What I Eat in a Day
What do I eat in a day? It’s a question that comes up often – part of the age old fascination with finding the ‘perfect’ way of eating. And who am I kidding, I also love hearing about other peoples’ diets and favourite meals. Food is definitely a huge part of my life – as most of you know, my diet is extremely important to me. It’s something I’m passionate about, and something that has such a direct impact both on my health and on the health of the environment. I’ve never really understood people who think it doesn’t matter what we eat – I mean, this is literally what is giving our bodies the energy and fuel to survive!
The nature of my work means that my diet varies a lot. I am often on the road for long periods of time, and let me tell you that airport vendors and hotel mini bars are not conducive to a nutritious, vegan diet. That being said, I’m definitely getting better at sourcing healthy meals in strange places. However, when I am home I take lots of pride and pleasure in creating delicious, whole-food meals.
So what do I choose to fuel my body with? Plants, and lots of them!
First things first
I like to kick start my day with a fresh celery juice. This is something I have been trialing recently after reading up on all the benefits. Celery has powerful anti-inflammatory effects, which can help with bloating, IBS, constipation and other inflammation issues. It’s also really high in Vitamin K, promoting bone and heart health, and boosts your immune system!
Breakfast
For breakfast this morning I made myself a bowl of oats cooked with almond milk, half a ripe banana and some cinnamon. Once cooked, I topped my oats with walnuts, blueberries and a dash of maple syrup. If I’ve worked out that day, I love to add in a scoop of my favourite plant based protein from Tropeaka. My fave flavour is the salted caramel.
Mid-morning snack
The day for me never really starts before I have my coffee. Today I grabbed one on the way home from the gym – a strong almond latte in my trusty keepcup.
Lunch
Huge salad bowls are a staple in my diet – they’re quick to make and allow for so much goodness in one dish. I normally go with a pile of greens (kale, spinach, rocket) then add in whichever veggies and protein I have at home.
Today I roasted some sweet potatoes in the oven, adding carrots, capsicum and eggplant to the baking tray part-way through. I threw all these veggies on top of a bed of mixed greens, added half an avocado, half a can of chickpeas (which I grilled for a bit of crunch factor), and topped it all off with a large dollop (or two) of hummus.
Arvo tea
Mid afternoon, the time when my sweet tooth really kicks in. Today it was satisfied with a bowl of coconut yogurt, granola and raspberries. What a combination!
Dinner
For dinner I cooked up an amazing vegan ramen. I love finding new recipes that absolutely blow me away. This was a recipe from Cilantro and Citronella – it was the first time I’d tried it and it was such a hit – it even got the tick of approval from my carnivorous boyfriend!
To finish
After dinner I curled up with Lenny and chilled out whilst sipping a cuppa and munching on a few pieces of Lindt dark chocolate!