For the past 6 months I’ve been making posts showing the meals I eat over the course of one or two weeks. I’ve never shown what I eat on one single day though. Since I know that many people struggle with deciding what food to take to work or school, I thought it would be a good idea to show you what I bring on a day that involves teaching from 9 – 5, with no more than a 30 minute lunch break. How do I make sure you eat without the means of a kitchen and a fridge on standby? What to do for breakfast and dinner? Here’s all the meals I had on a typical weekday.
07.30 – 08.00 Breakfast:
The first meal of the day is the most important. Unfortunately my time table has me start at 9 AM sharp and with my not being a morning person I chose a 30 minutes of extra sleep over an elaborate breakfast. So what I’ve taken to doing these past few weeks is to chop up any fruit and veggies on Sunday Night and store them in my fridge in an airtight container. I then whip it out in the morning, put it in my blender, add some flaxseeds, soy protein powder and a good splash of almond milk and whizz it up. I pour it in my cup and simply drink it on my way to the station and while I’m on the train. The smoothie you see above contains 1/2 pineapple, 1/2 mango and 1/2 zucchini.
10.00 Mid morning snack:
My first class goes on until 11 AM and I even though I can make it till that time without food, it is also the time where I’m rushing to my next class which is inconvenient for eating anything. So during the break at the halfway point of my first class, I’ll eat some carrots just to keep the munchies away. Depending on my schedule (which unfortunately doesn’t allow me to have lunch until 2 PM a few times during the week) I’ll have my tomatoes either later in the day, or with my lunch if I do have it early enough. In my snack lunchbox I also keep my fork, a spoon and sometimes a small knife as well if I take anything with me that needs cutting.
12.00 Another snack:
Teaching is the type of job that easily drains you from energy. I find that it can make me feel dizzy as you are required to be ‘thinking on your feet’ the entire time. So when I am teaching my second class of the morning I have to eat something again during my class break. Since it’s been a few hours since I had anything substantial (a few carrots can only keep you going for so long) I have some Greek yoghurt with assorted nuts and dried berries. I found these small containers of full fat Greek yoghurt at my supermarket and find them super handy. Other things that I’ll have when I don’t have yoghurt: tomatoes (see above), or a good chunk of cucumber.
14.00 Lunch
I skip the yoghurt above if I can have my lunch earlier. Unfortunately for most of my teaching days that is currently not the case. But lunch has been fairly similar for the past few weeks: some leafy greens with sprouts and protein. In this case it’s a mixed green salad with alfalfa sprouts and a serving of smoked mackerel (my current favorite). I also opt for spinach, different types of lettuce and sprouts and different kinds of fish (sardines!), meat (grilled chicken) or cheese (goat’s cheese). I often also eat my tomatoes on the side.
16.00 Afternoon snack
I always take a banana and an apple for my afternoon snack. I tend to only eat one of them while at work and then while I’m on the train home, when I just finished my last class and my brain needs the sugar to operate, I will eat the other piece. I sometimes bring a small knife and some peanut butter for dipping my apples slices to change things up a little. I prefer eating fruit later in the day as that’s when I need something that is quickly absorbed but isn’t too heavy on the stomach.
19.00 Dinner
I usually get home somewhere between 18.00 and 18.30. I then cook some dinner which lately has been some veggies and meat or fish mostly. I sometimes also opt for some gluten free pasta with cauliflower sauce. Sweet potato has quickly become a staple food for me though and my favorite way of eating is is sprinkled with some honey & cinnamon and roasted in the oven. Here I paired it with some free range chicken breast which was marinated in some lemon and dille. Both dishes were prepared with coconut oil.
As you can see I eat small bits throughout the day. My schedule doesn’t allow me to have big meals and it dictates when I can eat. Since going on until I get hungry has a negative effect on me (I will get so hungry that I eat everything in one go, but start getting peckish 3 hours later anyway), I try to go with smaller meals that I eat 2 – 3 hours apart. In addition I drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. If my day is very long and taxing this isn’t enough though and I’ll indulge on the hot chocolate of the coffee machines at work, some Starbucks or a Snickers bar.