Let’s Eat
“We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”
— Buddy, Elf
What I eat in a day:
10 am “Breakfast” - Banana
12:30 pm Lunch - Scrambled eggs with olive oil, salt and pepper, an apple, a grapefruit, and a handful of carrots
Snack - Overnight oats with almond milk, flax seeds, a scoop of protein powder, cinnamon, and raspberries
7 pm Dinner - Homemade pesto pasta with fresh tomatoes, a side of cucumbers and a red pepper
Dessert - Dark chocolate covered almonds and a dairy free Trader Joe’s popsicle (or two or three)
Late Night Snack - Frozen fruit
We’re all curious. What do different people eat, when do they eat, how do they eat? Is everyone as hangry an adult as I am if I don’t have enough time or access to what I want?
You can say I’m kind of like a forever pregnant person. I have crazy and particular food cravings. If I had access to a caramel candy apple two nights ago at 3 am I would have ravaged it. In addition to that, I am a terrible, awful, no good cook. So let me give you a brief look at my journey with food...
I’ve always been drawn to animal rights, specifically, the treatment of animals in factory farms. I went to the Big Apple Circus in 4th grade. The protesters outside of it pushing for animal free entertainment changed the course of my life and belief system.
When I was in 6th grade, I fed my childhood dog the entirety of my Annie’s Mac n Cheese with chicken dinner because I was so disgusted by the thought of consuming meat. She later threw it up after scarfing it down whole and my mom gave in. She agreed to start making me vegetarian food. That was the beginning of my strict 10 year stint as a vegetarian. I absolutely loved vegetarianism, morally, environmentally, all of it.
I did however struggle with variation in my diet because I am deathly allergic to nuts, peanuts, and soy. On the 10th anniversary of my vegetarianism, at 19 years old, I ate the biggest steak I could find at Whole Foods. Here I am now, two years later, I occasionally eat steak, chicken, seafood, but I really try to be conscious of the source.
I intermittently fast in the mornings, because I often get up so early to teach class that I am too nauseous to eat. I am also conveniently a late night snacker, so I choose to eat the majority of food later on in the day.
Overall, I eat lots of raw and whole foods. Fruits, veggies, and grains make me feel full and most importantly nourished. I am not a nutritionist, nor do I have any desire to become one, I only share what works for me.
Here are three things I did to dramatically alter my own diet (and feel amazing for it):
I lost butter. I just stopped buying it. I use olive oil instead, it is way lower in saturated fat and I find a little goes a long way.
I drink only water, tea, and coffee (this does not apply to my nights out on the town nor my glasses of wine). Soda and fruit juices are immensely high in sugar, and it’s truly just not worth those hundreds of extra calories when I would rather eat something sweet.
I look at the ingredients on food, and try to implement the five ingredient guide. The more ingredients in packaged food, the more processed it is. Try it yourself for two weeks, you’ll be shocked by how you both look and FEEL!
Ultimately, I do not deprive myself. I eat intuitively out of an honor and respect for my body. Any of the recipes I provide to you are user friendly and will not take up much of your time, because those are two incredibly important things I need for myself.
I have found that the more consistently I workout, the more I want to eat healthy, the better and stronger that I feel overall. We all only have one body, so let’s spoil it with love, admiration, and nourishment.
