Posted on September 03, 2017 by Kate Halsall
It used to be the case that I got asked on a regular basis where I got my protein from, but not any more. These days I find that people are actually interested in what a personal trainers daily diet looks like. I guess we are always advising people on their diets so it’s only right that they would be curious about ours! Obviously as a vegan, mine is a little different from some, but I also have nothing to hide! So what do I eat? Have a look!
1st Breakfast
Ok, I’ve admitted this before – I find it hard to eat breakfast at 5am in the morning. So currently I’ve been making a protein smoothie with My Protein’s Banana and Cinnamon flavour “Active Women Vegan Blend” (16.9g protein per serving). There are other vegan proteins out there but I like the taste of this one! I add Oat Milk, a frozen berry pack (you can get these from any supermarket) and a tablespoon of Naturya’s “Superfood Breakfast Boost” which contains hemp seeds, golden berries, mulberries, chia seeds, cacao nibs, goji berries, blueberry powder, agave syrup and acai powder – it’s full of omega 3, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium and fibre. I also take a vitamin B12 supplement and a probiotic tablet. Writing it down makes it seem like a lot!
On a Sunday I like to treat myself to a big breakfast! We have home made baked beans, oven roasted mushrooms, garlic spinach, and if I’m really bothered to wait for them to cook some home made sweet potato wedges!!
2nd Breakfast
This doesn’t always take place – it depends on how busy I am, what I’m eating for the rest of the day and what training I’m doing myself. I’m carb cycling at the moment to lose some weight and get leaner. If I have anything as a second breakfast it’s either porridge (again with oat milk) and blueberries or 30g of nuts – my current favourites are cashew nuts.
Lunch
Is always always always a massive salad (unless I pop into town in which case my favourite place to go at the moment is Yo Sushi – 15 vegan dishes to choose from!). I LOVE SALAD and I’m not embarrassed by it! It’s also mega easy to prep for it as well! At minimum as well as the usual standard salad fare of lettuce/spinach/rocket, tomatoes, cucumber etc I have to have: olives (preferably ones with chilli on), avocado, sundried or sunblushed tomatoes, hummus, fresh beetroot, and preferably some left over steamed greens like asparagus or broccoli. I don’t need a dressing because it’s just full of delicious goodness, good fats, iron, fibre and there’s some protein in those plants!
Snacks
Again this depends on the pace of the day I’m having. My snack of choice are carrot sticks with hummus, more nuts, a protein shake if I’ve done weight training (for this I use Arbonne’s chocolate protein shake powder simply due to the balance of carbs, ftas, sugars and proteins), or a handful of grapes. At a weekend I tend to roast some cauliflower florets with spices and have them as a snack. Do I ever have sweet things for snacks? I have been experimenting with some vegan protein bars as a sweet “treat” but I’m finding they upset my stomach so I’ll be avoiding them! I’m more a savoury person than anything to be honest – so if I’m on a high carb day, my “feel naughty treat” (but they’re actually totally good for you) are these: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/default.aspx?id=287570490
Evening Meal
This may sound boring but my evening meals are either stir fries, home made soups, supergrains, veggie chilli, veggie curries – I love a good lentil curry, or a ratatouille. But it’s not boring as I’m excited by food! I add fajita spices to stir fries, oven roasted tomatoes to soups, sweet potato mash on top of the chilli like a pie and today’s ratatouille is not just aubergines and courgettes – it’s got mushrooms, olives and chickpeas in it too!
And that’s it! Nothing top secret. Nothing super complicated unless it’s a special occasion. And nothing bad! The only thing I don’t like sharing is the food itself! Yum!