My Ideal Day of Eats

I have received a ton of emails lately asking what I eat on an average day.  Since so many people were asking, I thought I would share it with all of you.  I always describe my eating habits as the 90% rule.  I’m 90% vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, super healthy, but I have my days when I don’t always follow ‘the rules’.  I think what I’m very good at is making sure the other 10% is still clean food and serves a purpose – no chemicals, additives, artificial junk, and not eating just to eat.

The best way I know to stick to my plan of eating, is to prep Sunday night.  Almost all of the meals we eat can be made ahead, require very little cooking and prep time, and have easy to follow directions.  Easy to make meals makes eating clean easy!

Here’s my ideal day of eats. . .

BREAKFAST:

I wake up fairly early, usually around 5 am.  The first thing I always do is drink a large glass of water, 16 oz. or more, with fresh squeezed lemon.  Once the day gets started it’s easy to forget about drinking water so I make sure I get that in first.

If you have followed the blog for a while, you know I am a coffee drinker.  I love my morning cup of coffee, and preferably want to drink it all before the kids are running around.  I wait to have breakfast with them, around 7:30 am.  For me, breakfast decides how I’m going to eat and feel the rest of the day.  Most days I wake up and have a filling, healthy breakfast, but occasionally there are the crazy mornings that I miss out.  Those are the days I overeat, end up eating unhealthy, and usually don’t have the same energy level.  Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!  It’s my favorite meal and almost always the biggest meal for me.

Oatmeal – Overnight Oats or Apple Pie Oats
Chia Pudding – Maple Cinnamon, Chococlate Banana or Pumpkin Spice
Creamy PB&J Quinoa
2 pancakes with berries and small amount of maple syrup
Homemade Muffin with fruit or yogurt
A couple tbsp. of Homemade Granola on top of about ¼ cup greek yogurt, or Homemade granola with milk and berries
Toast with peanut butter or almond butter, banana, and chia seeds
Veggie Omelet

Breakfast is almost always with a smoothie.  Sometimes the smoothie is the meal, other times, it’s just an addition.

Pineapple Ginger Lime Green Smoothie
Mango-Peach Green Smoothie
Blackberry Pineapple Green Smoothie
Ginger Peach Green Smoothie 
Mango Parsley Green Smoothie
Blueberry Almond Green Smoothie

MID-DAY MEALS:

I almost never make it past 11 am before I need more food, and a snack doesn’t hold me over for long.  Instead of snacking between breakfast and lunch, and again between lunch and dinner, I have and meal around 11 am, and again at 2 pm.  They are small meals, about 300 calories each, but they do the trick at keeping me full until dinner.  I can also avoid snack foods, like chips and sweets, by making these meals and not snacks.

Salad – my favorites are the Mango Avocado Black Bean Salad, Quinoa Greek Salad and Amy’s Kale Salad
Bowl of Soup 
Quesadillas
Veggie Wrap – either raw veggies or grilled and usually with hummus
Pasta / pasta salad – Pistachio Pesto Pasta is one favorite
Breakfast – pancakes, oatmeal, muffin.
Protein Smoothie – Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie or Coconut Almond Protein Smoothie
Yogurt, fruit, and nuts / seeds
Veggies with hummus and crackers
Protein Bar – either Quinoa Protein Bars or a store bought bar.  Not my ideal meal, but occasionally on busy days this is what I get.

DINNER: 

We eat dinner fairly early.  My girls are in bed by 8 pm, so dinner is usually around 6 pm.  Dinner menus are always changing but similar to our mid-day meals.  Some of our favorites are pasta, homemade pizza (I buy frozen dough at Whole Foods for crust), quinoa with grilled veggies, soup and salad, quesadillas, or breakfast for dinner.  Dinner is always served with a veggie.  Veggies help you grow up strong, and since you grow while you are sleeping it’s important to eat veggies before bed. . .at least that’s what I tell my girls. 

SWEET TOOTH CRAVINGS:

Yes, we have sweets, who doesn’t?  I try to make them as healthy as possible so we can enjoy them a couple times a week.

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie
Black Bean Brownies
Homemade Frozen Yogurt
Berries and Cream
Quinoa Protein Bars
Fresh fruit with a few chocolate chips added
Annie’s Bunny Treat – my girls favorite!

Before bed, I always have another large glass of lemon water, and usually a cup of hot tea.  Just like in the morning, this is my time to make up for any water I’ve missed out on during a busy day.  I find the tea so relaxing at night, and it can also help curb any sweet tooth cravings.

After looking at this, you can see eating clean and healthy isn’t about meals that take a lot of time to prepare and lots of special ingredients.  It’s about making the right choices and a commitment to living a healthy lifestyle.  Change isn’t always easy, but this change is worth it!