate (85% cacao) with a slice of butter on top (kind of like a sandwich). It’s delicious! 🙂
haha, I LOVE reading what other people eat as well so I figured I would post myself. I used to eat just 3. I think some people don’t realize that they eat a lot more but they are in the form of “snacks”. If I label my snacks as “meals” I feel like I’m more likely to eat better quality food. My portion sizes are much smaller than most peoples “meals”. (I just used a lot of quotes in this comment, ha!)
AND, on non workout days I eat less but I find that if I skimp too much I build less muscle.
Thanks for reading Vita!! 🙂