A Day in the Life (Of Eating…)

A day of eating…

When it comes to building a healthy lifestyle there’s probably nothing that has a more direct impact than food and the way you eat.

The gyms are full of people struggling to change their physique and there are an awful lot of folks who have a great sleep routine who have the same problem. But you can go on a strict diet without the other two and lose weight.

That’s evidence enough of its importance.

I normally workout five days a week and do cardio on three of them so I get in eight workouts per week. However, I eat three squares plus a snack each day so I hit the chow line twenty-eight times in the same week. That’s better than a three-to-one ratio of eating to working out.

Unless you’re a Navy SEAL, you’re only going to burn “X” amount of calories during a workout and the subsequent recovery period but I think we all know you can show up at a sports bar and consume an almost unlimited number of calories in the same amount of time.

We always tell clients when they start on this journey with us, “It’ll come down to how you eat.”

Food and eating are covered in numerous articles on our site so we’ll do a quick introduction to set the stage and then share a typical day’s eating.

As mentioned, I normally have three meals per day and a snack. Currently, the smaller meal is the first – technically, it’s breakfast - and it goes with my morning coffee. Then it’s lunch, snack and dinner.

Dinner is usually the one that varies and I find that to be true for most people, at least during the work week. Most folks crave routine so it’s easy to go with what you know at the beginning of and during a busy workday. The last meal of the day is usually where everyone has the time to be flexible. I’m no different but I do tend to stick pretty close to the same calories for dinner while changing up the meal itself. This is a weekday menu because weekends can often be a different story.

With that said, let’s get right to it!

Morning Coffee & Toast (Breakfast)

black coffee with Vital Proteins® collagen peptides and Momentous® creatine

Eva’s Homemade Sourdough Bread

peanut butter and strawberry jam

celery sticks

(I go back and forth between fruit and the celery and I change up the type of bread sometimes. I like the fiber and crunch I get from the celery even though it might not be the most traditional breakfast item. I’ll bet if I put the celery in a Bloody Mary you wouldn’t say a word!)

Lunch

egg white omelet with asparagus, bell pepper, jalapeño and spinach

egg over easy

ham

Eva’s Homemade Sourdough Bread

Brioche-style English muffin

butter

Texas Pete® Hot Sauce

honey from a hive a few miles away

Spectrum Culinary coconut oil spray

Flavor God® Vanilla Waffle Cone flavored seasoning topper

Flavor God® Buttery Cinnamon Roll flavored seasoning topper

(This one has been the same for several years and rarely changes although I might toss in some pancakes or waffles on the weekend. It’s usually close to 600 calories and I normally eat it around noon so I’m pretty hungry by then. Sometimes I’ll scramble the egg into the whites and the vegetables will change depending on what’s available or I have on hand at the time. The same goes for the breads. The South is quite beautiful but seasonal allergies are terrible so the honey, as long as you’re within 30 miles or so of the hive, works miracles. Just give it a few months to take effect. The coconut spray on the toast and the Flavor God topper on the muffin are game changers. I’ll bet you see the topper elsewhere!)

Snack

fat-free Greek yogurt

whey protein powder

PBfit®

The Original grape-nuts®

semi-sweet chocolate chips

caramel bits

Flavor God® Buttery Cinnamon Roll flavored seasoning topper

(Yes, this is my famous Flexible Yogurt Snack! While it’s a bit different from the recipe on the site that’s because it’s truly flexible and this one is set up to hit my current targets. Depending on what’s for dinner – the fat content, specifically – I’ll add pecans if I can because they make a noticeable difference.)

Dinner & Dessert

ham steak

asparagus

Eva’s Homemade Sourdough Bread

butter

Eva’s Ninja Creami chocolate peanut butter protein ice cream

Reddi-wip® fat-free whipped topping

pecans

Flavor God® Chocolate Donut flavored seasoning topper

(The meal listed here is really simple and takes almost no time to prepare. I usually have something a little more involved but simplicity is a big deal so nothing I eat takes long to prepare. The ice cream isn’t typical but dessert’s almost always included. I usually have a snack-size Payday and the rule is that Zeke gets any stray peanuts in the wrapper and the last little bite. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have a piece of chocolate but I have to be careful because I go crazy with it pretty quickly! If a food is a problem for you then keep it out of the house and only buy it as a treat you can finish in one sitting.)

The whole day works out to around 1,750 calories, give or take. The macros are approximately 40%/40%/20% – protein, carbs and fat – and, oddly enough, it’s slightly heavy on protein due to the ice cream. (First world problem, right?)

The ice cream is an incredible treat but we don’t usually have it more than every other week or so. A single recipe of Eva’s protein ice cream makes two servings so I get two nights of awesomeness each time she makes it! I use the top and bottom settings on the Creami and I can have different mix-ins with each one.

I don’t normally have my wife’s wonderful bread (she’s wonderful, too) that many times in a day. For dinner it’s usually a more traditional starchy carb like rice, pasta, gnocchi or, occassionally, couscous. I go back and forth between beef, chicken and, sometimes, as you see here, ham. I’m deathly allergic to seafood so, despite its deliciousness, it’s not in the rotation.

If we went back two or three years, this would probably look a little different, as far as food items go, and I’m sure I can say the same about the way it’ll look a year or two down the road.

It’s a fairly balanced and healthy diet made up mostly of whole foods with just a touch of modern convenience to jazz it up. This one is missing some fruit and I usually have it in there somewhere depending on what’s looking good. Berries are my preferred fruit with strawberries, raspberries and blackberries being my favorties. If I get ahold of some good blueberries you’ll see breakfast turn into Protein-Balanced Pancakes Dripping With Syrup.

This menu is well below my maintenance calories so it can be used to lose weight (fat) but even then, I don’t feel like I’m suffering. One night’s dinner will have tacos, another stir-fry and, of course, it’s always Hamburger Friday around here.

We’ve always felt a healthy lifestyle must include foods you enjoy. As you can see, the menu above can be used for weight (fat) loss yet it still contains ice cream, chocolate chips, caramel bits and quite a bit of bread along with peanut butter and jelly. I don’t feel like I’m miserable or missing out on anything. Because of that, if I was trying to lose weight, it would make it much easier to do and I could go along with it until I hit my goal weight/body fat.

If a lifetime of health means a lifetime of healthy habits then building a diet you enjoy, works for you and helps you along the way is something you’ve got to get right.

Once you do it’s as easy as pie!

As I’ve told you before, “You can’t always eat whatever you like but you can always like whatever you eat.”

Bon appétit!

Regards,

Henry

For more articles on eating check out:

I’m Tired of Eating the Same Thing All the Time...

The Diet That Won’t Die (The “Diet” Goes On Forever but the Weight Never Goes Down)

The Eating Season Is Upon Us...

Plus others on foods and cooking. And don’t forget our Nutrition Page complete with recipes!